The Unknown Stalingrad. How History Is Distorted

16 hrs. 50 min.

Miscellaneous

Language Russian

Author Alexey Isayev

Narrator Yegor Fedotov

Description

Is the unprecedented ferocity of the Battle of Stalingrad explained not so much by military as by ideological causes, and if the city hadn’t been named after the Leader, would the Red Army not have defended it at any cost? Did Soviet command throw whole divisions into battle unarmed, as shown in the notorious film “Enemy at the Gates”? What role in this battle was played by penal units and blocking detachments created by Order No. 227, “Not a step back,” and how dearly did victory cost us? Is it true that the fate of Stalingrad was decided by sniper duels and by mice that, at a critical moment, devoured the electrical wiring of German tanks? Who was actually the author of the famous Operation Uranus to encircle Paulus’s army—Marshal Zhukov or the unknown colonel Potapov?

In this book, a leading military historian analyzes the most common myths about the Battle of Stalingrad, refuting numerous legends, clichés, and speculations. This is undoubtedly the best modern study of the turning-point battle of the Great Patriotic War, based not on propaganda fakes, but on recently declassified archival documents.