决战

Stalingrad Trilogy #2

by David M. Glantz, Jonathan M. House, 戴维·M. 格兰茨

苏德军队在斯大林格勒的激战是一场规模空前的大较量，这场战役既是第二次世界大战的转折点，也是这场战争的威力及破坏的持久象征。不过，尽管历史学家们对这场史诗般的战役投以诸多关注，但其中仍有极大的误解和未解之谜——而戴维·格兰茨，这位研究二战红军的最高权威，现在将其逐一解开。

德国人进攻斯大林格勒，最初的目的是为了掩护德军侧翼，但面对斯大林“不许后退一步”的命令，这场进攻戏剧性地陷入停滞。苏军在斯大林格勒城内的顽强防御引发了一场巷战，德军对此毫无准备，结果丧失了他们特有的机动性、压倒性炮火和空中支援，并导致了最终的崩溃。

《决战斯大林格勒》一书延续了戴维·格兰茨、乔纳森·豪斯对东线这场最具代表性的战役和希特勒首次重大战略挫败的全新的出色描述。《斯大林格勒战役三部曲》的第一部叙述的是德国军队进抵斯大林格勒城下，而本部的重点则是导致这座城市沦为废墟的激烈战斗。

过去对这场战役的叙述依靠的是苏联方面的军事回忆录，由于相关错误和保密原因，这些著作不甚准确。而格兰茨和豪斯研究了过去从未有人使用过的资料，包括内务人民委员部（NKVD）的档案和苏联第62集团军、德国第6集团军的记录，从而为这场殊死战役提供了前所未见的细节和全新诠释。这些资料使两位作者得以重现逐时、逐街甚至逐楼的战斗，揭示出苏联守军如何在整座城市里设立起歼敌区并反复伏击德军先头部队。

两位作者还将对这些战斗的描述与希特勒、斯大林、双方的最高统帅部和战地将领所做的决定以及东线较大的战事加以结合。他们在书中表明，德军的实力远较想象的为弱，消耗战造成的损失迫使德国人投入更少、更缺乏经验的士兵，以弥补先前的损失，并在一条不断延伸的后勤补给线上实施作战。

《决战斯大林格勒》以一部宏大战争著作的叙事力写就，取代了先前所有相关著作，与重点描述红军反攻行动的第三部一同构成了《斯大林格勒战役三部曲》的核心。

Genres: History, World War II, Military History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, Russian History

880 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

David M. Glantz is an American military historian and the editor of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies.

Glantz received degrees in history from the Virginia Military Institute and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Defense Language Institute, Institute for Russian and Eastern European Studies, and U.S. Army War College. He entered active service with the United States Army in 1963.

He began his military career in 1963 as a field artillery officer from 1965 to 1969, and served in various assignments in the United States, and in Vietnam during the Vietnam War with the II Field Force Fire Support Coordination Element (FSCE) at the Plantation in Long Binh.

After teaching history at the United States Military Academy from 1969 through 1973, he completed the army’s Soviet foreign area specialist program and became chief of Estimates in US Army Europe’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (USAREUR ODCSI) from 1977 to 1979. Upon his return to the United States in 1979, he became chief of research at the Army’s newly-formed Combat Studies Institute (CSI) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from 1979 to 1983 and then Director of Soviet Army Operations at the Center for Land Warfare, U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 1983 to 1986. While at the College, Col. Glantz was instrumental in conducting the annual "Art of War" symposia which produced the best analysis of the conduct of operations on the Eastern Front during the Second World War in English to date. The symposia included attendance of a number of former German participants in the operations, and resulted in publication of the seminal transcripts of proceedings. Returning to Fort Leavenworth in 1986, he helped found and later directed the U.S. Army’s Soviet (later Foreign) Military Studies Office (FMSO), where he remained until his retirement in 1993 with the rank of Colonel.

In 1993, while at FMSO, he established The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, a scholarly journal for which he still serves as chief editor, that covers military affairs in the states of Central and Eastern Europe as well as the former Soviet Union.

A member of the Russian Federation’s Academy of Natural Sciences, he has written or co-authored more than twenty commercially published books, over sixty self-published studies and atlases, and over one hundred articles dealing with the history of the Red (Soviet) Army, Soviet military strategy, operational art, and tactics, Soviet airborne operations, intelligence, and deception, and other topics related to World War II. In recognition of his work, he has received several awards, including the Society of Military History’s prestigious Samuel Eliot Morrison Prize for his contributions to the study of military history.

