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Wielkie Bitwy - Leningrad; Nowe światło na straszliwe 900 dni
The full story of the most terrible siege in history when over a million people perished, illustrated by pictures recently released from Russian archives.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2001
7 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
David M. Glantz
102 books221 followersDavid 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 9, 2023
A potent and powerful history of the defense of St. Petersburg in WW2 (then Leningrad) against German forces. The siege was at once a stark symbol of the tragedy of war and a monument to courage, defiance and perseverance in the face of its brutal inhumanity.
November 13, 2021
This was a great overview book about the seige of Leningrad. In terms of layout, it was identical to Waffen-SS warfighter books I have by MBI Publishers, Motorbooks International:
1. SS: The Blood-Soaked Soil by Gordon Williamson
2. SS Steel Storm by Tim Ripley
3. SS: Hell On The Eastern Front by Christopher Ailsby
It was an abbreviated account of the seige but with lots of pictures, photos, and maps. The author gave the account of Leningrad and the Soviet Union, the kick-off of Operation Barbarossa, the mobilization of Army Group North to overrun Leningrad, the death and destruction of the city, civilian life and death while living in the city, defensive fortification systems, the gradual Soviet offensive, and the eventual outcome of Hitler's unsuccessful conquest of Russia.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Thanks!
1. SS: The Blood-Soaked Soil by Gordon Williamson
2. SS Steel Storm by Tim Ripley
3. SS: Hell On The Eastern Front by Christopher Ailsby
It was an abbreviated account of the seige but with lots of pictures, photos, and maps. The author gave the account of Leningrad and the Soviet Union, the kick-off of Operation Barbarossa, the mobilization of Army Group North to overrun Leningrad, the death and destruction of the city, civilian life and death while living in the city, defensive fortification systems, the gradual Soviet offensive, and the eventual outcome of Hitler's unsuccessful conquest of Russia.
I would recommend this to anyone interested in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Thanks!
November 23, 2016
The human tragedy of the Leningrad siege cuts to the bone; Glantz puts the meat of the military context on it. When he isn't drowning you in his customary alphabet soup of unit numbers, it answers some interesting questions : how did the initial defence hold out ? What was a Baltic Fleet of 200+ vessels doing ? How was the relief incorporated into the offensives of 1942-1944 ? What was the role of the Finnish Army in the investment, how exactly did it "idle away" the years until it was repulsed to the 1940 border ? Offensive hubris is a mainstay feature of the Soviet war effort, ruthless cruelty even more so; but as Glantz makes clear, brutality saved the day.
It's not a book about the siege (those are listed aplenty in the introduction) and the German story is definitely in the margins. Be careful what you look for. But if you know the man, you know what to expect.
It's not a book about the siege (those are listed aplenty in the introduction) and the German story is definitely in the margins. Be careful what you look for. But if you know the man, you know what to expect.
August 15, 2018
3 stars. This covers the battles around Leningrad primarily from the Soviet side with about 40% of the content describing the German position and activities. Period covered is the initial approach battles of 1941through to the withdrawal to the Baltic states in 1944. This is a high level coverage of the land battles and the sea and air resources that supported and affected it. Note it is an abridged and condensed version of The Battle for Leningrad, 1941-1944 by the same author. I read these in parallel and constantly came across identical sentences in both books. It lacks lowr level operational detail but does manage to give the reader a good high level view of the land war from 1941 to 1944. This book is fine if you don't want to get into the detail (which gets even dryer). If you want the detail down to divison level etc then read the more expansive version. Note this has some maps but could have had more.
January 23, 2010
I got very very bored at work, and as this is currently a Spend&Save offer, I read what parts interested me. I know this is meant to be educational, and not by any means light reading or enjoyable. It would have been really helpful during the HSC too! I just really didnt like how the writing was all squashed together, as history books seem to. I think the publishers think that nobody will actually make a serious attempt at reading the words inside the cover. Maybe thats why the poor book is a $7 offer that I am compelled by company policy to flog to unsuspecting customers who spend over $20.
The first hand accounts were amazing though, its really inspirational to read what lengths people will go to to survive. And the building of the ice road section was pretty interesting too.
