Island of Fire: The Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad

by Jason D. Mark

Stalingrad symbolises many the ideological clash between Nazism and Communism, the battle of wills between Hitler and Stalin, and the absolute fortitude of the Soviet people. In many people's minds, however, it represents the savagery, folly and utter waste of urban combat, a city where dozens of lives were readily exchanged for a ruined building. And nowhere did this senselessness manifest itself more than in the Barrikady Gun Factory and its housing settlement. The men of the German 305. Infanterie-Division had captured all of the factory's massive workhalls by the end of October 1942. The only obstacles standing between them and the Volga were a few battered houses and the remnants of the Soviet 138th Rifle Division. Five fresh pioneer battalions were brought in to help the Germans and the 'final' attack in Stalingrad (known erroneously as Operation 'Hubertus') was launched on 11 November, 1942. The push to the river cut off the Soviet troops and left a tiny bridgehead. Grim fighting raged around this fiery perimeter for three months. To the Soviet soldiers, this bridgehead was known as 'Lyudnikov's Island', or 'Ognenniy ostrov' - 'Island of Fire'. Painstakingly compiled from German and Russian sources such as war diaries, combat reports, published works, eyewitness accounts, letters and photos, this book presents an unbiased chronicle of the pitiless struggle from both perspectives.

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

641 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's written by Mark. You know you're going to get an excellent history here, period.

[John Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a meticulously detailed book focusing on just one part of the fighting in Stalingrad. It just brings home both the shear scale of the titanic struggle between Germany and the Soviet Union and the individual cost borne by so many soldiers on both sides. Jason Mark has done an incredible amount of research putting this opus together and yet it is very readable such that one can almost put oneself there, imagine, and be glad I was not there. If you are interested in military history, World War II and Stalingrad then you should give this a go. It will take you some time to get through, I wonder how long it took to write!

[Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Island of Fire is probably one of the most thoroughly researched, and executed works of history I have on my bookshelf and it has to be one of the most thoroughly researched and executed works of history I have ever seen. Mark has not only thoroughly researched the events he’s covering but even the lives of the individuals within. Every page contains the names, dates of birth, and where known/applicable the dates and locations of death.
This is not an ‘easy’ read but Mark’s thoroughness makes it as easy to read as it possibly could be. He is a credit to historians everywhere.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark has put together a hugely impressive account of this pivotal struggle. Combines thorough research with dramatic narrative to reconstruct the experiences of those caught up in this brutal, terrifying fight.

[Joshua Welbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expensive but worth it.

[Maverick Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

【2023Book02】"Island of Fire" (Chinese Edition). At the end of 1942, two German divisions surrounded one Russian division in a 300-by-400-meter area in the Barrikady Gun Factory, which is on the bank of the Volga River in Stalingrad. A bloody, ruthless fight lasted over three months on this island of fire. The first half of the book focuses on more from German’s perspective. After reading a fourth of the book, I was as confused as those German soldiers at the grass-root level, because thousands of lives were gone with the wind like smoke for the order “push to the Volga River”, but the necessity of this order seemed so questionable. Finally, 90 thousand German were captured in Stalingrad, and only 5500 of them survived in the POW camps. The author, Jason D. Mark, is an admirable scholar. He objectively revived the details of the battlefield in those 93 days, and his description of both sides is moral-judgment-free. He tried his best to find out the DOB and the death date of everyone appearing in the book, no matter if they were soldiers or generals. Most of these people died under the date their names were mentioned. He also collected a huge amount of profile photos of them. Looking at these photos, you can see they are neither devils nor heroes but just normal people like you and me. At last, I cannot understand how a country that suffered such a disaster from invasion can still invade other countries insatiably.

【2023年的第二本书】《赤焰孤岛》。1942年底，德军的两个师把苏军的一个师围困在伏尔加河西岸边的斯大林格勒Barrikady火炮厂中一块400x300米的区域里，双方在这座被烈焰环绕的孤岛上进行了三个多月的血腥争夺。这本书的前半部分更多地聚焦于德军视角，看到大约四分之一的时候，我和底层的德军士兵一样感到困惑：无数的生命为了“打到伏尔加河”这个目标如同轻烟一样随风而散，但是这个目标TMD到底有什么意义呢。最终，九万德军在斯大林格勒被俘，仅五千多人在战俘营幸存。我觉得作者Jason D. Mark是一位可敬的学者，他尽量客观地根据能获得的资料还原了93天的战场态势，对双方的叙述都不加道德评价。他竭尽所能收集每一个他提到的名字——不管是大将还是列兵——对应的生卒信息（大多数人死在了他们被提及的那一天）和本人照片，看着这些照片会感觉他们既不像恶魔，也不像英雄，他们曾经就是和你我一样，普普通通的人。最后，一个承受过如此沉重的被侵略苦难的国度，今天却变成了侵略者，想来真是令人唏嘘。

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say, this was a fantastic read, Well written, engaging despite the incredible amount of detail. A story of battle for the ages.

The book focuses entirely on the German offensive to take the ground east of the Barrikady Gun Factory. This area, not even a square mile was held by the 138th Rifle Division led by General Ivan Lyudnikov, against a number of German divisions supported by 5 battalions of pioneers. While the Germans pressed the salient, which came to be known as Lyudnikov's Island, hard, they were never able to complete the destruction of the 138th before the Soviet counter attack that encircled and doomed the Germans in Stalingrad.

The book out side the beginning and the end, is a day by day account of the fighting in this small area of Stalingrad. Tons of detail, casualty reports, officer bios, some enlisted bios, anecdotes, letters home, etc. The maps are great, following all the action. It is hard to believe so much fighting was contained in such a small space.

if you are interested in Stalingrad, and have not read this book, you are missing out.

[Israel Pérez de Tudela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impresionante libro sobre la conocida isla de fuego en Stalingrado. Basada en la información que el autor ha recopilado de las unidades alemanas uno se puede hacer una idea real de lo que ocurrió en aquella batalla que cambió el curso de la segunda guerra mundial. No es una novela, sino un libro histórico lleno de datos e información.

Muy bueno para todo aquél que quiera informarse con veracidad sobre lo que ocurrió.