Mark Singer’s Reviews > Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia > Status Update

178

Densely written.

Gorodetsky wants to make a point, but is so pedantic that he has to spell out his intent step by step, and has to annotate every single paragraph with footnotes. I have already read the last two chapters (twice) to see his conclusions, but keep going back to make sure that I do not miss anything important.

Also, preemptive attacks were a traditional German form of warfare, but not part of the Russian doctrine. I need to read more.

I just finished chapter 4, “The Road to Barbarossa”. Gorodetsky is obsessed with disproving the Icebreaker hypothesis that the German plan to invade Russia was preemptive, and a reply to a possible Russian attack, by proving that the German decision was made at the end of 1940, and that the Germans did not have any foreknowledge of a Russian attack plan.