Where the waste land ends: politics and transcendence in postindustrial society. --

The long awaited Three Volume campaign history from the leading experts of the decisive clash of Nazi and Soviet forces at Stalingrad. Praise for The Stalingrad Trilogy: David Glantz has done something that very few historians achieve. He has redefined an entire major subject: The Russo-German War of 1941—1945. His exploration of newly available Russian archive records has made him an unrivaled master of Soviet sources. His command of German material is no less comprehensive. Add to this perceptive insight and balanced judgment, and the result is a series of seminal and massive volumes that come as close as possible to ‘telling it like it was.&’ Glantz has done some of his best work with Jonathan House. The Stalingrad Trilogy is the definitive account of World War II’s turning point."\*#8212;World War II "Undoubtedly, the best researched narrative of Soviet-German battle during the period. . . . Thorough, informative, scrupulously accurate, and told with remarkable precision and reliability."—Journal of Military History Glantz and House have produced seminal studies of major events on the Eastern Front. In terms of research, insight, and revision, this is their best yet [reflecting] an unrivalled access to and mastery of written and human Russian sources on the Great Patriotic War."—Slavic Review "No literature review of the Nazi-Soviet war could be complete without the outstanding work done by David Glantz and Jonathan House. What they have done is illustrate how much more there is to the Battle of Stalingrad and why their more comprehensive account changes our understanding of the campaign. The late John Erickson wrote that the research of Glantz and House reflected an ‘encyclopedic knowledge’ of the Nazi-Soviet war and constituted a benchmark for excellence in the field."—War in History "Glantz and House [have written] the definitive history of the Stalingrad campaign. Their trilogy, backed by meticulous scholarship and refreshingly fair-minded, significantly alters long-accepted views of several important aspects of the campaign. . . . A monumental work that is unlikely to be surpassed as an account of the most important single campaign of the Second World War."—Ewan Mawdlsey, author of Thunder in the East: the Nazi-Soviet War, 1941—1945

The confrontation between German and Soviet forces at Stalingrad was a titanic clash of armies on an unprecedented scale—a campaign that was both a turning point in World War II and a lasting symbol of that war's power and devastation. Yet despite the attention lavished on this epic battle by historians, much about it has been greatly misunderstood or hidden from view—as David Glantz, the world's foremost authority on the Red Army in World War II, now shows.

This first volume in Glantz's masterly trilogy draws on previously unseen or neglected sources to provide the definitive account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign. Glantz has combed daily official records from both sides—including the Red Army General Staff, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the German Sixth Army, and the Soviet 62nd Army—to produce a work of unparalleled detail and fresh interpretations. Jonathan House, an authority on twentieth-century warfare, adds further insight and context.

Hitler's original objective was not Stalingrad but the Caucasus oilfields to the south of the city. So he divided his Army Group South into two parts—one to secure the city on his flank, one to capture the oilfields. Glantz reveals for the first time how Stalin, in response, demanded that the Red Army stand and fight rather than withdraw, leading to the numerous little-known combat engagements that seriously eroded the Wehrmacht's strength before it even reached Stalingrad. He shows that, although advancing German forces essentially destroyed the armies of the Soviet Southwestern and Southern Fronts, the Soviets resisted the German advance much more vigorously than hasbeen thought through constant counterattacks, ultimately halting the German offensive at the gates of Stalingrad.

This fresh, eye-opening account and the subsequent companion volumes—on the actual battle for the city itself and the successful Soviet counteroffensive that followed—will dramatically revise and expand our understanding of what remains a military campaign for the ages.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

