This is a highly readable narrative about the role of the Soviets in WWll. I've read about some of the major Russian battles but this book wove everything together with information on the people's devastation. It is truly hard to imagine so much horror and danger. It is almost impossible to imagine how the people survived so much mayhem -- fighting the enemy, moving the factories, working in the factories to produce the material needed to conduct war, starving, hiding from bombings, being overrun by the enemy, the horrors of a Russian winter without enough fuel to stay warm, etc.
Atrocities abounded during the war years. I thought the concentration camps for Jews were awful enough, but this book shows that the Jews (who often held high positions in the Balkan states), were overrun by Germans and exterminated on the spot. Russian leaders were killed if they sounded 'defeatist' or if they waited too long to make a move and were cited for incompetence or working for the Germans. It seemed to be a crap-shoot whether Soviet or German soldiers were shot immediately or taken as prisoners-of-war (to die of starvation or abuse).
This book makes a point that the population of Russia did not return to its pre-war levels until the end of the 1950s. The economy of the USSR took even longer to recover. I now understand why the Soviets still talk about WWll as if it were last year; it made an indelible mark on their psyche. This book offers a masterful overview of the Stalin Era that destroyed millions of Russians.
Atrocities abounded during the war years. I thought the concentration camps for Jews were awful enough, but this book shows that the Jews (who often held high positions in the Balkan states), were overrun by Germans and exterminated on the spot. Russian leaders were killed if they sounded 'defeatist' or if they waited too long to make a move and were cited for incompetence or working for the Germans. It seemed to be a crap-shoot whether Soviet or German soldiers were shot immediately or taken as prisoners-of-war (to die of starvation or abuse).
This book makes a point that the population of Russia did not return to its pre-war levels until the end of the 1950s. The economy of the USSR took even longer to recover. I now understand why the Soviets still talk about WWll as if it were last year; it made an indelible mark on their psyche. This book offers a masterful overview of the Stalin Era that destroyed millions of Russians.