Glantz is regarded by many as one of the best western military historians of the Soviet role in World War II.[1] He is perhaps most associated with the thesis that World War II Soviet military history has been prejudiced in the West by its over-reliance on German oral and printed sources, without being balanced by a similar examination of Soviet source material. A more complete version of this thesis can be found in his paper “The Failures of Historiography: Forgotten Battles of the German-Soviet War (1941-1945).” Despite his acknowledged expertise, Glantz has occasionally been criticized for his stylistic choices, such as inventing specific thoughts and feelings of historical figures without reference to documented sources.

Glantz is also known as an opponent of Viktor Suvorov's thesis, which he endeavored to rebut with the book Stumbling Colossus.

He lives with his wife Mary Ann Glantz in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The Glantzes' daughter Mary E. Glantz, also a historian, has written FDR And The Soviet Union: The President's Battles Over Forei

Reviews

[Creighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think if I was to conduct a poll and ask people who are World War Two aficionados how many and which books they have read on the battle of Stalingrad, I would probably get a majority who have read either “Enemy At The Gates” or Anthony Beevors book on Stalingrad. While I think these books are great (I can personally attest to Beevors book as I’ve read it) and you should read them, I think one who truly wants to know about this battle -or for that matter, any historical event- shouldn’t just read one book. I am a curious person when it comes to history, especially the eastern front, and I will read as many books as I can. David Glantz’s 4 volume series on the battle of Stalingrad is one of those series that I wanted to read, not just for the detail, but to truly understand the battle I had heard so much about.
The History Channel, and many history books written try to present things in a narrative, and this is definitely true with Stalingrad. Most people unfortunately do not care to learn about the details, they want something they can soak up quickly without any spark of effort; and with the TV series, and movies, people don’t want to spend time going through long books. It is these factors, along with a biased, cold war, German, narrative that present us with this repetition of the same old story about Stalingrad. For a long time, I was in the dark about this, but when I discovered a youtuber by the name of “TIKHistory”, he truly changed everything for me. He made me realize that there is so much information buried in books that the only way someone can truly be a “historian” is by reading, research, and he fueled my desire for knowledge. In my previous review, I mentioned how I was recommended by him to read David Glantz’s writing, and I have to say that I am thankful I did. A long time ago, I would’ve thought of reading as a chore, and would’ve wanted to spend most of my time on my computer playing some World War Two game, but now I spend most of my time reading. I used to gawk at the hundreds of pages I had to read, but now I see them as entertainment.
I give this book a five-star rating because in my own opinion, I feel it is a book I would read again, and that I truly enjoy. Glantz has illuminated many dark spots about the eastern front, and about Stalingrad that I didn’t fathom. While I have to say, his books aren’t like Beevors where you get a narrative, and he is labeled a dry writer; I personally love that about Glantz, and think it’s what makes him unique as a writer. I know of no other author who writes in this style; I wish there was someone like David Glantz who wrote this kind of material around the Napoleonic Wars, the Civil War, the American Revolution, and other conflicts, as we need more writers like him. What most might see as dry and dull, I see as wonderful, and to be honest, this is how an academic history should be written. While I could make the case that Glantz’s work is too detailed, I personally don’t think so, because I think one could read his whole series, and then pick up another book written by a different author on Stalingrad and they could connect what their reading with what they read in Glantz’s work.

Glantz is perhaps the best researcher on this subject, and one thing I truly loved was how he quoted German and Russians sources all the time in his writings. Most authors just sum up sources, or don't want to spend the time quoting them, but he did. Keeping in mind that Glantz has spent lots of time in the Russian & German archives, he quotes combat diaries, journals, and what various soldiers and commanders have written about the battle and/or the situation. What was another great mark of this book in my opinion was how he didn't just focus on Stalingrad itself, but he mentioned in detail the Caucasus, the fighting around Stalingrad's northern flank, the Voronezh front, and even the Demyansk pocket, all of which had some sort of influence on Stalingrad. As everyone knows, the Red Army would launch Operation Uranus, which would encircle the Sixth Army at Stalingrad, but before this occurred, the Red Army conducted several offensives that didn't work (Rzhev, Voronezh, Demyansk). It was from these failed offensives that the Red Army was able to realize that the best offensive they could conduct against the Germans was by attacking their weak Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian axis armies stationed on the flanks.

