Stalingrad 1942

Stalingrad has become a by-word for grim endurance and tenacity; for the
refusal to give up, no matter the cost. In this book, Peter Antill
takes a dispassionate look at one of the most talked about battles in
history. He asks why the Germans allowed themselves to be diverted from
their main objective, which was to capture the oil fields of the
Caucasus, and concentrate such large resources on a secondary target. He
discusses the merits of the commanders on both sides and also the
relationship on the German side with Hitler as well as reviewing the
ways in which the command structures influenced the battle. Apart from
the overall question of German objectives, this book also unpicks the
detail of unit directions, priorities and deployments, leading to a
vivid account of the day-by-day war of attrition that took place in
Stalingrad during World War II (1939-1945), between September 14, 1942
and February 2, 1943. Stalingrad was more than a turning point, it was
the anvil on which the back of German military ambitions in the east
were broken and the echoes of its death knell were heard in Berlin and
indeed the world over.