To the Gates of Stalingrad(David M. Glantz)

[PainRack]

http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Stalingrad- ... 0700616306

Anyone read this book?

I found it fascinating, in particular, his claim that even prior to reaching Stalingrad, the German armies was already over-extended. He demolished arguments that the German was advancing over open terrain against retreating Soviet armies, showing Stalin orders where the Red Armies stood to and fought. Similarly, the Germans destroyed a total of six armies prior to reaching Stalingrad, showing the scale and success of the german advance. However, the Soviets brought up more armies from their reserves and essentially fought Stalingrad with the same number of fighting units as before.

Its also amazing the scale of German/Russian combat. My exposure to the topic had focussed entirely on the German drive up to the Cacaussus as well as the battle within the city itself, yet, the author demonstrates that even as the Germans reached Stalingrad, there were still constant flank battles and counter-attacks by the Soviets. More telling, the bridgeheads that would spell disaster for the German allied divisions had already been captured as the siege of Stalingrad occurred. He described a failed counter-attack by 3 tank armies at Voronezh in july and how initial attempts by the Germans to consolidate against this and other threats was overruled by Halder and Hitler.

He also did an excellent expose on German/Russian operations along Moscow, as "diversionary" operations tied up Soviet forces and the like.

I would love to get my hands on the 2nd book where he details how the battle of Stalingrad was fought, and apparently, the Germans even outnumbered the Soviets at time as opposed to an urban brawl.

[MKSheppard]

I have heard of the book(s) -- apparently Glantz wants to do a trilogy on it.

What I really do hope is that Book 2 goes into real detail about Stalingrad's urban fighting. So many times I've read a book on Stalingrad, and it just leaves out all the detail of the house to house fighting -- you get maybe a couple pages on Pavlov's House or the Tractor Works; and then BAM it's time for the grand encirclement that cuts off the 6th Armee.

[K. A. Pital]

There's lots of good books detailing urban warfare in Stalingrad, but they are in Russian. However, Google Translate is not that bad with military literature, because the langauge is mostly dry as the Mojave Wasteland.

[PainRack]

Shep, I would recommend getting the first book anyway. It gives an excellent operational view on the battles, german and russian forces leading up to the battle of Stalingrad.

I'm not sure whether it counts as a populist work, but it certainly does overturn earlier, populist ideas about the Operation Blau.

[Vehrec]

I checked on Amazon-it seems the third book is coming soon, but I'm not sure what the second contains exactly. Reviews indicate that it's less house-to-house small unit stuff that Shep might like, and generally keeps the viewpoint pulled back, up to divisional level at times. It supposedly is very dry but still engaging.

[K. A. Pital]

"Supposedly"? Glantz is always dry and it's not a work of art. It is a technical work, much like all his works. His work on Leningrad, for example, is all about units, movements, engagements and nothing about the details of either fighting or Leningrad's suffering under the blockade.

[Vehrec]

"Supposedly"? Glantz is always dry and it's not a work of art. It is a technical work, much like all his works. His work on Leningrad, for example, is all about units, movements, engagements and nothing about the details of either fighting or Leningrad's suffering under the blockade.

I've never read Glantz's work, so all I have to go on is Amazon reviews, which also spawned the infamous Three Wolf Moon Meme. While I do not dout that Glantz is dry and technical and three wolves on a shirt make it worth five stars, I do take Amazon reviews with a grain of salt.