Rating: 
Summary: Well researched historical account.
Review: Beevor's approach in writing of Stalingrad was to remain as objective and analytical as possible. It would be easy for any author to be drawn into the subjective experiences of this combat, the sniper battles, the personal suffering on both sides and the sheer horror of the coal face of the eastern front.
What Beevor does instead is to remain one step outside the suffering. He draws our attention to all of these elements, but concentrates his greatest efforts into an understanding of the management of the campaign. He meticulously traces the decision paths that led the Germans into Stalingrad and the stragegic problems faced by the Russian Stavka high command.
Most importantly he traces the history of decisions by Paulus, the subjugation to Hitler, the position of Manstein in leading the relief, and the reasons why the 6th army failed even to attempt to break out of the Kessel.
His analysis demonstrates how the Germans made one bad strategic decision after another to compound their errors leading to ultimate disaster. The day they entered Stalingrad they lost their key advantage of mobility against the Russians. Once tied down the battle became a numbers game of production, supply and troops, which could only end in favour of Russia.
"Failure to plan is planning to fail" might be the motto of the 6th army in Stalingrad. A second winter spent in Russia without adequate winter gear is incredible. The blatant lies from the Luftwaffe high command in Berlin regarding what supplies could be flown in really beggar belief. And Hitler's "no retreat" orders sealed the fate of the 6th Army.
But Beevor also demonstrates the skill of the Russians in developing their own strategy. They held onto Stalingrad by the skin of their teeth, but once they stopped the German advance, they realised the moment had arrived for a bold strategic thrust. From being a resource deprived army on the retreat they changed into a dynamic mobile attacking force. The boldness of operation "Uranus" shocked the Germans to the core, as they realised they had been ouflanked by a movement out of their own textbook.
Furthermore, the Russians correctly analysed the follow up options open to Manstein, and brilliantly neutralised his ability to relieve Stalingrad with operation "Little Saturn".
Finally, this book is summarised for me by two of the photographs in it. The second photo in the book shows victorious confident clean shaven young german troops, dressed in summer shirts, sleeves rolled up, marching into Russia. The final two photographs show tired, starving, unshaven germans, huddled miserably in greatcoats, with scraps of cloth tied to head, hands and feet, being hearded off to captivity. This is a story with a moral. Pride comes before a fall!
Rating: 
Summary: Visceral and Palpable
Review: Can you imagine a film being the equal of such a well written book?
After 4 readings of this book, I still find it utterly absorbing and fascinating.
I'm hoping a great film director will deal with this.
Rating:
Summary: Easy reading
Review: Great book. What impressed me was the fact that it is so easy to read. Usually I have difficulty with history books, but this one kept me interested. A real eye opener to what really happened. I would also recommend his other book, about the fall of Berlin.
Rating:
Summary: World Class History.
Review: I first read this book during the summer of 1999 and had never heard of the author beforehand. I took to him immediately and experienced considerable difficulty putting Stalingrad down. I usually read three or four books at a time but could not with Stalingrad as it became my sole concern until it was finished. Beevor makes use of outstanding primary source materials and his narrative technique makes one feel as if you have secret access to the innermost recesses of the minds of Chuikov, Paulus, Zhukov, von Manstein, and, of course, Hitler and Stalin. It reminded me of the old PBS documentary,
"Battleground" for the way in which it flowed. Buy it,I guarantee you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: yet another stalingrad book ..
Review: I give this one star because that is what it is worth when you compare it to the many superior books that have been written on the subject matter.I found Beevor's style of writing to be rather dull. I had to force myself to finish the book. From all the praise on the back & inside cover I was expecting to read the greatest book of all time, but sadly not.. I prefer to read books about WWII written by the soldiers that actually fought the battles. In my opinion, some modern Historians have a tendency to just rip stuff straight from the archives & other written sources. Students could do it with a few well thought out trips to the library. (An exception to this of course is Stephen Ambrose who spent his time with veterans.) Beevor's discussion and analysis of Hitler throughout the book was incredibly superficial. Beevor portrayed Hitler as being solely focused on trying to capture Stalingrad for the gratification of his ego, also that he was militarily incompetent. Milch only gets a passing mention and Manstein is portrayed simply as a hypocrite. Poor Manstein even cops it from Beevor for apparently being Jewish and therefore is portrayed as being traitorous to all sides!! A bit harsh I feel considering the circumstances of the time. . Beevor also memoans that fact that in the encirclement priority was given for rations to Germans soldiers over the Rumanian troops. Well all I can say that if the Germans are going to fight and the Rumanians fronts crumble then it made perfect sense to keep the strongest fighters fit and healthy. Also, Beevor only gives one line to the commander of the 71st (lower Saxony) Major-General Hartmann who recieved the Knight's Cross. Why? The maps in the book were also sub-standard. The photos are the usual stock standard that everyone has seen before. Also, my eyes popped out of my head when he had in his references a non fiction section featuring Heinz Konsalik & Theodor Pliever! I was almost expecting to see Sven Hassel as a reference! If you want a decent book that towers over Beevor's book, try 'Stalingrad' by Heinz Schroter (umlaut over the o). Pan 1958. And yes ... Schroter was actually there.
