Stalingrad, Battle of: Books, audiobook, and ebooks owned by Avn Tech Library

The confrontation between German and Soviet forces at Stalingrad was a titanic clash of armies on an unprecedented scale—a campaign that was both a turning point in World War II and a lasting symbol of that war's power and devastation. Yet despite the attention lavished on this epic battle by historians, much about it has been greatly misunderstood or hidden from view—as David Glantz, the world's foremost authority on the Red Army in World War II, now shows. This first volume in Glantz's masterly trilogy draws on previously unseen or neglected sources to provide the definitive account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign. Glantz has combed daily official records from both sides—including the Red Army General Staff, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the German Sixth Army, and the Soviet 62nd Army—to produce a work of unparalleled detail and fresh interpretations. Jonathan House, an authority on twentieth-century warfare, adds further insight and context. Hitler's original objective was not Stalingrad but the Caucasus oilfields to the south of the city. So he divided his Army Group South into two parts-one to secure the city on his flank, one to capture the oilfields. Glantz reveals for the first time how Stalin, in response, demanded that the Red Army stand and fight rather than withdraw, leading to the numerous little-known combat engagements that seriously eroded the Wehrmacht's strength before it even reached Stalingrad. He shows that, although advancing German forces essentially destroyed the armies of the Soviet Southwestern and Southern Fronts, the Soviets resisted the German advance much more vigorously than has been thought through constant counterattacks, ultimately halting the German offensive at the gates of Stalingrad. This fresh, eye-opening account and the subsequent companion volumes—on the actual battle for the city itself and the successful Soviet counteroffensive that followed—will dramatically revise and expand our understanding of what remains a military campaign for the ages.

The German invasion of Russia was Hitler's biggest gamble in his quest for "Lebensraum" in the East - and it was at Stalingrad that his gamble failed. Stalingrad: The Infernal Cauldron is a detailed history of Hitler's great failure, and a comprehensive account of one of the most important battles of World War II. With full-color strategic maps, 170 black and white photographs, over half of which have never before been published, and detailed appendices that contain information on orders of battle, losses, and equipment, Stalingrad is an exhaustive account of the battle that bled the German army dry, and turned the war in the East decisively against the Germans.

By the time Hitler declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941, he knew that his military machine was running out of fuel. In response, he launched Operation Blau, a campaign designed to protect Nazi oilfields in Romania while securing new ones in the Caucasus. All that stood in the way was Stalingrad.

In June 1941, German forces swept across Soviet territory in an offensive that finally brought them within twenty-five miles of Moscow. But in August 1942, the overconfident Hitler chose the wrong target, Stalin's namesake city on the Volga. The battle of Stalingrad is extraordinary in every way: the triumphant invader fought to a standstill; then the Soviet trap sprung, surrounding their attackers; and the terrible siege, with Germans starving and freezing, forced to fight on by a disbelieving Hitler.The story has never been told as Antony Beevor tells it here. He writes of the great Manichaean clash between Stalin and Hitler, and the strategic brilliance and fatal flaws of their generals. Stalingrad is first and foremost the story of the man on the ground, a soldier's-eye view of fighting house-to-house on an urban battlefield, with helpless civilians caught in the crossfire. Beevor has gained access to Russian reports on desertions and executions that have never been seen by Western scholars, German transcripts of prisoner interrogations, and private letters and diaries. These help re-create the compelling human drama of the most terrible battle in modern warfare.

Marshal Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov, hero of Leningrad, defender of Moscow and Stalingrad, commander of the victorious Red Army at Berlin, was the most decorated soldier in Soviet history. Yet for many years Zhukov was relegated to the status of "unperson" in his homeland. Now, following glasnost and the fall of the Soviet Union, Zhukov is being restored to his rightful place in history. In this completely updated version of his classic 1971 biography of Zhukov, Otto Preston Chaney provides the definitive account of the man and his achievements. Zhukov’s career spanned most of the Soviet period, reflecting the turmoil of the civil war, the hardships endured by the Russian people in World War II, the brief postwar optimism evidenced by the friendship between Zhukov and Eisenhower, repression in Poland and Hungary, and the rise and fall of such political figures as Stalin, Beria, and Krushchev. The story of Russia’s greatest soldier thus offers many insights into the history of the Soviet Union itself.

In The Road to Stalingrad, Professor Erickson takes us in detail from the inept command structures and strategic delusions of the pre-invasion Soviet Union, through the humiliations as her armies fell back on all fronts before the Barbarossa onslaught, until the tide turned at last at Stalingrad. Unsparingly, he assesses the generals and political leaders and analyses the confusions and wranglings within both Allied and Axis commands. The climax, the grinding battle for Stalingrad, leaves the Red Army poised for its majestic counter-offensive, Operation 'Uranus', discovering it had 'caught a tiger by the tail'. taken from Amazon

The bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, Stalingrad was perhaps the single most important engagement of World War II. A major loss for the Axis powers, the battle for Stalingrad signaled the beginning of the end for the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler.
During the five years William Craig spent researching the battle for Stalingrad, he traveled extensively on three continents, studying documents and interviewing hundreds of survivors, both military and civilian. This unique account is their story, and the stories of the nearly two million men and women who lost their lives.