One thing that Glantz does with his books is through his tables, and his massive amounts of statistics and sources, peels away at the façade that has been written about the German army's superiority during this battle. He doesn't miss the opportunity to present tables each chapter, that show German Battalions and Regiments going from being rated "strong" or "medium" to "weak" or "Exhausted" with each new chapter. As I read, I couldn't help but get an ominous feeling for the Sixth Army, and 4th Panzer Army.

Glantz talked about at the end how in reality, Germany could only have taken either Stalingrad or the Caucasus, not both. Stalingrad tied down Germans forces that could've been used in the Caucasus, and vice versa, but I feel like we can't try to say that striking one over the other would've changed the war. The Germans let themselves get stretched thin, and they became so full of themselves that they thought they could defeat any attacks by the Red Army. Reading David Glantz has made me believe that Germany could not defeat the Soviet Union during World War Two.
I recommend this book, and I look forward to reading the last Two books of the series.

[Luka Novak · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I say "typical Glantz book" you know what to expect. Detailed, well researched work that is hard to read becasue it's not written in "easy" style.

This book starts where previous one ended, with German kampfgruppe at the bank of Volga in northern suburb while rest of 6th Army is bearing down on the city. As I said earlier, the book is very detailed and at first follows indivisual divisions, brigades and regiments then companies and individual platoons taking city districts, streets, then buildings and then parts of them. All the while both sides are suffering from immense attrition with whole units vanishing in the inferno engulfing the city.

And that attrition is where focus of the book lies, the fact that while germans were advancing, though slower and slower, they were suffering such losses that while victories were not pyrrhic they were increasingly costly and it was this cost Germans simply couldn't afford in the long run. Book finishes with Soviets poised to launch operation Uranus that will/did shatter German flanks and brought well known results.

Having said book is well researched it includes a lot of maps, which are nicely printed where relevant rather than assembled in middle or end of book. Though they could be bigger.

Together with previous book and two that are supposed to follow (one covering Uranus and other being collection of documents) this series will stand as classical study of this battle in years, if not decades, to come.

[Jeffrey Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Military historical researching and writing of the highest degree of awesomeness! I have previously read David Glantz’s general history of the Eastern Front of World War II, When Titans Clashed, which although very good, has now been absolutely dwarfed by this monumental book that one historian has already stated: “…is not likely to be surpassed.” David Glantz spent twenty years in the U.S. Army as a historian specializing in Soviet history and tactics, and since his retirement has become by far the most accomplished military historical writer on the Eastern Front of World War II ever. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a multitude of documents in the Soviet archives, never before available to historians have been released, and Glantz, fluent in Russian, has spent many years pouring through the archives, and has written book after book, each with cutting edge, never before written about details.
Armageddon in Stalingrad is the second book of Glantz’s Stalingrad Trilogy, and begins with Zhukov’s multiple attacks against Weich’s flanks to soften the center of Germany’s assault on the city in August and early September 1942. As a military expert, Glantz offers the most highly detailed analysis to date of both sides of the conflict from the commanding generals all the way down at times to the company level, as the Germans street by bloody street, slowly overran the city. He also discusses at great length the mental toll that the city fighting took, especially on the Germans as at great cost they fought their way through Russian defenders holed up in multiple factories throughout the suburbs of Stalingrad. Then into Stalingrad itself, the Germans encountered Russian defenders on seemingly every street as they slowly overran the city’s grain elevator and train station, and painfully fought their “war of the rats” through the massive complexes of workers housing, as the Soviets sought to ambush the Germans from every pot hole and pile of rubble and reduce the effectiveness of German air power by maintaining a front within fifty yards of the Germans. On the leadership side, Glantz also delves into the extreme pressure that Hitler kept applying on Wiechs and especially Paulus, while on the Soviet side, Zhukov was brilliantly planning the demise of Germany’s 6th Army.

