jjares reviewed Stalingrad: A Captivating Guide to the Battle of Stalingrad and Its Impact on World War II on + 3278 more book reviews
This is one book I've been looking forward to reading because I'd heard so much about the Soviet people suffering during this battle. However, I wasn't aware of the particulars. The numbers are staggering during WWII; 415,000 died from theUS, 483,000 died from the United Kingdom, and about 20 million Soviets died. Just in the Battle of Stalingrad (the 6-month battle), 1 million Germans, Hungarians, Romanians, Italians, and Soviets died. With numbers like these, the fighting must have been incredible.
I particularly appreciated the timeline -- and the fact that it was offered at the beginning of the book. This book takes place after the story in another fine Captivating History book, "Operation Barbarossa: A Captivating Guide to the Opening Months of the War between Hitler and the Soviet Union in1941â45." In previous Captivating History guides, we learned that Stalin removed anyone capable of challenging his power in the military, which essentially left the military leaderless and rudderless. 'Yes Men' replaced the able leaders.
Stalin was staggered by Hitler's assault on his country because he trusted the non-aggression pact the two countries had signed. It was to last for 10 years, but it wasn't worth the paper it was written on in less than 2 years. The information about the gear and weaponry of German and Soviet soldiers was very interesting. Even though this book was short, it included amazing trivia such as the fact that the German armies (including Hungarians, Romanians, and Italian allies) suffered from an epidemic of tularemia. This is a rodent-borne disease of Russia, Ukraine, and parts of Asia; Russians are routinely inoculated against it but the Germans were unaware of it.
Another fascinating bit of trivia: German and Italian soldiers had to be posted between the Hungarian and Romanian soldiers because they were enemies. Frankly, the whole book was fascinating and I read it in a single sitting.
I particularly appreciated the timeline -- and the fact that it was offered at the beginning of the book. This book takes place after the story in another fine Captivating History book, "Operation Barbarossa: A Captivating Guide to the Opening Months of the War between Hitler and the Soviet Union in1941â45." In previous Captivating History guides, we learned that Stalin removed anyone capable of challenging his power in the military, which essentially left the military leaderless and rudderless. 'Yes Men' replaced the able leaders.
Stalin was staggered by Hitler's assault on his country because he trusted the non-aggression pact the two countries had signed. It was to last for 10 years, but it wasn't worth the paper it was written on in less than 2 years. The information about the gear and weaponry of German and Soviet soldiers was very interesting. Even though this book was short, it included amazing trivia such as the fact that the German armies (including Hungarians, Romanians, and Italian allies) suffered from an epidemic of tularemia. This is a rodent-borne disease of Russia, Ukraine, and parts of Asia; Russians are routinely inoculated against it but the Germans were unaware of it.
Another fascinating bit of trivia: German and Italian soldiers had to be posted between the Hungarian and Romanian soldiers because they were enemies. Frankly, the whole book was fascinating and I read it in a single sitting.
