The Commander Series Forum

Total War: From Stalingrad to Berlin, by Michael Jones, published by John Murray.

Having read Michael Jones’s earlier book The Retreat: Hitler’s First Defeat, I was looking forward to what this book would offer. The basic synopsis is that Jones covers the period from Stalingrad until the final defeat of Germany. It is pictured largely through the recollections of veterans (of all ranks) and the writing of those that were killed, mainly from Soviet witnesses.

As a piece of social history the book is fascinating and gives many insights not only into the lives of the soldiers at the front, but also of their thoughts, hopes, fears and motivations. The book shows both the best and the worst of people. Naturally repeating the amazing self-sacrifice, bravery and kindness of the ordinary people caught up in this conflict, but also covering much of the suffering and sheer human depravity; with the wanton murder and rape from both sides. And even though there has been much written about them, those sections on the scorched earth policy of the Nazis in Belorussia/Ukraine and the discovery by the Soviet troops of Treblinka and Auschwitz still have the power to numb your belief. This goes beyond the sheer statistics of the casualties on the Eastern Front and brings the war back down to the experiences of the people involved.

For a wargamer, however, I think the book is less useful in developing any scenarios, campaigns or of working out where units fought, so don’t expect that. But, if, like me, you also enjoy reading around the subject to get something of the atmosphere, and to respect the human reality of this conflict, it’s a good read. However, I do think that the sheer scale of trying to cover nearly three years of the war (where his his previous books were limited by a period or geographical place) this book falls down on being perhaps too sweeping and general.

Seven out of Ten.

This sounds interesting

There is also a series of books on WW2 for $2.99 each
http://www.amazon.com/Wehrmacht-Russia-Primary-...
see the "Customers who bought this also bought" section for additional titles.

sounds like an excellent book RobertA

I might give it a go. I've just read Barbarossa by Alan Clarke,a pretty good read Though not as thorough as "Road to Stalingrad" and "Road to Berlin" by John Ericson.

That said, Anthony Beevor's "Stalingrad" and "Berlin" are worth a visit to the library.

Not read the Ericson books - shall look out for them, but I've read Alan Clarke's and Anthony Beevor's books and enjoyed all of them immensely. I find Beevor's books are more readable, but I enjoyed Barbarossa too! Clarkes book on Crete is also a good read, but the analysis lacks the Enigma information, which wasn't available when the book was written.

Andy

Ericson can be a bit overwhelming to tackle as he's big on detail(but still readable). I find it best as a reference for individual campaigns,otherwise my middle aged brain loses track of which general (especially the Russian ones) were doing what and where. But not as confusing as "China at War 1901-1949".They are well worth the effort though.

Erickson was a tremendously gifted academic (I suppose he was a historian but it was as a Soviet watcher that he made his name). His understanding of Soviet military history was probably second to none (at least outside the Soviet Union) and not equalled by anyone outside the intelligence services over here. (Assuming you think he was outside them - his National Service was in the Intelligence Corps and he was head of the Centre for Defence Studies in Edinburgh and published for RUSI). Trouble is he knew so much that he wanted everyone else to know it too before he could explain his conclusions. His work comes from a much deeper understanding than Clarke or Beevor could ever hope to achieve - he was a fluent Russian linguist who had many personal contacts with the Soviet hierarchy. His problem was he found it difficult to convey the nuances he felt were essential to understand to a wide audience. In this respect I always found him the military history equivalent of Stephen Hawking - you knew he was brilliant, you just weren't quite certain exactly how, or why.

He also wasn't entirely popular in some corridors of power when he kept insisting that the Russians weren't quite as scary as they (or the Brass) wanted everyone to believe - The Soviet Navy especially he thought overated (although Gorshkov tried to make it more of a threat for him later.)

I've always fancied going back and re-reading 'Soviet Ground Forces: An Operational Assessment' in the light of what happened after (and now nobody's making me do it!) to see how it stacks up, but I suspect life is too short.

Defintely worth having a go at the two volumes of Stalin's War With Germany though, but don't worry if you don't read 'em right through - it really isn't you, its him.

Don't get me wrong, excellent writer, but so good at imparting his vast knowledge that I needed a break between chapters . . .