Voices from Stalingrad: Nemesis on the Volga

Having read several books of the German view of the Eastern front this filled in some holes in my knowledge of Stalingrad. Many of the German viewpoints are from captured German letters of men who did not live to tell their stories. Most of the Soviet accounts are first person. Sad that both Hitler and Stalin had so little concern for the slaughter of tens of thousands of their soldiers. I recommend it.

Voices From Stalingrad takes the unique perspective of using letters from both Russian and German soldiers to tell the story of one of the most horrific battles of World War Two. Because it wasn't an American struggle, textbooks here rarely acknowledge this battle as one of the key tipping points of the war. Through these letters, the sacrifice that they made, and their complete unwillingness to surrender the city regardless of the cost, can be seen. One the other side, the hopelessness of a German army that only a short time earlier had seemed unstoppable, is captured through young men who want nothing more than to go home.

This book reminded be and be in some form equated to Cornelius Ryan's trilogy The Longest Day, A Bridge too Far, & The Last Battle. The historian is not as obtrusive because of the format using primary source accounts of the battle. Still he brings these sources together in such a way, so as to give the reader an outstanding overview of the conflict at Stalingrad in all its various facets. A quick read well worth the price.

Jonanthan Bastable, an English journalist operating in Russia, has assembled an interesting collection of wartime first-person accounts from both the Russian and German sides to describe one of the greatest battles of the Second World War in Voices from Stalingrad. This book provides much insight into the leaders and troops who fought in that decisive battle, although it does not intend to provide a comprehensive survey of the entire campaign in southern Russia in 1942. Instead, Voices from Stalingrad provides an authentic look at sustained, horrific combat from the perspectives of those who fought it. As oral history, Voices from Stalingrad is superb. However, this book will only allow its readers to assess combat from a narrow perspective and these inherent limitations will force its users to consult other sources to get the `full' picture. For example, there is no mention of the failed Operation "Mars" that occurred in conjunction with the Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad and the German Fourth Panzer Army is barely mentioned. Voices from Stalingrad is an often interesting - sometimes gripping - look into some of the worst urban combat that has ever occurred on this planet and it packs a sense of veritas that other, dryer histories lack. Read this one to keep the human dimension of battle in mind. Voices from Stalingrad consists of nine chapters, which move chronologically from June 1941 to February 1943. The author intersperses first-person accounts from both sides to provide the real grist of each chapter, but adds his own comments and observations. The first chapter provides background on Operation Barbarossa in 1941, its failure and the German effort to finish off the Soviet Union with Case Blue in 1942, which resulted in the Battle of Stalingrad. The battle proper begins in the second chapter when the German 6th Army under von Paulus reaches the city and moves into high gear in the third chapter with the German assault into the inner city. The detail provided on the fight for the grain elevator, the tractor factory, "Pavlov's House," horrific crossings of the Volga river ferries and sniper operations is far better than in most other accounts. Many of the accounts may serve to put in perspective what typical combatants can tell us about a given battle; one German soldier in 1942 said that, "We very seldom know what is actually going on." The Soviet counterattack begins in chapter 5 and it is interesting to note an account of the Soviet commander of the spearhead that reached Kalach and closed the encirclement of the 6th Army; he commented that he reached the objective with only 5 tanks, one armored car and 5 trucks with 50 soldiers. It is amazing that such a small force played such a decisive role. Several accounts describe the German Christmas inside the pocket, with enlisted soldiers lucky to get a few strips of horsemeat while not far away their officers drank the last brandy and smoked cigars. The author also uses accounts to pa

The battle for Stalingrad, lasting from Aug. 1942 to Feb. 1943, was war at its most brutal. No sweeping maneuvers there, no glorious charges; just relentless, no-quarter-given, hand-to-hand combat waged by exhausted soldiers for the sake of mere feet in a ruined building. Stalingrad devoured German and Russian alike. The stories of some of those who fought - and sometimes died - in that ruined city on the Volga are related in this book, the third in the 'Voices From' series. Whatever strategical aims initially mandated the capture of Stalingrad, possession of the city soon devolved into a battle of wills between Hitler and Stalin, a contest that ensured neither side would retreat whatever the losses suffered. Using letters, diary entries and book excerpts from German and Russian sources, Bastable provides a wide-ranging look at the German Sixth Army's advance to Stalingrad, their ceaseless attempts to seize all of the city and the equally determined efforts by the Russian soldiers to hold on to the prize. When the Russians launched a surprise counter-offensive that saw the encirclement of the Sixth Army, all the previous efforts of the German soldiers went for naught as Hitler forbade them for breaking out of the death-trap that became Stalingrad. The stories related in this book are often wrenching and heartbreaking. No more so than when the soldiers, especially the ill-prepared Germans, describe the terrible conditions they found themselves in with 40 below weather, lack of food, lack of sleep, etc. As related in the book, Stalingrad was hell on earth for the Sixth Army. Bastable's book is an excellent introduction to the Russian Front, providing an eye-level view of what combat was like for German and Russian soldier alike. Reading these stories, it's incredible what those men endured.