The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin`s War with Germany, Volume One

Stalin's War with Germany #1

by John Erickson

Hitler often called Stalin a 'fellow of genius', for whom he had 'unreserved respect'; he recognized in Stalin a worthy opponent with his own inflexible will. Professor John Erickson has written the comprehensive account of their conflict.

In this first of two volumes on Stalin's war with Germany, he surveys the battleground of the Eastern front where Hitler went astray at the peak of his power. Focusing on Soviet command decisions, he follows the movements of the Red Army from the edge of destruction to triumph at Stalingrad, where it 'caught a tiger by the tail'. He discusses the preparedness of the two armies, examining the effects of Stalin's purge of the Staff Officers in the old Soviet military establishment. He describes the war games of the pre-Barbarossa period, those 'shadowy and symbolic conflicts' which augured catastrophes to come. Battle by battle and decision by decision he describes hoe the ponderous military machine, hounded by disaster, came finally to grips with halting the Blitzkrieg. this volume culminates in Stalin's strategic offensive which turned the tide at Stalingrad. He considers these complex military situations with authoritative accuracy, and at the same time conveys the relevance of massive detail on troop movements and staff decisions.

Professor Erickson brings together economic, political, strategic and intelligence material in the most complete account of this mammoth subject ever published. His research includes documents from both Russian and German sources previously unpublished and unobtainable. He combines scholarship with fascinating readability in this definitive study of the dual between Hitler and Stalin.

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

594 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

John Erickson was a British historian of World War II.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Erickson’s “Road to Stalingrad” and “Road to Berlin” have been sitting on my bookshelf for probably two decades. Every now and then I would pick one of them up, have a look at some pages and then put it back with a sigh – at a glance, the content of those two books is simply daunting!
Now however I am proud to say that I’ve finished first volume in professor Erickson’s work and it was everything I’ve expected – exceptionally tough to get through, at times almost overwhelming. The effort to get through it was almost physical… but the reward it gives to the reader in regard of deeper understanding of Soviet perspective of military operations during Second World War is simply invaluable. If you are an English-speaking student of Eastern Front, sooner or later you will have to tackle this beast, because it simply IS the seminal work on that subject in English language.

As indicated in other reviews, this book isn’t flawless. Indeed, it does have serious problems, mostly in regard of accessibility. While the writing style of the author is quite clear and easy to follow, constant references to units, commanders, towns and villages do have a significant negative impact on the reading experience. The focus of the narrative is firmly placed on decision-making process highest level of Soviet command structure and actions of major military formations. Individual’s perspective and (mostly) that of Germans is not included – this may give the impression of providing an ‘academic’ and incomplete picture, which will be a serious issue for people expecting a book written in style of Ambrose or Beevor. In essence, this book is a “wall of words” which is hard to absorb even for readers familiar with the subject. For casual reader, this book is in my opinion most probably impenetrable.

Perhaps the most serious flaw with this book consists of a complete lack of maps. This omission, considering the nature and detail of this book, is in my opinion almost inexplicable. If you wish to get the most out of this book, I recommend highly acquisition of “Atlas of Eastern Front 1941-1945” by Robert Kirchubel, published by Osprey Publications.

Yes, “Road to Stalingrad” is a major reading challenge and it probably could have been executed in, for the lack of better term, more user friendly manner. But the fact remains – if you want to get the true insight into operational art of war as it was implemented by Soviet Union during Second World War, this book is a must read. The only alternative source in English would be works by David Glantz and from what I understand, he’s just as ‘bad’ as Erickson.

[Mikey B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colossal conflict...

The last 2 chapters of this book are by far the best (they constitute over 120 pages). Prior, I feel, the author has a hard time distinguishing the trees from the forest and the forest from the trees. These chapters are filled with endless sentences like "...the 4th Airborne corps to use his 7th and 8th Brigades..", "...the escape eastwards for 3rd, 10th and now 13th Army was.." and on and on. This approach makes for a very dry dissertation of the largest military conflict in recent history.

Nevertheless Erickson does not glorify nor glamourize the Red Army. Stalin's Russia was not only unprepared for this colossal conflict with the German armies, it was incompetently led. Stalin had killed off his officer corps by the end of the 1930's and was self-quarantined in the Kremlin listening only to advisors who told him what he wanted to hear. Erickson is correct when he describes Stalin as the 'top' leader in the Soviet Union. Erickson's description of Stalin and the decision-making process is interesting if concise.

