The Deadly Embrace: Hitler, Stalin and the Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939-1941

by Anthony Read, David Fisher

“So firmly based upon a close reading of the secondary literature and printed documents, as well as upon archival soundings and interviews, and told with such a sense for the essential drama of the story, that it is easily the most comprehensive and the most interesting history of the Nazi-Soviet pact that we possess.” ―Gordon A. Craig, New York Review of Books An engrossing account of the mutual nonaggression treaty signed by Hitler and Stalin in 1939, and the historical events it produced. Here readers will be able to view the dramatic story of the circumstances behind the signing, and twenty-two months later, the breaking of this notorious pact.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Germany, Russia, Soviet Union

687 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Anthony "Tony" Read (born 21 April 1935) was a British script editor, television writer and author. He was principally active in British television from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, although he occasionally contributed to televised productions until 1999. Starting in the 1980s, he launched a second career as a print author, concentrating largely on World War II histories. Since 2004 he regularly wrote prose fiction, mainly in the form of a revival of his popular 1983 television show, The Baker Street Boys.

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tremendous account of this startling time period between two of the twentieth centuries great purveyors of evil. The authors write well and at a very personal level, describing the key individuals involved (Molotov, Schulenberg, Ribbentrop - among others). Also recounted are the futile efforts of the British and French to reach some sort of accord with the Soviet Union. One gets the overall impression that Stalin was never interested in this approach from Britain and France - his priorities were the territories he could acquire through his agreements with other nations, as is well illustrated by the secret protocols of Nazi-Soviet Pact. The two dictatorships spoke the same language and understood each others understated intentions, as opposed to the negotiations with the democratic powers.

This book can be quite sardonic in tone, adding to its readability. Almost half of it is concerned with the events leading up to the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Also most of the focus is on the Soviet Union. The authors present the multi-faceted points of view of the participants - Britain, France, Italy, Poland, as well as the Soviet Union and Germany.

By signing the Pact the Soviet Union isolated herself further from the international community and tarnished her image by ruthlessly going to war with Finland. Ironically the Soviet Union tried negotiating with Finland, but did nothing of the sort when arbitrarily occupying Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Stalin and his country paid a terrible historical price for this.

This book is a brilliant narration of this crucial period and illustrates how dictatorships deal sordidly with each other.

[Hatuxka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most histories involving the Soviet Union are formulaic, attempting to attribute the most sinister motives to the leadership of the USSR in its dealings with Nazi Germany. There is always a massive amount of the story that is left out. This amounts to historically criminal historical dishonesty (yep, that's how I wrote it). This book exemplifies a genre that should have all its works recycled as waste paper-ground to pulp and used for childrens books, appropriate because the level of scholarship is inherently childish or juvenile. Instead of reading this, read 1939: The Alliance That Never Was and the Coming of World War II by Michael Jabara Carley and his paper 'Only the USSR has... Clean Hands' : the Soviet Perspective on the Failure of Collective Security and the Collapse of Czechoslovakia, 1934-1938 in Diplomacy and Statecraft.

[gargamelscat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly well written narrative history and very objectively balanced.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will preface this to say that this read had to be done in sections due to me being laid up for health reasons. Most of the read took place early in 2025 and was finally completed once I returned home, and so I admittedly lost some of my thoughts and opinions due to my faulty brain being unable to remember it in it's entirety. I did a quick re-read to try and refresh it however, so hopefully I can capture accurately all of my thoughts here and have it make sense.

I'll go ahead and address the usual monster in the room for these types of books... the lack of large amounts of Soviet sourcing. I have some mixed feelings as to the complete accuracy of the story laid out, but must say I feel comfortable that Read/ Fisher made a good attempt to add that viewpoint as much as possible with the limited sources they had. I'll also point out the plain facts that most Soviet sources are generally white washing their actions or are often times pure deceptions. This has long been a problem with sources in Russia, and we are still seeing that today with the War in Ukraine. They post fantasy and propaganda to sway the only opinions that matter to them, their own people. So I for one do not feel that the lack of said sources diminishes this book much in the big scheme of things. There are some writings out there based on Soviet sources, but sadly the writers like Carley just end up putting out pure white washes of what actually happened, or place blame on the victims (especially Poland) for how they were treated.

Now to the specifics. I found the writing here to be very high quality and the points presented in a logical order making the understanding of the book very simple. A fair bit of the book is spent discussing the history leading up to the Pact which provides critical context for behaviors and actions that ultimately led to the destruction of Poland. I especially appreciated the clear notes to the references heavily used so the readers can follow along with where said information came from. Many referenced items are heavily based upon observations and personal opinions, but I think the savvy reader can easily sort through this to keep the truly important items in the forefront. Even the Soviet sourced material reeks of agendas and opinions designed to malign Stalin, especially by Khrushchev.

By the end of the book, we the readers get to see how the outcome of this Pact resulted in the Operation Barbarossa and invasion of Russia. Two evil regimes who plotted against each other plunged into total war, with all the neighbors and countries in between completely crushed. Four years of bloody war with tens of millions killed.

This book did a wonderful job explaining the events that led up to the Pact and highlighted the failures of the West to recognize the dangers. It is of course easy to point fingers at Hitler and his regime, but this hardly covers the entire picture as Stalin was no better and his plots just as evil. War was coming, one way or another. Soviets were planning for a 1942 war with them doing the invading, so I do not think the world would have been spared a bloody conflict even if Poland had not been carved up by Germany and Russia.

The book comes with a fair number of illustrations which are helpful, along with several maps. The Notes section is detailed, and the Bibliography is massive. I will be sure to glean many new reads from this list.

Overall, I would score the book a 4.5 Stars, but rounded up since it was really well written and easy to read. I recommend this for folks wanting to study the causes of WW2.

[Bill Baar · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a big book, and written before the Russian archives opened and then closed again, but it filled in my historical void on the time between the Nazi-Soviet Pact and Germany's invasion of Russia. A lot was happening in those months, mostly talk, but happening nonetheless. The disinformation campaigns waged by allies, axis, and everyone else, was interesting history given our current concerns with disinformation. The practice's been going on a while.

[Philip Talmage · Rating 5 out of 5]

This great book details the amazing incompetence and double-dealing of the British leadership during those months prior to the outbreak of war.