| Description |
xxix, 813 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 689-788) and index. |
| Summary |
The battle on the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945 was the single most decisive factor of World War II. Now, drawing on sources newly available since the collapse of the Soviet Union, historian and journalist Chris Bellamy presents the first full account of this deadly conflict. He presents a shocking picture of battle in which the traditional restraints of "civilized" warfare were shed. He makes clear how the Soviets quickly rallied against Hitler in a struggle that the Russian people call the Great Patriotic War. He shows how Soviet men--and women--joined in a war whose casualties were later steeply underestimated by their government, and how even the true death toll, at 27 million, does not count the millions of lives that lay shattered. Finally, Bellamy examines the far-reaching consequences--the reverberations of which are still felt today--and argues that the cost of victory was ultimately too much for the Soviet Union to bear.--From publisher description. |
| Contents |
Flight of the rabid wolf: the long-term impact of the war in the east -- Absolute and total war -- 'A cruel romance': the Nazi-Soviet alliance and Soviet expansion, August to November 1939 -- Further Soviet expansion and cooperation with Germany, November 1939 to June 1941 -- Who planned to attack whom, and how? -- The war's worst-kept secret -- Iron road east: the country, the forces -- Barbarossa unleashed, and the battles of the frontiers -- Kremlin at war -- Winning oneself to death -- Midnight in Moscow -- Black snow -- White night: Leningrad, September 1941 to February 1944 -- The 'Grand Alliance' -- To the edge of the abyss: the worst year - 1942 -- From defence to attack: the Caucasus, Stalingrad and Mars -- Kursk, and a new professionalism -- Destroying the Wehrmacht. Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic: reasserting Soviet control -- Victory -- New world order. |
| Subjects |
World War, 1939-1945 -- Soviet Union.
|
|
Soviet Union -- History -- German occupation, 1941-1944.
|
| Other Title |
Soviet Russia in the Second World War |
| ISBN |
9780375410864 (alk. paper) |
|
0375410864 (alk. paper) |
| OCLC # |
154678367 |
|
148997225 |
|