It is only in the last 2 chapters that the battle scenarios are well painted by Erickson, and one feels the horror of Dante's inferno that existed in Stalingrad. Why the German armies became entrapped in this cauldron of total destructiveness is unknowable, but it lead to their first major defeat in the Second World War (aside from their aborted invasion of Britain).

Do not read this book for a glimpse of civilian life in either the German or Soviet zone. There is no mention of the Einsazt-gruppen killing squads who butchered entire villages, or of Jewish life throughout German-occupied Soviet territory.

This is "military history," but when it does step out of that zone, it is interesting; and Erickson offers insights into both protagonists.

Some maps would have been helpful (there were none in my edition). This book does not have the 'Soviet patriotism' of Alexander Werth's Russia at War: 1941-1945 and is better for it.

The Road to Berlin:
The Road to Berlin is much like the first volume (The Road to Stalingrad), but the events, if possible, even over-shadow those of the first book; such as the battle of Kursk, the annexation of Eastern Europe under the Soviet yoke, and the fall of Berlin. Orchestrating all of this is the figure of Stalin.
But much like the first volume there is a blur of details, i.e. military groupings and geographical minutiae. Is it necessary to list all the Guard units, divisions, battalions, etc. that took forth on the assault on the Baltic States? Words like "hammer," "break through," etc. abound.

Yet there are many rewards. Erickson writes entirely from the Soviet perspective with no glorification of their overall role in the defeat of Nazi Germany. There are gems of dialogue between Stalin and his generals vividly illustrating the brutality of the regime. Once it became apparent that the Nazis were to be expunged from the Soviet Union the next step was to occupy as much land as possible in Eastern Europe. With production in full swing by 1944 and an army numbering some 5 million entering Eastern Europe (never mind the agreements at Yalta promising free elections in Poland or democratic self-determination for the countries liberated from Nazi domination); Erickson discusses this country-by-country. He also brings up the notorious Soviet stand-still in front Warsaw while the Nazis methodically routed and slaughtered Polish partisans. The Soviet army may have had to re-group, but they never told this to the Polish partisans.

Do not read this book for details of the liberation of the concentration and death camps - it merits only a few sentences and there is even less on the treatment of Soviet citizens in areas occupied by Germany. Also very little is said on the barbaric treatment meted out by Soviet troops once they entered "liberated zones."

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came to this book off the back of Ernest Mandel's recommendation, in his great book The Meaning of the Second World War , that this was the definitive military history of the Soviet effort on the Eastern Front. And it certainly is. It's incredibly detailed. The amount of research Erickson must have done with Soviet archival sources to produce an account this fine-grained is a real feat. The focus is heavily on the Soviet side - the Nazi regime appears from time to time, with a particularly interesting short section on the Nazi intelligence effort, but this book is categorically not one giving equal attention to both sides. Nor is this a work that reflects the protocols of 'history from below': it's an old-fashioned, top-down history in which the primary protagonists are Stalin, his officers and his officials, with occasional parts for Churchill and Hitler. Ordinary Soviet soldiers are rarely, if ever, heard from. We do nevertheless get some sense of what the key battles were like: Erickson evokes them with a terse, effective prose style capable of caustic judgements, vivid imagery and moments of real poignancy.

Reading this book is not easy: you will need a sheaf of quite detailed maps of the Eastern Front, because much of the book sees Erickson describing military operations in minute detail, down to small villages and rivers. I read most of this book with about 10 different online maps open on my computer. The fact the book comes with no maps is a major drawback, but also understandable: it would probably have required at least 50 pages of maps, possibly 80. The other main drawback is that the lists of individual divisions, regiments and brigades involved in particular operations is so methodical and exhaustive as to get a little dry at times. But that is the price you pay for such a detailed military history - it's not because Erickson himself is a bad writer, far from it. In fact, his accounts of the major battles are dramatic (but not overblown) and his accounts of the Soviet high command, and particularly Stalin's decisions, are fascinating.

I came away from the book wanting to know more about four things. First, what exactly the 'political work' conducted among the Soviet troops by the Communist Party consisted of: Erickson mentions it several times but doesn't go into it. Second, the Soviet intelligence effort - particularly Richard Sorge, the Soviet 'super spy' who supplied information critical to the Soviet war effort. Third, the Soviet industrial effort, which Erickson acknowledges was awesome but which he does not investigate in great detail. Fourth, what the war was like 'on the ground'. For the last, i've started reading 'A Writer at War', a collection of extracts from Vasily Grossman's notebooks and newspaper articles, and intend to read his 'Life and Fate' after that.

