Antony Beevor is one of the best known and respected twentieth century historians. His non-fiction works include
1982 The Spanish Civil War
1990 Inside the British Army
1991 Crete: The Battle and the Resistance
1994 with Artemis Cooper. Paris After the Liberation, 1944–1949
1998 Stalingrad. London
2002 Berlin: The Downfall 1945
2006 The Mystery of Olga Chekhova
2006 The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
2009 D-Day: The Battle for Normandy
2012 The Second World War
2015 Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble
2018 Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944
2022 Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917—1921
His best-known works are the best-selling Stalingrad (1998) and Berlin: The Downfall 1945 (2002), both of which recount the World War II battles between the Soviet Union and Germany. They have been praised for their vivid, compelling style, their treatment of the ordinary lives of combatants and civilians, and the use of newly disclosed documents from Soviet archives.
This book was in the library of one of my sons and I "borrowed" it from him some time ago. It eventually bubbled to the top of my list and, once I started reading, it was surprisingly easy to finish. Coming in at just under 500 pages, it is a wonderful read and definitely 5 stars.
The Battle of Stalingrad was not only the psychological turning point of World War II, it also changed the face of modern warfare, and Beevor's book is the definitive account of World War II's most harrowing battle. It was first published by Viking Press in 1998. The book won the first Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wolfson History Prize and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature in 1999.
The book starts with Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the subsequent drive into the Soviet Union. Its main focus is the Battle of Stalingrad, in particular the period from the initial German attack to Operation Uranus and the Soviet victory. It details the subsequent battles and war crimes committed by both sides. The book ends with the defeat and surrender of the Germans in February 1943 and the beginning of the Soviet advance on Germany. Beevor returned to the subject with his 2002 book Berlin: The Downfall 1945.
Like all his works, it is a meticulously researched and gripping account of the horrific battle.
Beevor is evenhanded in his treatment of the two sides: By contrasting the German and Soviet points of view, he conveys the experiences of Axis generals and fighting men (who comprised thousands of Romanian, Hungarian, and disaffected Russians as well as Germans) in the midst of a total war, and those of Soviet soldiers, who had to fear the NKVD and SMERSH, the Soviet intelligence services, as much as the Nazis. A painstakingly thorough study that has become the standard work on the battle of Stalingrad.
A must read for anyone interested in twentieth century history.
