Stalingrad

17 hrs. 44 min.

Language Russian

Author Antony Beevor

Narrator Alexander Kharitonov

Description

The Battle of Stalingrad is the most dramatic episode of World War II, its turning point, and the first battle in recent history fought under the conditions of a huge modern city. “Stalingrad” by Antony Beevor—who became a bestseller in the USA, Great Britain, and European countries—is a new look at events that have been written about in hundreds of books. This is a narrative based not on an analysis of the grand battle’s strategy, but on the personal experience of its participants—soldiers and officers who fought on opposite sides of the trenches. The author’s research included soldiers’ diaries and letters, numerous archival documents and materials obtained through personal meetings with participants of the great battle on the Volga.

The Beevor book has at least five great qualities. First: he has a good style and is interesting to read (a large part of this is the credit of the excellent translator Mr. Zherebilov). Second: Beevor writes about the horrors of war calmly, without emotions; and this calm is above all pathos. Third: it’s written without bias toward any side of the war. Fourth: Beevor presents many little-known facts previously hidden and hushed up—using them not to accuse official Soviet historiography of lying, but to complement facts already familiar to the reader. Fifth: besides the good style, Beevor has a wonderful method for guiding an attentive reader to his conclusions (and to his attitude toward what he presents)—never head-on, and not even through obvious hints, but gradually, by playing with nuances.