A study of World War II is an exercise in tragedy. To compare it to a Greek or even Shakespearean play is to engage in understatement and reverse hyperbole: World War II is comparable to nothing else in history. A student will delve into the political and economic backstory, come to vaguely understand the causes and the historical indices of what was to come. Next he will learn of the epic battles and the strife that engaged millions. But lurking in the shadows, like an especially miserable and

This title was the catalyst for my enduring fascination with books covering the fighting on the Eastern Front during World War Two. This is a great story of the fighting at Stalingrad endured by the German and Russian armies. Although not as deeply researched as Glantz’s titles this book offers an insight into the soldier’s war and does it brilliantly. This is still one of my top ten books ever which isn’t bad considering it was first published in the early 1970’s. Recommended for anyone who lov...

One would not be entirely correct if one thinks that the movie Enemy At The Gates was based on this book, even though the movie posters claims it to be so. Somehow, it resembles more with the book War of the Rats by David L. Robbins, which is a fictionalized account of the duel between two sharpshooters in the warzone of Stalingrad. In my opinion, Stalingrad (1993) is a way better movie than the Hollywood one.This book in fact covers the whole battle of Stalingrad from the German perspective. Fo...

Enemy at the Gates is a narrative full of eye witness accounts that makes the battle of Stalingrad come to life. You will not be able to put it down. I promise you that this book will haunt you through the rest of your days.I am haunted by the contents of this book. First, I read it on my kindle. I liked it so well that I ordered the audio version. I listened to the audio version two or three more times. As I read about 6th Army advancing toward Stalingrad I could see the dust of the panzers ris...

I knew the basics about Stalingrad before reading this book: that it was perhaps the most important battle of the war and a huge turning point, that it involved sniper battles, house-to-house fighting, huge casualties on both sides, and entire armies from Germany and Romania pretty much disappearing. This book gave me a more complete picture of the battle, its scope, and how it unfolded. It wasn’t a happy read. The Soviets get pushed back almost all the way to the Volga and barely hang on. They

An entirely sobering account of the epochal battle of Stalingrad. The ruthlessness and inhumanity of war is nakedly exposed. Corpses abound – towards the end rotting bodies are stacked up in makeshift German hospitals.Stalingrad is what can happen to invaders. Although one feels sympathy for the Germans in reading their letters home to their wives and parents – there is no introspection in these letters of the reasons of why they were so far from their homeland. When one seeks to destroy a city

I found this book deeply problematic. Partly this is because I am irredeemably fussy and will nitpick anything to death, given half a chance. But I think my fundamental concern is a valid and important one. In this book, Craig has made some choices with which I vehemently disagree. One is to tell the story of Stalingrad rather than the history, which he does by largely turning the progress of the siege into a series of interlaced human interest stories. The other, related choice is to radically

A classic of military history -- and for good reason. A wrenching, detailed account of the Battle for Stalingrad in 1942-1943. Among the most interesting surprises and particularly memorable characters? The Soviet female sniper. The young Russian teenager who pretended to be a cobbler repairing German officers' shoes, but was actually providing valuable reconnaissance to the Soviet Army. And the Italian physician, who found astonishing ways to survive in the POW camp until the end of the war.

Don't even harbor the thought that the film version of "Enemy at the Gates" bears anything but cursory relation to this book. The movie was actually based on a fictionalized book called "War of the Rats." If you want to read one book about the Hell that was World War II, this is the one. This is a sweeping chronicle of the most heinous campaign in the history of human warfare - Stalingrad. William Craig's command of the material is complete; the realities of everyday life and death are essayed t...

William Craig's account of the battle for Stalingrad is overwhelmingly taken from interviews and accounts, diaries and letters, and official memorandum. Thus, while the movements of troops and of strategic planning is described so that the reader has an overall picture of the theater, it is the human element that gives the book its structure. Vignette after vignette unrolls as Craig follows the German Sixth Army across the steppes to Stalingrad, and how their initial enthusiasm turns to surprise...

One of the best battle accounts incorporating both sides while keeping a fair perspective. Fascinating and bloody, the battle was a key turning point to the war and this one should be read. *Oct 2012 Reread* This book remains a "must-read" on Stalingrad. It ranges from the grand strategy of Hitler's invasion of the USSR down to the grunts in the cellars and rubble of the city. Horror, cruelty and suffering yet flashes of humanity and charity in a titanic battle. Excellent reading even if it is a...

This book is an account of one of the most decisive battles of World War II. It marks the spot in history when the Russian Army stopped retreating from the relentless German invasion which was started in June 1941, and when the utter, catastrophic defeat of the Germans gave the Russians and their allies in the United States and Great Britain a huge morale boost. This was one of those turning points where the ultimate outcome of a great conflict could trace its origins. The invasion of the Soviet...

This book was first published in 1973 then was reissued in 2001, as a movie-tie book for the film of the same name. The book is considered one of the best written about the siege of Stalingrad. The battle for Stalingrad was waged from August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943. The battle was critical to the fate of the Eastern Front.General Frederick von Paulus’s German Sixth Army was fresh from crushing the Ukraine. In three years of warfare the Sixth Army was undefeated, having scored victories in P...

For WWII history buffs, this book is mandatory. The Russians had no idea that they had trapped so many Germans in Stalingrad during their November 1942 pincer movement. The bold Russian move along with diminishing supplies and brutal weather sealed the German's fate. This book details the day-by-day and hour-by-hour deterioration of German existence inside the Stalingrad pocket or "kessel" (Cauldron). Descriptive personal testimony of trauma, starvation, frostbite and even post-war follow up on

Written in the early 70s, the author had the opportunity to interview survivors from the Russian forces, local civilians, German soldiers and a couple of Italians. Coupled with access to the war records available at the time this is a terribly fascinating military history study. The book is sensibly divided into two halves - the Battle for Stalingrad followed by the Russian pincer movement and entrapment of the German Sixth Army. The battle descriptions ranged from broad summaries of troop movem...