Zhukov’s plan was essentially to sacrifice his 62nd Army in Stalingrad along with any reinforcements sent across the Volga in order to lure the Germans deeper and deeper into the city, while inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans and daily reducing their strength. Hitler proceeded to fall directly into Zhukov’s trap as through the long months from August to November the Germans pressed 62nd Army into small pocket along the Volga, in which they held along the Barrikady Ordinance and the Red October Metal factories along with the hill Mamaev Kurgan. So precarious was the situation for 62nd Army that supplies had to air dropped to them as the Volga by November was half frozen and extremely difficult to cross by boat. Meanwhile Zhukov was planning his encirclement sprang his trap just as the Germans were at a point of near complete exhaustion and their flanks were guarded only by a thin line of Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian troops who were ill trained and ill prepared for an onslaught by fresh Russian troops.

The ensuing encirclement and the corresponding reduction of the Stalingrad pocket by the Red Army and final surrender by the Germans is left for third book of the trilogy. Armageddon in Stalingrad is an extraordinarily excellent book, but is most definitely only for the serious student of the battle. The casual reader would almost certainly get lost in the extremely dense detail of Glantz’s book. But for the serious student of the Eastern Front, I highly, highly recommend it.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Glantz's books is like taking a staff course; you learn a lot but it isn't exactly a fun. The maps could be better in these Stalingrad volumes: they're just 2 color copies of German and Soviet situation maps. All that said, if you want to learn about the Eastern Front in general and about the Stalingrad campaign in particular, than these books are essential. I'm learning so much here.

[Graham Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave the first volume the benefit of the doubt, but despite the breadth and depth of knowledge on display, it can't save volume 2. This is a poorly written and badly edited book with useless maps. I'd go so far as to say that the book hasn't been edited at all, as there are several occasions where almost exactly the same paragraph is repeated several pages after its first inclusion.

This is 'old school' military history - a straightforward description of units moving and fighting, without any reference to the experiences of the men and women involved, bar the occasional potted biography of a general. There's nothing wrong with 'old school' at all, but for me this book failed to give any detailed sense of the environment in which the fighting took place and as a result, it's as though you're only seeing the battle on a map, which makes for a completely sterile read. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but Glantz makes Stalingrad dull!

Just one man's opinion, but reader beware.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume continues the author's exhaustive operational history of the Stalingrad campaign. This time dealing with the fighting over the city itself up to the launching of Operation Uranus (the subject of the next volume), with only relatively short digressions to cover what was happening on the flanks.

It also continues with all the strengths and weaknesses of the previous volume: atrocious maps, and a lack of analysis of the operational decisions made. The nature of the fighting that this volume covers helps to minimize the latter, in that when the only option a commander has is to smash into the enemy, then you don't need to spend a lot of time explaining why they choose to do so.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like its predecessor, this book is incredibly detailed. It took a while to read it, but it was extremely fascinating. It eventually reaches a point where the authors describe the battle on a day-by-day basis. This book definitely isn’t for casual readers as it presents seemingly endless troop movements and Red Army General Staff reports, but if this is where your interest lies, this book is the jackpot. The maps could still be a little clearer though.

[Binston Birchill · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want operational level detail about the Eastern Front during WWII you go to Glantz... (with House) In each of his books that I’ve read (Stalingrad, Kursk, Kharkov) I’ve come away with a vastly greater understanding of how the battles progressed. I do not have a military background and at times the sheer weight of the numbers (army, corps, division, etc.) thrown out is daunting, but the detail pays off in the end. My mental picture of the battle is always much more clear by the end, and that’s all I ask for. I can not recommend these highly enough.

[Henric · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, David Glantz has a reputation for being dry historian, fond of listing troops dispositions and tables of organizations. And that is a fair criticism. There is stuff like that in here as well. The thing with Stalingrad though, is that I believe the tight focus on the fighting in and around the city gives him an opportunity to tighten up the writing, making in somewhat less dense, while at the same time not skimping on the details.

For such a massive book, and series, Stalingrad is surprisingly easy to read. The nature of the fighting, with depleted small units fighting over individual houses and parts of Stalingrad lends itself to Glantz' attention to detail. This is in my opinion one of the best books on the fighting in the city written to date. The maps are generally decent, but could do with some touch up as some of them are hard to read.

Well worth the price.

[Kges1901 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good and meticulously detailed history of November 1942 in Stalingrad.

[Grant Renshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Waiting patiently for part 3 in 2014...