I love to read, and one of the reasons I enjoy sharing thoughts on books is because some of them stay with you. Stalingrad by Antony Beevor is one of those books.
This book tells the story of one of the greatest battles of World War II. Other than D-Day, this is the battle that really settled the war in Europe. It was also one of the most devastating battles in all of human history.
In February 1943, the Soviet Union dealt Nazi Germany its first major—and biggest—loss of the war. That moment changed the trajectory of everything that followed. After Stalingrad, the direction of the war was no longer the same.
That’s what the book is about, and I really liked it. There’s so much to say about this book, but what stands out most to me is its grittiness. Beevor makes you feel the devastation on both sides, especially for the ordinary soldiers. You feel their sorrow as they realize they’re never coming home. You feel the hunger, the cold, and the exhaustion.
And you start to feel sympathy for them, because they were being led by two different men who were, in many ways, the same type of person. Hitler and Stalin were megalomaniacs who didn’t care about throwing entire armies away if it meant reaching their goals. Thousands and thousands of people died because neither one would stop.
The writing itself is excellent. Not every history book feels like you’re reading a novel or a work of literature, but this one definitely does. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. And honestly, it made me feel angry—angry that all of this really happened the way that it did.
I couldn’t recommend Stalingrad enough.
Page Turner Book Blog by Kyle Page 