I think I should give up reading history books for pleasure.
The first hand accounts were amazing though, its really inspirational to read what lengths people will go to to survive. And the building of the ice road section was pretty interesting too.
I think I should give up reading history books for pleasure.
April 26, 2024
The Eastern European front of WW2 is truly one of the most insane and overlooked pieces of modern history. The number of Germans and Russians who died in this one battle is literally greater than the number of people who have died in ALL WARS since WW2.
This book was 4-star to the core. I can’t say one negative word about it except that it wasn’t remarkable. It gave me just what I wanted: a brush up on one of the most deadly battles in history, with a particular window into the civilian response within the besieged city. A classic foray into my favorite genre: “books about how typical people react to atypical events”
This book was 4-star to the core. I can’t say one negative word about it except that it wasn’t remarkable. It gave me just what I wanted: a brush up on one of the most deadly battles in history, with a particular window into the civilian response within the besieged city. A classic foray into my favorite genre: “books about how typical people react to atypical events”
June 14, 2018
This one is strictly for anoraks and train spotters.the statistics are staggering though.along with the loss of lives.
March 25, 2018
The content is reliable, but it doesn't make for an easy read. Its hard to follow the military narrative for the most part, and you drown in numbers and the army order of battle. It makes for a confusing read often.
This is the first book I've read on the siege, and it makes me feel like I need to read another, since I still don't know whats happened.
This is the first book I've read on the siege, and it makes me feel like I need to read another, since I still don't know whats happened.
January 3, 2011
What was this supposed to be? Couldn't get trough the endless summing up of movements and events.
March 15, 2011
A good enough read. Its a bit abrupt in places which makes think that it is a cut down version of its big brother the Battle of Leningrad. Will be looking for that though.
June 10, 2019
Review from https://darrengoossens.wordpress.com/2019/06/04/the-siege-of-leningrad-by-david-m-glantz-a-review/
The Siege of Leningrad by David M. Glantz
Cassell 2004, 334 pages
This book outlines the campaigns around Leningrad, from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa through to roughly the middle of 1944, when the last German units were pushed out of the region.
It is predominantly a detailed account of the thrusts and counterthrusts by the opponents. There is much talk of left flanks and slow progress and lack of command and control.
The numbers are probably the most impactful thing about it. Around 2 million Russians (roughly half civilians and half soldiers) perished around the Leningrad region, which made up only a relatively small fraction of the front. For comparison, the USA lost about 300,000 soldiers on all fronts combined for the whole war. WWII has been described as 'the eastern front plus sideshows', and in terms of men and machinery, this is not too far from the truth. Of course, other campaigns were of enormous strategic significance -- a quick victory over Britain in 1940 could well have been the catalyst that made everything else turn out differently -- but none ranged over such vast areas or cost so much blood and iron. Russia was always Hitler's primary enemy. His actions elsewhere were more about securing his back before he plunged east. He would happily have left western Europe alone had it promised him a free hand in the east. As such, the battle between Germany and Russia was existential. Hitler conceived of it as Aryan versus Slav. There could be no peace.
The book does not look at those issues. Its focus is narrow. It evaluates the military decisions made, critiques them, looks at lessons learned and at what ramifications the Leningrad fight had for the rest for the front.
There is relatively little about life in the blockaded city. It is not clear from the cover or the blurb, but this is really a book for fans of military strategy and, particularly, tactics.
As such, it has one glaring flaw.
The maps and the text do not mesh well. Repeatedly, pages would be expended describing offensives; the methods, the commanders, the cities and regions they were to fight for. Yet the places mentioned can often not be found on the corresponding maps. I was sometimes able to find them on a map elsewhere in the book, but some locations were just missing and I had to guess or look in an atlas or a map from the interwebs. Or just skip it. It was very frustrating hunting through the various maps looking for one that showed me where somewhere -- where a very important action happened -- was.
Perhaps it was just about limited space on the page, but it was a distinct annoyance.
Apart from that, I think I am perhaps just not enough interested in the arrows showing the marches of the troops and the details of how many miles they advanced and where. My eyes started to glaze over and in a few places I started to skip ahead.
The proofreading is not great, either.
