In a recent thread someone had mentioned 'The Forgotten Solider' by Guy Sager. I got a copy, read it and really enjoyed it. Even though he did not fight at Stalingrad, it got me thinking that I would like to read a good history of that decisive battle.

My first thought was to look for a copy of Anthony Beevor's 'Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege', but was wondering what others thought of it, or if they'd recommend something different.

William Craig's book was the go-to volume for many years, but has since been surpassed.

Of all the Stalingrad history books I've read, Anthony Beevor's would definitely be my recommendation as the best choice for a one volume comprehensive history of the battle.

David Glantz recently released a trilogy of books on Stalingrad, which I've heard are good and delve into the battle with even greater detail, but I haven't had a chance to read them yet.

After finishing Beevor, another Stalingrad book that you might also read is David Robbins' novel "War of the Rats". It served as the basis for the film "Enemy at the Gates" (which took it's title from Craig but it's sniper duel storyline from Robbins). It's fiction, but it's a fun read if you're interested in Stalingrad.

Not a book strictly about Stalingrad - but another book from the perspective of a German Army soldier is 'Soldat'.

Have you ever read that? It's very good and unlike 'The Forgotten Soldier' is written from an officer's perspective so he has much more of a 'higher level' knowledge about what is going on around him. In terms of the various battles, fronts, troop / unit dispositions, political insight, etc.

I am interested in the responses also - the battle of Stalingrad is perhaps the most significant siege in the history of mankind. The scale of it is beyond understanding.

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I'll second the recommendation for Anthony Beevor's book - it will make you realize how brutal the Battle of Stalingrad was.

-Tom

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
William Craig's book was the go-to volume for many years, but has since been surpassed.

William Craig's "Enemy At The Gates" is one of my favorite books. I haven't read any other non-fiction book on Stalingrad, so I can't really compare it to other works, but I can certainly recommend this one.

I also read enemy at the gates and soldat. Enemy at the gates was good. It has the cover of the movie poster on it but dont be fooled, at lot of it is very different.

Soldat was interesting prespective for sure. Also read panzer leader by guderian another good one.

Thanks guys.

I ordered both Beevor's 'Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege' and 'Soldat'.

'Enemy at the Gates' is currently on sale for Kindle - so I'll probably get that too.