Victory at Stalingrad: The Battle That Changed History

by Geoffrey Roberts

Overview

Victory at Stalingrad tells the gripping strategic and military story of that battle. The hard-won Soviet victory prevented Hitler from waging the Second World War for another ten years and set the Germans on the road to defeat. The Soviet victory also prevented the Nazis from completing the Final Solution, the wholesale destruction of European Jewry, which began with Hitler’s "War of Annihilation" against the Soviets on the Eastern Front.

Geoffrey Roberts places the conflict in the context of the clash between two mighty powers:their world views and their leaders. He presents a great human drama, highlighting the contribution made by political and military leaders on both sides. He shows that the real story of the battle was the Soviets’ failure to achieve their greatest ambition: to deliver an immediate, war-winning knockout blow to the Germans.

This provocative reassessment presents new evidence and challenges the myths and legends that surround both the battle and the key personalities who led and planned it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317868903
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/21/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	282
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Geoffrey Roberts is a Soviet and World War Two specialist, and has written both general and specific histories of Russia.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
A chronology of the Battle of Stalingrad 1942-3
Maps
1. Introduction: battle of the century
2. War of annihilation: the German campaign in Russia, 1941-2
3. Hitler's quest for oil: the road to Stalingrad, April-August 1942
4. State of siege: Stalingrad, September-October 1942
5. Red gods of war: soviet victories, German defeats, November 1942-February 1943
6. Aftermath: revenge and retribution on the road to Berlin, 1943-5
7. The Stalingrad story: the battle that history changed, 1945-2000
8. Conclusion: the battle that changed history?

Editorial Reviews

Soviet expert Roberts (The Unholy Alliance) depicts Hitler's mammoth effort to bring the Russians to their knees and Stalin's struggle to defeat the German troops at any cost in this intelligent introduction to the epic Battle of Stalingrad (1942-3). Interweaving excerpts from the work of contemporary scholars with his own brisk and clear, if not necessarily elegant, narrative, Roberts's historiography enumerates the offensives and counter-offensives, supply chains, military pronouncements and strategies in the siege of the Volga River city that became such a brutal war of attrition. The volume's format bears some similarity to that of a textbook's, with its glossary of terms, biographical notes and guide to further reading. Readers seeking original research and a gripping narrative might want to stick with the Antony Beevor's bestselling 1998 volume on the subject-or for a broader view, Alexander Worth's 1964 Russia at War, as Roberts himself recommends-but those who want a relatively quick and detailed account of this decisive battle will find most of their questions answered here. Also, two concluding sections-covering "the battle that changed history" and "the battle that history changed"-provide an excellent summary of the battle's aftermath both in WWII and in historical memory. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

‘This is vintage history at its best. The author provides fascinating insights into the epic Battle of Stalingrad including a skilful examination of the profound consequences of its outcome.'
–Albert Axell

‘Roberts makes excellent sense of events on the battlefield, but his book is more than just a good story. It also places the battle definitively in the historical and political context of World War II and Stalin's dictatorship.'
–Mark Harrison

‘fresh, lucid and highly readable ... combines compelling narrative with powerful analysis.'
–Edward Acton

‘Geoffrey Roberts has written a brilliant introductory survey of the battle of Stalingrad.'
–Dennis Ogden

From the Publisher