The military conferences that Hitler had twice daily with his staff, where he directed the war, were transcribed by stenographers from 1942 to 1945 in the bunker. These authentic documents are the only record kept by the Germans of their highest military decisions at the critical moment when the war turned against them.

Besieged examines the most important sieges in history—the actions and motivations of attackers and defenders along with conditions inside and outside the city walls. * Examines 100 great sieges, from Jericho in 1405 B.C. to Grozny in 1997 * Establishes the historical background of each siege, describes the siege itself in both military and human terms, and analyzes the results * Provides more than 75 maps as well as tactical diagrams, archival photographs, and artworks * Includes a glossary explaining unfamiliar military terms, from abatis to zig-zags

Morelock, a career soldier and military historian, surveys 14 major battles fought between 1860 and 1991. His choices are conventional, e.g., Gettysburg and Chickamauga, Port Arthur, Verdun, Stalingrad. Each chapter begins with a human-interest vignette, such as Prussian troops spontaneously holding their fire as the defeated French "leave the field of death unmolested." The author then discusses the weapons and tactics of the combatants, the diplomatic and operational background of the conflict and the battle itself. Eschewing the soldier's perspective, Morelock instead analyzes command decisions and their consequences. He offers neither original research nor fresh interpretations. Nevertheless, readers seeking clear summaries of modern-era combat will be well served by this unpretentious work.
from Publishers Weekly

Identifying the most world-changing clashes, this book recounts 100 significant battles and provides commentary on who won, who lost, and why. Each chapter covers a specific battle and includes a b&w map of the battle site. Lanning, retired from the US Army, has written 14 books on military history.

This encyclopedic collection of more than 200 of the most decisive and important battles throughout world history gets a fresh interpretation by a noted military historian. * Chronological organization of topics allows readers to quickly locate individual battles and place them within the larger continuum of history * Numerous illustrations, drawings, maps, and photographs depict pivotal battles and make the book visually appealing * Every essay dedicated to a specific battle has a bibliography of references for further reading * A fact box at the top of each entry provides essential information and statistics in one easy-to-access location

An analysis of the way in which terrain affects how battles are fought and ultimately how it impacts history provides essays on historical conflicts complemented by vintage and modern maps.

Throughout history men and women have fought, endured, and sometimes emerged victorious though the odds were against them. What conditions must exist to enable relatively small or weak forces to challenge and even overcome the strong? Here are twenty historical examples, from 1777 to the present, that reveal both the common themes and the exceptional aspects of those achievements.

Considered by some to be the greatest general of World War II, General Georgi Zhukov served as the Chief of Staff of the Soviet High Command, leading Soviet troops against Germans in key battles of the war. In his account of four major campaigns in the war the defense of Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk, and the advance on Berlin Zhukov describes his experiences preparing for German attacks, organizing counter-strikes, assessing the enemy, and issuing the orders that pushed the front west, towards Germany's capital. Zhukov also tells of his extensive arguments with Stalin during the war, and the political alliances and rivalries among the U. S. S. R.'s generals throughout the conflict."

By late 1942, the Germans had invaded deep into the Russian interior, their objective the vast oilfields of the Caucasus. The last obstacle that remained in their way was the city of Stalingrad. But far from being the final step in the conquest of the USSR, Stalingrad proved a bloodbath. After a terrible battle lasting "200 days", it became the first major defeat for Hitler during WWII. Half-a-million Germans died there. Perhaps three times as many Russians lost their lives. The German Army was modern, well-trained and well-led, with state of the art military equipment, high morale and a string of victories behind it. By comparison the Red Army was inexperienced, old-fashioned, and ill-equipped. So how did the Russians win? Legend goes that it was "General Winter" who defeated the German Army--but forensic analysis and historical research show that coping with freezing weather was not the only ace in the Russians' pack.

This documentary series takes an in-depth look at the Second World War through the eyes of those who lived through it: the soldiers, the victims, and the political and military leaders. Using archival footage, most of it previously unseen and now colorized, this series provides an intimate examination of history's most devastating war.

An extraordinary collection of newsreel, propaganda, and home-movie footage drawn from the archives of 18 nations, including color close-ups of Adolf Hitler taken by his mistress, that present an unvarnished prespective of the war's pivotal events. Penetrating interviews with eyewitness participants - from Hitler's secretary to Alger Hiss to ordinary citizens who stood outside the battle lines - and spine-tingling, first-hand accounts to an already unforgettable experience.

Explores the pivotal battles, profiles the commanders, and chronicles the myriad ways in which war has shaped the modern world. The 26 episodes in this monumental set draw on an encyclopedic collection of archival film dating back to 1896 to create an unforgettable visual record of every major engagement from WWI to the liberation of Kuwait.