The fight for Stalingrad in 1942-43 was a great turning point in the Second World War. For the first time the German Army was comprehensively defeated, so destroying the myth of Nazi invincibility. After Stalingrad, German expansionism was over.
The name 'Stalingrad' became an obsession with Hitler, It overshadowed his strategic objective of gaining access to the Caucasian oil fields, which he saw as essential in supplying fuel for the Nazi military machine and depriving the Soviets of their resources. Hitler insisted in taking complete control of the campaign, ignoring his generals more pragmatic approach .Refusing all notions of making tactical withdrawals, Hitler's stubbornness resulted in the annihilation of the whole of his 6th Army.
Stalingrad was a battle fought between two totalitarian dictators, neither of whom had any regard for their own men, nor would countenance any possibility of retreat. Their troops were told to fight to the death. Such was the ferocity of the engagement, that at the end of the battle, no building in Stalingrad remained intact.
This book includes many Soviet and German photographs and tells the story of a battle of unimaginable brutality.