An accessible, riveting, graphic and very well-written history of the battle.The narrative is engaging, insightful and balanced, and Craig vividly covers the savagery and human toll of the fighting, the horrible conditions the Russians and Germans fought under, and the courage and brutality of the men there. Along with the coverage of the strategic and tactical picture, Craig does a great job putting a human face on the struggle, and explaining the battle’s context and significance. There are a

This took me forever to finish. It is still a good book but it is about a sense4less act. Prior to the battle of Stalingrad 600,000 people lived there. When it was over, 1,500 persons lived there and a good number of those died in the opening days of battle. We will never know the numbers of Russians that died in the battle. Much like Grant, Stalin with superior numbers just sent battalion after battalion to the battle until he won. Hitler could not admit defeat and would not allow a timely retr...

STALINGRAD.The name evokes pain, suffering, hardship, death. William Craig’s Enemy at the Gates conveys all of the above and more. Published in 1973, Craig’s book is compiled from scores of survivor interviews, letters, communiqués and protagonist memoirs from both sides. The reader is immersed in the freezing trenches and basements of privates and NCOs, the command bunkers of German and Russian generals and Führer headquarters at the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia. No detail is spared and the brut...

One thing that struck me about this book is that it's so narrative-focused, and therefore so accessible. I had concerns throughout much of the book, though, as the author delves quite frequently into the alleged thoughts of the figures he is writing about, and I was worried that he might be embellishing. Furthermore, the author didn't cite sources until the bibliography. However, it seems he did a lot of leg-work and enough of this comes from interviews that I am more comfortable with the style

A couple of months ago I read a non-fiction account of an air-raid against my hometown during World War II. The book ("Ploesti" by James Duggan) whetted my apetite for other similar accounts from that conflagration. Being already familiar with the two famous novels by Cornelius Ryan ("The Longest Day" and "A Bridge Too Far") I turned my attention to the Eastern front and to what is arguably the deciding battle of the whole conflict: Marked by constant close quarters combat and direct assaults on...

Excellent book despite its age, a very personal look at the Battle of Stalingrad from the Generals to the soldiers on both sides suffering its effects. Reads quickly and doesnt have a single dry spot.

This non-fiction book reads like a novel. It is very informative. Written from extensive interviews and diary accounts from both sides of the battle of Stalingrad. I could not put it down.

This was an impressive, dramatic, and heart ripping account of that part of the European history.I wanted some point of view from the side of the ordinary soldiers and other people implicated in this colosal battle and in this peculiar volume you have it all, from the german to the italian and rusian side. There was also a small passage about the romanian army, but, as usual, there aren`t a lot of information about them in this kind of books. AT the time of the writing this book Romania was a de...

Every couple of years, I read or re-read a book about Stalingrad. I don't know why - probably to remind me that however bad life gets, life will hopefully never get "Stalingrad from 1942 to 1943" bad. So, some horrific highlights:1. Lice are everywhere. Wounded soldiers fall asleep and wake up to lice crawling into their wounds because it's warm. Lice flee from the bodies of dead soldiers because they quickly freeze.2. German soldiers called it RattenKrieg (Rat War) because they bombed the city

I have my grandfather's original copy of this book, which was a huge motivator for me to read it. Plus, I love anything having to do with World War II history. Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad is a non-fiction collection of interviews Craig conducted turned into a loose narrative outlining this critical battle. Historically, the Battle for Stalingrad triggered the end of the War for the Germans. Craig's account details the battle, which at times came down to a handful of buildings d...

This book tells the story of the Battle of Stalingrad. It is based on interviews with survivors, along with a great deal of research. It documents both strategy and tactics of the battle, from the perspective of both the Germans and Russians, attempting to provide a neutral account. I recommend it to those who want to understand what happened in WWII and, in general, students of history. It is at times difficult to read due to various accounts of the horrors of war and associated atrocities. I h...

I watched the movie before reading the book; a mistake I'll never do again. The movie was a blockbuster but the novel was much more than that. William Craig knows how to get us attached to the characters and how to bring them to life. A true masterpiece describing the Eastern front in WWII.

Heroism, courage, the almost maniacal will to survive, loyalty, patriotism- yep, all these things shone in this history of the World War Two battle for Stalingrad. Also stupidity, blind pride, vengefulness, and barbarity. But what I both sadly and angrily take away from this is the sheer monstrous insanity of the worship, the deification, of orders to kill. We're taught, just as these men and women, from infancy to obey, obey, obey. Do not question the order to kill, to maim, to destroy. Instead...

Gruesome yet factual We all heard the word Stalingrad during any history about world war 2. Even watched the famous Russian sniper movie too. I didn’t know much about the battle of Stalingrad. Until now, holy heck with all gruesome and bloody battle. It sounds so unbelievable when I read it but it is true. War isn’t all about flowers and sunsets. It is all about deaths and destruction. It was a good read to see many views. If anybody wants to know more about Stalingrad then this could be a good

The Battle of Stalingrad defies all belief. A clash of two great powers, the devastation and suffering wrecked upon the Volga in 1942-1943 is something that most Americans cannot comprehend. Craig does a tremendous job painting a picture of the horrors of Stalingrad by simultaneously weaving individual narratives of specific players into the broader, strategic action. The battle itself was relatively simple and what makes the action so compelling is not the genius of commanders but the indomitab...