The confrontation between German and Soviet forces at Stalingrad was a titanic clash of armies on an unprecedented scale--a campaign that was both a turning point in the Second World War and a lasting symbol of that war's power and devastation. Yet despite the attention lavished on this epic battle by historians, much about it has been greatly misunderstood or hidden from view--as David Glantz, the world's foremost authority on the Red Army in World War II, now shows. This first volume in Glantz's masterly trilogy draws on previously unseen or neglected sources to provide the definitive account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign. Glantz has combed daily official records from both sides--including the Red Army General Staff, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the German Sixth Army, and the Soviet 62nd Army--to produce a work of unparalleled detail and fresh interpretations. Jonathan House, an authority on twentieth-century warfare, adds further insight and context. Hitler's original objective was not Stalingrad but the Caucasus oilfields to the south of the city. So he divided his Army Group South into two parts--one to secure the city on his flank, one to capture the oilfields. Glantz reveals for the first time how Stalin, in response, demanded that the Red Army stand and fight rather than withdraw, leading to the numerous little-known combat engagements that seriously eroded the Wehrmacht's strength before it even reached Stalingrad. He shows that, although advancing German forces essentially destroyed the armies of the Soviet Southwestern and Southern Fronts, the Soviets resisted the German advance much more vigorously than has been thought through constant counterattacks, ultimately halting the German offensive at the gates of Stalingrad. This fresh, eye-opening account and the subsequent companion volumes--on the actual battle for the city itself and the successful Soviet counteroffensive that followed--will dramatically revise and expand our understanding of what remains a military campaign for the ages. The confrontation between German and Soviet forces at Stalingrad was a titanic clash of armies on an unprecedented scale—a campaign that was both a turning point in World War II and a lasting symbol of that war's power and devastation. Yet despite the attention lavished on this epic battle by historians, much about it has been greatly misunderstood or hidden from view—as David Glantz, the world's foremost authority on the Red Army in World War II, now shows. This first volume in Glantz's masterly trilogy draws on previously unseen or neglected sources to provide the definitive account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign. Glantz has combed daily official records from both sides—including the Red Army General Staff, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the German Sixth Army, and the Soviet 62nd Army—to produce a work of unparalleled detail and fresh interpretations. Jonathan House, an authority on twentieth-century warfare, adds further insight and context. Hitler's original objective was not Stalingrad but the Caucasus oilfields to the south of the city. So he divided his Army Group South into two parts—one to secure the city on his flank, one to capture the oilfields. Glantz reveals for the first time how Stalin, in response, demanded that the Red Army stand and fight rather than withdraw, leading to the numerous little-known combat engagements that seriously eroded the Wehrmacht's strength before it even reached Stalingrad. He shows that, although advancing German forces essentially destroyed the armies of the Soviet Southwestern and Southern Fronts, the Soviets resisted the German advance much more vigorously than has been thought through constant counterattacks, ultimately halting the German offensive at the gates of Stalingrad. This fresh, eye-opening account and the subsequent companion volumes—on the actual battle for the city itself and the successful Soviet counteroffensive that followed—will dramatically revise and expand our understanding of what remains a military campaign for the ages. This first volume in Glantz's Stalingrad trilogy draws on previously unseen or neglected sources to provide the definitive account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign. Glantz has combed daily official records from both sides--including the Red Army General Staff, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the German Sixth Army, and the Soviet 62nd Army--to produce a work of unparalleled detail and fresh interpretations. Jonathan House, an authority on twentieth-century warfare, substantially reinforces Glantz's presentation with additional context and insights Prologue: Along the Sukhaia Vereika River, 23 July 1942 The Wehrmacht The Red Army Preliminaries, April-June 1942 Punch and counterpunch, Blau I, 28 June-12 July 1942 Blau II, 9-24 July 1942 The German advance into the Great Bend of the Don, 23-31 July 1942 Endgame in the Great Bend of the Don, 1-19 August 1942 The German advance to the Volga River, 20 August-2 September 1942 The struggle on the flanks, 25 July-11 September 1942 Conclusions: German strategic misconceptions. None The Wehrmacht The Red Army Preliminaries, May-June 1942 Punch and counterpunch, Blau I, 28 June-12 July 1942 Blau II, 9-24 July 1942 The German advance into the Great Bend of the Don, 23-31 July 1942 Endgame in the Great Bend of the Don, 1-19 August 1942 The German advance to the Volga River, 20 August-2 September 1942 The struggle on the flanks, 25 July-11 September 1942 Conclusions: German Strategic Misconceptions Appendix The confrontation between German and Soviet forces at Stalingrad was a titanic clash of armies on an unprecedented scale - a campaign that was both a turning point in WWII and a lasting symbol of that war's power and devastation. This book provides an account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign. The world's foremost authority on the Soviet-German clash draws upon previously unseen, underused, and neglected Soviet and German sources to provide the definitive account of the major turning point for both the Eastern Front and World War II An account of the Battle of Stalingrad, based on daily reports from both sides, outlines the organization and training of both armies and chronicles the German advance, Soviet defenses, and flanking attacks through September, 1942.