Book of the Month!
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Hi guys....
I've been buying and reading an average of one book per month lately. I've picked up a few rather good books, and I felt like sharing my personal reviews of those books. I'll be starting with the month of May (since this is May, after all).
Feel free to add your own book reviews, people.
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Book of the Month for May: Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
Cost: About $21 from Borders
Hitler made two fundamental and crippling mistakes during the Second World War. The first was his whimsical belief that the United Kingdom would eventually become his ally, which delayed his decision to launch a major invasion of Britain, whose army was unprepared for the force of blitzkrieg warfare. The second was the ill-conceived Operation Barbarossa--an invasion of Russia that was supposed to take the German army to the gates of Moscow. Antony Beevor's thoughtfully researched compendium recalls this epic struggle for Stalingrad. No-one, least of all the Germans, could foretell the deep well of Soviet resolve that would become the foundation of the Red Army; Russia, the Germans believed, would fall as swiftly as France and Poland. The ill-prepared Nazi forces were trapped in a bloody war of attrition against the Russian behemoth, which held them in the pit of Stalingrad for nearly two years. Beevor points out that the Russians were by no means ready for the war either, making their stand even more remarkable; Soviet intelligence spent as much time spying on its own forces--in fear of desertion, treachery and incompetence--as they did on the Nazis. Due attention is also given to the points of view of the soldiers and generals of both forces, from the sickening battles to life in the gulags.
Many believe Stalingrad to be the turning point of the war. The Nazi war machine proved to be fallible as it spread itself too thin for a cause that was born more from arrogance than practicality. The Germans never recovered, and its weakened defences were no match for the Allied invasion of 1944. We know little of what took place in Stalingrad or its overall significance, leading Beevor to humbly admit that "[t]he Battle of Stalingrad remains such an ideologically charged and symbolically important subject that the last word will not be heard for many years". This is true. But this gripping account should become the standard work against which all others should measure themselves. --Jeremy Storey
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My personal review:
This is one brilliantly-written book. It doesn't just focus on Stalingrad - Antony Beevor also does a good job in giving an overview of the events leading up to the Battle of Stalingrad, from when the Germans declared war on the Soviet Union. He also gave a pretty good narrative about what happened to the surviving German POWs after their capture and their life in Soviet hands.
If you think you know everything there is to know about the Battle of Stalingrad, then this book may give you a whole new perspective. For one thing, I always thought that Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was trying his very best to save the trapped Sixth Army in Stalingrad. However, Beevor claims (with quite a bit of justification) that Manstein also saw the advantage of having the Sixth Army tie up seven Soviet armies in Stalingrad while he was trying to pull out the rest of Army Group South out of the Caucasus.
And in spite of this being a non-fiction history book, Beevor writes it (and paces the narrative) almost as though it were some high-powered Tom Clancy novel.
Very highly recommended.
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Odd! I thought I wrote a reply but it seems to have conveniently 'disappeared'!
I was commenting on how you've chosen a genre that isn't as popular as it probably deserves to be.
I also said that quite a few of us who used to be avid readers had to sacrifice the hobby for work and other commitments. Maybe that's why our old thread listing what we've read every month died a quiet death.
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
Odd! I thought I wrote a reply but it seems to have conveniently 'disappeared'!
I was commenting on how you've chosen a genre that isn't as popular as it probably deserves to be.
I also said that quite a few of us who used to be avid readers had to sacrifice the hobby for work and other commitments. Maybe that's why our old thread listing what we've read every month died a quiet death.
I kinda enjoy reading up on past wars.
WWI and WWII particularly.
Personally, I feel that WWI was basically one of the most stupid wars of all time. It was a tragic, tragic case of 'You play punk with my brudder, you play punk with me' syndrome.
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Xenophon and the Art of Command.
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Originally posted by newcomer:
Xenophon and the Art of Command.
Hmm....
Could you post an Amazon review of that book?
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I'm still reading it. If you want an Amazon review you could check it out on Amazon. :)
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Originally posted by newcomer:
I’m still reading it. If you want an Amazon review you could check it out on Amazon.
Too lazy to go to Amazon myself.
Okay, okay, I'll go there later.
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I just bought the counterpart to this the other day at kino .... "The Fall of Berlin" ...
let's do an exchange ...
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I'm pleasantly surprised that there are quite a few of you reading this genre!
I remember when I was 10, coming across this term, "Blitzkrieg" and feeling so smug that I managed to learn a new foreign word then!
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Originally posted by Fatum:
I just bought the counterpart to this the other day at kino .... "The Fall of Berlin" ...
let's do an exchange ...
Uhh..... 'Berlin: The Downfall 1945'?
I just bought it a few days ago at Borders. Reading it now.
I finished Stalingrad early this month.