For Mandel, the chief use of Erickson's history is the overwhelming evidence it provides of Stalin's culpability for the enormous military disasters of June 1941 through to the fall of Sevastopol in 1942. In virtually every case, culpability for what went wrong rests with Stalin, either for choosing entirely the wrong course of action, or for appointing an incompetent to a key role. But Erickson shows that the most egregious of Stalin's actions were (i) the 1938-40 purge of the military staff, (ii) the total failure to prepare for defensive actions in case of invasion, and (iii) Stalin's utter refusal to believe that the Nazis were about to attack the Soviet Union, in spite of an enormous accumulation of intelligence reports and other signs that an attack was imminent. These three errors - committed against the advice of so many of his top military officers and spies - squandered the lives of millions of Soviet soldiers and civilians, and enormous resources; they meant that the war took four years rather than perhaps one or two (and in that sense, also gave more time and space to the Nazi regime to carry out the Holocaust), and very nearly led to the Soviet Union's defeat in late 1941. The book demonstrates without any doubt the Soviet Union's subsequent triumph over Nazi Germany was in spite of Stalin, not because of his leadership. However, Erickson's picture of Stalin as the all-powerful decision-maker in all matters has been qualified recently by Sheila Fitzpatrick's fascinating book 'On Stalin's Team', which centers on the relationship between Stalin and his team of key ministers. The section on the Second World War makes clear how much Stalin's authority was weakened within this group in the early stages of the war, after he had so clearly and catastrophically misunderstood the situation. In that sense, it's an important complement to Erickson's picture of the Soviet high command, although the military operations of the war play only a marginal role in Fitzpatrick's account.

Mandel's book is the best single-volume overview of the Second World War in its entirety; in fact, one of the best works of history I have read. It takes a global view of the war, integrating high politics, political-economy and class struggle. It sets out to explain all the key political and military strategic decisions made by all the key players, and does so very convincingly to my mind. Erickson's book is entirely different: it's a very traditional military-diplomatic history, focusing on the performance of the ultimately victorious side in the key military theatre of the war. It's a massively detailed, scrupulous, blow-by-blow account of every battle and every key internal argument within the Soviet high command. On that score it's hard to image this book will ever be bettered.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written exclusively from the Russian Army point of view. I always wanted to read one that was extremely detailed on Soviet strategy and operations. However, no maps. The author goes into fantastic descriptions of Soviet divisions, corps, and armies, yet without any maps, the overall picture of German Army groups and Soviet Fronts are completely lost to me. If I had not read other Eastern Front histories, I would have been totally in the dark. I can only imagine the frustration of anyone else picking up this book as a first-timer visiting the Russo-German War. Great description, poor illustration.

[Mitch B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched but a bit out dated. Also needs maps. Not everyone knows the location Millerovo and Demyansk.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well documented and concise but a map of the Soviet Union and prior readings of the war is probably recommended.
There is much one can write of the soviet military and the war from Russian generals wanting to make unilateral treaties with Hitler to the Abwehr being innundated with Red moles, either may have explained some of Stalin's choices. Either is a book in itself.
As far as what this book focused upon, it stayed on path with military history and can almost be considered a reference book due its in depth discussion of strategy.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Road to Stalingrad covers the German-Soviet war from a mainly Soviet perspective. You get to read how the Soviet Army was unprepared for the war that hit them on June 22nd, 1941. It was in transition to a new organization that would make it more suitable for modern conflict. The Germans however hit them before they were ready.

Obviously Stalin had a big influence on the army and the way it was managed. Like Hitler he was obsessed by minutiae and his judgement was not always too sound. Officers were punished for giving up their positions, which were actually untenable, or they died trying.
What makes this book interesting is that it also covers the inner workings of the Soviet Army and high command, the build-up to the partisan war, and the evacuation of the factories. The rail lines were often stretched to the limit, but the fact that they succeeded in this evacuation and keeping production going is amazing.

The book, volume one of two, ends at the Soviet counteroffensive to trap the German forces fighting in Stalingrad. The battles are covered in detail, the enormity of the front is made clear by the distances and numbers involved. And here is where a weak point of the book, or at least this version, needs to be mentioned: the lack of maps.
You will know where Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad are located. But what about Rostov, Kiev, and Karkhov, especially when you want know how they are situated relatively.