In short, this is probably very interesting to the fan of military tactics who wants to see a whole major campaign laid out and critiqued. Such a reader would see how the Red Army's techniques and tactics evolved over the years and how the tide was stopped and then turned by a combination of persistence, weight of numbers and, eventually, tactical skill. For the rest of us, the book lacks context and the human story. But, I suspect the rest of us is not the audience it is aiming at. At times it sounds like a lecture to officer cadets.
Verdict: Good, but for the aficionados.
A tragedy
The Siege of Leningrad by David M. Glantz
Cassell 2004, 334 pages
This book outlines the campaigns around Leningrad, from the beginning of Operation Barbarossa through to roughly the middle of 1944, when the last German units were pushed out of the region.
It is predominantly a detailed account of the thrusts and counterthrusts by the opponents. There is much talk of left flanks and slow progress and lack of command and control.
The numbers are probably the most impactful thing about it. Around 2 million Russians (roughly half civilians and half soldiers) perished around the Leningrad region, which made up only a relatively small fraction of the front. For comparison, the USA lost about 300,000 soldiers on all fronts combined for the whole war. WWII has been described as 'the eastern front plus sideshows', and in terms of men and machinery, this is not too far from the truth. Of course, other campaigns were of enormous strategic significance -- a quick victory over Britain in 1940 could well have been the catalyst that made everything else turn out differently -- but none ranged over such vast areas or cost so much blood and iron. Russia was always Hitler's primary enemy. His actions elsewhere were more about securing his back before he plunged east. He would happily have left western Europe alone had it promised him a free hand in the east. As such, the battle between Germany and Russia was existential. Hitler conceived of it as Aryan versus Slav. There could be no peace.
The book does not look at those issues. Its focus is narrow. It evaluates the military decisions made, critiques them, looks at lessons learned and at what ramifications the Leningrad fight had for the rest for the front.
There is relatively little about life in the blockaded city. It is not clear from the cover or the blurb, but this is really a book for fans of military strategy and, particularly, tactics.
As such, it has one glaring flaw.
The maps and the text do not mesh well. Repeatedly, pages would be expended describing offensives; the methods, the commanders, the cities and regions they were to fight for. Yet the places mentioned can often not be found on the corresponding maps. I was sometimes able to find them on a map elsewhere in the book, but some locations were just missing and I had to guess or look in an atlas or a map from the interwebs. Or just skip it. It was very frustrating hunting through the various maps looking for one that showed me where somewhere -- where a very important action happened -- was.
Perhaps it was just about limited space on the page, but it was a distinct annoyance.
Apart from that, I think I am perhaps just not enough interested in the arrows showing the marches of the troops and the details of how many miles they advanced and where. My eyes started to glaze over and in a few places I started to skip ahead.
The proofreading is not great, either.
In short, this is probably very interesting to the fan of military tactics who wants to see a whole major campaign laid out and critiqued. Such a reader would see how the Red Army's techniques and tactics evolved over the years and how the tide was stopped and then turned by a combination of persistence, weight of numbers and, eventually, tactical skill. For the rest of us, the book lacks context and the human story. But, I suspect the rest of us is not the audience it is aiming at. At times it sounds like a lecture to officer cadets.
Verdict: Good, but for the aficionados.
A tragedy
March 6, 2023
All'autore va riconosciuto l'enorme lavoro svolto per raccontare nei dettagli tutti i movimenti fatti da entrambi gli eserciti nel conquistare o liberare Leningrado. Lavoro certosino fin nei minimi dettagli su ogni aspetto riguardante i fornimenti di armi, i morti, i passi fatti e quant'altro, cosa che rende statisticamente interessante il libro ma anche straordinariamente noioso. A parte qualche breve capitolo interessante, è un libro che non consiglierei a nessuno da leggere ma solo per le statistiche.
September 4, 2025
Went in expecting a heartfelt account of the suffering and struggle of the Leningrad citizens between 1941 and 44 but instead got a detailed of daily manoeuvres and tactics. This novel is definitely best left to cadets at officer training colleges.
April 30, 2025
Glantz always provides a good book but I found this one better than I expected
May 31, 2024
6,5/10
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews