false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177991492m/748526.jpg 748526 1 Many histories of the Second World War written by American and English authors downplay Russia's critical role in the Allied triumph over Germany. Some of this has to do with the Cold War rivalry that emerged after 1945, and perhaps more of it comes from a lack of Russian source material and unfamiliarity with the Russian language. In any event, Alan Clark's classic study of the Eastern Front remains the best book on the subject, "the greatest and longest land battle which mankind has ever fought." These pages concentrate on four major events: Moscow in the winter of 1941, Stalingrad, the Kursk offensive in 1943, and the battles on the Oder at the start of 1945. The author, first a historian and later Margaret Thatcher's secretary of state, suggests that the Russians might very well have won the war on their own, or at least fought the Germans to a standstill, without American intervention. He also makes the provocative point that Hitler's military instincts were often quite good, and usually better than his generals'--contrary to received wisdom. <i>Barbarossa</i> is a reliable and readable account. 734667 25 6 1985 Barbarossa total:50|5:1|4:2|3:0|2:0|1:0| 50 196 69 8 3 0 false false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 12:12:54 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 14:50:16 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Dec 14 11:36:24 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 20:41:36 -0800 2008 The defense of Moscow and the Siege of Stalingrad were episodes of high drama.]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 07 17:42:22 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 17:42:22 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Dec 30 21:42:23 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 19 09:43:32 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 15 15:17:28 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 15:17:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 03 20:33:39 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 20:36:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Apr 12 10:58:10 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 12 10:58:10 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu Sep 06 23:45:57 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 07 00:22:30 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Tue Nov 17 04:20:55 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 04:20:55 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 05 12:08:06 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 12:08:06 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 10:31:31 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 10:31:31 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Oct 14 00:41:32 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 00:41:32 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 12 21:52:54 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 21:53:13 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Oct 10 17:42:26 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 17:42:26 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 29 21:43:46 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 21:43:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Sep 27 15:28:57 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 15:29:00 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 25 07:28:32 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 07:28:32 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Sep 08 21:11:06 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 21:11:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Aug 11 17:55:19 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 17:55:19 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jul 30 20:36:09 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 20:36:16 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=748526