Anyway, great and interesting book showing this monumental war from a different perspective.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is interesting in every sense, its neutrality, a detailed presentation of the actions of both sides. An interesting presentation of the true reasons for certain decisions. But how was it possible to write an 800 page book on the topic of war with only a dozen simple (elementary) battle maps?!? In detailed analyzes of battles on the territory of the USSR and Europe, a huge number of names of settlements, down to the smallest villages, are given and mentioned. Who can know and keep in mind a detailed map of all these territories in order to understand what movements of troops are discussed in the book? When reading a book, should the reader keep a detailed Atlas of the European continent in front of him? Well, really?!

[Philip Healey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic account of the opening half of the Eastern front. In particular the pre-war section detailing Soviet preparations prior to 1941 were excellent.

The books historiography is a little dated (it was first published in 1975) but it doesn't detract from its usefulness. There was also minimal coverage of Rhyzev and Operation Mars, but this might be rectified in the following volume.

Certainly worth a read.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This intensely researched history is crammed full of minute details... assembled in a manner that would likely bore even the most avid WWII history buffs. Maybe other people will receive more excitement from reading pages of sterile descriptions of troop movements, but I'd stay away from this book unless you are truly looking to do a scholarly exploration of the subject.

[Dr. Abhijit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, detailed & fascinating

[tom cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard going for me

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very detailed account of the German invasion of Russia up until the tied is turned on the Eastern Front. Best to read with a map close at hand.

[Christopher Fly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent detailed account of the Soviet-German War in WW2.

[James Varney · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways still the standard military history of the Eastern Front in WWII, equalled perhaps only by Glantz more modern work. Readers of "When Titans Clashed" will be familiar with Erickson's narrative, but I think Erickson tells it better. "The Road to Stalingrad" has great sweeping passages that describe the scene outside of actual combat. This book and Glantz's remain military history; there's probably not a lot here for those who like sweeping history, and it's true that granular detail can become confusing in military histories. "The Road to Stalingrad" isn't like, say, "The Face of Battle," but it remains, in my opinion, a genuine achievement by an historian.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erickson has done an incredible amount of research, and is refreshingly frank in presenting his own opinions along side the historic facts. His accounts of the diplomatic meetings between Soviet and British leaders are particularly great, giving you a clear picture of everyone's agendas and motivations before taking you into the smoke filled rooms to witness the big decisions being reached. Early on the book does occasionally bog down under the weight of all the statistics he presents you with in the process of setting the stage, and you will want to have a map or three of Soviet Russia handy for reference since there are none in the book, but it's by far the best and most complete treatment of the subject that I've found so far.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough book of an important part of military history. John Erickson is meticulous and detailed in his research and given the book was first published in the 1980s during the height of the Cold War the information that John presents is all the more insightful.

Probably not a good starting point for an Eastern Front novice due the vast amount of detail covering units, ORBATs etc. One let down is the complete lack of maps. I find good maps greatly enhance a military history work and in particular a book like this really needs them to further emphasis the sheer scale of this conflict.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding recounting the years leading up to June 22, 1941, and then through the Soviet tide-turning victory at Stalingrad in 1943, as seen from the Soviet side.

Well worth reading if you want a very different look at World War 2, and an area of it largely unknown to people in the US. The Soviets really won World War 2, not the West.

[Sergio · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinary work of history. First part of the book is extremely difficult to get thru. The living drama that unfolds in the latter chapters is worth the effort. The book would be facinating to read if one did not know the outcome of the war.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about precise........this book is amazing in its details. Going down to minute details in German and Russian military unit names and numbers meant I had to concentrate all the way through.....and it ain't no small book either. One of the best books I've ever read on WWII Eastern Front.

[Stephen Hackney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive in scale. Described the macro view of the events. Excellent large picture of Armies, Corps, and Divisions on both sides, the Wehrmacht and the Red Army. Burdensome and ponderous at times, though. But all-in-all, an excellent historical account in its depth and accuracy.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a nice overview of WWII on the eastern front, find another book. If you want an extremely detailed battle by battle description then this is the one. This and the sequel, "The Road to Berlin" are both excellent studies. I only gave three stars because there are no maps.

[Chris Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written inn a very academic style, from the Soviet point of view, which is more interesting than the Nazi point of view.

[Badger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would you believe there are NO MAPS? So an atlas (I found photocopies of the Times Comprehensive more convenient) is essential.

All the same, a great, though strenuous read.

[Mick Maye · Rating 5 out of 5]

masterful recap of the German invasion of Russia from both sides up to Stalingrad. Excellent

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the pre-invasion and early war periods. Emphasis on operations but no maps.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

exceptionally detailed