Rating:
Summary: "The world will hold it's breath."
Review: The Russians executed over 13,000 of their own men during Stalingrad, the lesser known turning point of the ill titled Armageddon of World War II. I say 'ill titled' because Armageddon is the biblical phrase used to describe the great final battle between good and evil. Clearly, one would have to conclude that at best Hitler and Stalin were (to get to the point) psychopaths and at worst, the 20th century's models for evil.
The push to invade the Soviet Union poised close to 4 million German and pro-Axis troops at the onset of the invasion of Russia. That such an effort could first be conceived and then implemented is in itself staggering. And yet with such covert, detailed planning, the three direction movement against Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad really begins the end of the campaign for the Third Reich.
Mr. Beevor's strongest criticism from reviewers and historical experts is that his style becomes somewhat journalistic. This is true however I remain unconvinced that in these efforts of horror on a world level, possibly that is the only way to record it. Body counts and mileage gained in three days of fighting may not be the best method to report such carnage. 'Blood, mud and ice' may be better.
In any event, Mr. Beevor has created a mnasterpiece that should be included in any serious library. For me, I must tell you that I could not put it down. Larry Scantlebury. 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: One of the four best works on Stalingrad ever written
Review: This book by noted writer Antony Beevor joins three others that are essential English language "classics" on Stalingrad. These important books are John Erickson's "The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin's War with Germany" and Joel Hayward's "Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East 1942-1943" and Earl Ziemke and Magna Bauer's "Moscow to Stalingrad: Decision in the East". Beevor has used all three and produced a work that is the least academic but arguably most exciting of all. He has also used Manfred Kehrig's "Stalingrad: Analyse und Dokumentation einer Schlacht"which is not available in English --- sadly. Beevor also uses the latest research on the Soviets, including the books by David Glantz. He paid researchers to translate unpublished Soviet documents, which also enrich his text. The book is clearly an excellent overview of the efforts put into winning at Stalingrad by both sides. As scholars have noted in learned articles, Beevor ignores airpower and only deals sketchily with strategy, but his narrative of the human experience of warfare is more than compensatory.
Rating:
Summary: About as good as the popular history of conflict can get.
Review: This book, taking advantage of unrestricted access to Soviet archives, re-tells the story of the events that led up to the siege of the German 6th army, describes the siege itself, and its tragic aftermath. There are three main reasons why this book is such a triumph of history for a wide audience. The first is that the author, Antony Beevor, has the gift of the best historians, which is to make the reader want to know more about the people and events within his work. He neatly balances the details of camp life with the nature of the combat as seen by all those involved, and the personalities of the officers with the fears and hopes of the rank and file, expressed through song, cartoon, and letter.
The second reason is that this book suffers from no preconceptions or illusions about the events within, and it avoids that worst peril of military histories, the will to argue with other military histories, and to portion out blame and praise. Beevor tries, and at least partially succeeds, at showing the confused and imprecise nature of the conflict, the multiple perspectives of its many participants. One of the worse traps of history is to establish the false causality of hindsight, to forget that the peoples of the past had no greater ability to see into the future than we do, and that their capacity to learn is often outpaced by events.
The third and best reason for reading this book is for its subtle reminders of the actuality of these events. Beevor does his best to dissolve the seemingly mechanical nature of conflict and to place you in the battle bodily, smelling nitrite, being bitten by lice, and hunted by snipers. Those who would have us believe that battle is made by leaders with maps, and that it all comes down to mathematics of guns and coats and oil, will receive a powerfull rebuttal from this chronicle, and the rest of us will receive a salutary reminder of the whirlwind that is war.
Rating:
Summary: Turning point in Europe
Review: This is a great world war history book I ever read. The turning point Victory in Europe. Russia was not just only t have a great fighting spirit, strategies and worst socialist ideology to fight Nazi German but also the luck of the hard-frozen winter that stop Hitler's ambitious to invade Russia. It is very detail and highly written by Antony Beevor. Anybody who interested in World War II history, don't miss this one!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This is an outstanding account of a pivotal, maybe THE pivotal battle in WWII. GermanyÕs war with the allies in the west was almost gentlemanly by comparison with what was occurring on the eastern (Russian) front, which was essentially a racial war of mutual extermination. The author describes how most German and Russian soldiers fought with great bravery, but also the difficulties experienced with desertion and malingering. One is overwhelmed by the extreme brutality and cynicism practiced in this theater of the war. Soldiers and civilians alike were treated by both sides with an almost unbelievable degree of callousness. This history is based on primary sources and describes (through extensive quotation of letters) both the severe conditions and extreme privations endured by ordinary soldiers and the larger issues of strategy and politics that concerned the generals in charge. This an exceptionally balanced and well-rounded book that I highly recommend to both casual and committed readers of military history. The maps are excellent, and the photographs well-chosen.
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