Antony Beevor - Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942-1943

Pros: I like it, Keegan likes it, Robert Conquest likes it. That should do
Cons: Specialist quibbles at most

Anthony Beevor is the author of the standard work on the sociology of the British Army. He possesses also the novelist's gift of narrative and a soldierly eye for terrain and 'permanent operating factors.' He has now turned his attention to Barbarossa...

Pros: Very readable and absorbing, detailed account of the Sixth's Army's siege and destruction at Stalingrad.
Cons: A fairly large part of the book details events before the battle for Stalingrad.

Stalingrad is an excellent account of the German army's drive into Russia in 1942, and the attempt to take the city of Stalingrad. As historians and military analysts have noted, this was the turning point of the war in Russia against the ...

Pros: Gripping read; very well researched; filled with tragic personal stories from letters and interviews;
Cons: Can get repetitive especially the detailed troop movement sections

The battle for Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in the brutal battles on the Eastern front. After surviving a bitter winter and unsuccessful attempt to capture Moscow, the German Army turned its attention to the east and the Caucaus oilfields. They ...

Pros: Absorbing account of a battle that had far-reaching consequences for us all.
Cons: Doom-laden and detailed. The most depressing book I've ever read.

Battle-scarred and shell shocked: how else to describe my condition after 460 pages of blood, sweat and tanks? Antony Beevor’s book documenting the siege of Stalingrad is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. What with bombing raids, grenade ...

Pros: Involving military analysis and description, coupled with the human element of the battle
Cons: The military analysis proves hard to follow for those not familiar with this genre.

Stalingrad can be regarded as the turning point in World War II. It was here that Hitler's Wehrmacht lost the initiative in the invasion of Russia. From Stalingrad onwards, the German forces on the Eastern Front were beaten and in full retreat, all the...

Pros: Objective, Well Researched, Tragic and Brutally honest
Cons: Accounts of troop movement and positions get very detailed

This is an excellent book! It is extremely well researched and includes first-hand accounts from both sides, including interviews after the war, letters sent home from the front, and official documents. Before reading Antony Beevor's book Stalingrad,...

Pros: Invites you into the narration. Live battle scenes and feelings.
Cons: certain proficiency in Russian and military terminology is preferable.

My grandfather was one of the defenders of Hero-City Stalingrad (now Volgograd--Russia). I myself spent many hours wandering on the shoreline of the Volga river where the bloodiest battles took place. I lived just quarter a mile from The Mamaev Hill--the...

Pros: Brilliantly researched and written
Cons: None worthy of mention

The battle for Stalingrad has, on many occasions, been cited as the turning point of the war on the eastern front. In “Stalingrad” Antony Beevor has produced a work worthy of the heroic efforts of the soldiers who fought and died there. An important...

Pros: details, details, details
Cons: very academia

This is a book written with the academic in mind. It is a highly detailed, sometimes fragmented account of the battle of Stalingrad. It tells of the overall strategies for both sides. It relates stories of individual soldiers, both the courageous and...