To the Gates of Stalingrad: The Stalingrad Trilogy v. 1: Soviet-German Combat Operations, April-August 1942 (Modern War Studies): 01

I finished reading this volume some time ago. Previously I have found Glantz's books on Operation Mars & Zitadelle to be among his best works & I must admit to not entirely looking forward to this widely covered subject & to being sceptical about any new information that could emerge. However although this is only volume 1, I couldn't have been more wrong. Most books on Stalingrad gloss over Operation Blau (in it's many phases) & arrive pretty quickly at the battle for the city itself, such as Anthony Beevor's "Stalingrad" book. Glantz bring to life many relatively unknown parts of the summer offensive & splits it down in to smaller phases such as Wilhelm, Blau I, Blau II, Blau III. It starts on the front-line after the failed Soviet Kharkov offensive, where the objective was Voronezh. Here the fighting was extremely fierce & the Soviets far from running to escape & avoiding battle threw large amounts of men & material to stop the Germans & suffered huge losses. But due to a lack of armour & infantry the Germans failed to bag large amounts of prisoners as they had done in 1941. This was because the Soviets this time did not, follow a policy of not retreating & allowing no territory to be captured. Still they lost over 150,000 men. Glantz now explains Hitler's folly having already launched the offensive with barely enough men, splits his army group into two & diverts part into the Caucasus, prematurely. With the Soviets wearing down the Germans in a battle of attrition & constantly raising new armies & equipment, the inevitable had to happen. This books gives the most comprehensive covering of the Operation Blau that I have come across to date. It is recommended reading to anyone enthusiast of the Soviet/German struggle in WWII. While probably not for the casual reader, it offers in depth analysis of this phase of the war & I eagerly awaited volume II.

Both `Luka Novak' and `Dave History student have done some good review of this weighty work; well here is my contribution for what it is worth. This is the first of trilogy of work that looks at `Stalingrad' through a microscope I found this book, in its approach and layout, to have very good attention to detail and was comprehensive. I liked the way in which local commanders on both sides of the conflict were brought into profile and the way in which their abilities, style and leadership were brought to fore.The seeds for Nazi disaster may have been sown in 1941, the cementing of the fate for the German 6th Army and its Axis allies could have been reduced, the signs were there to warn the High Command how tenuous the situation was becoming.You can see the detailed research that is applied in illustrating each key battle in the city - where people fought floor by floor and room by room. We are shown the strengths and weakness of the opposing forces their effectiveness in the field. The reader is provided with good maps and tactical data, there is also very good photographic evidence as well. If the battle for Stalingrad holds an interest for you, and you want more than just an overview this book comes highly recommended.

Being a blinkered history buff all my life this series (am a third into !st vol) this sort of ultra detailed work is right up my street.Only criticism...common to Glantz/publishers...maps are dreadful & difficult to follow...fortunately I have separate WW2 atlas...nerd that I am so can get around this

David Glantz being an expert historian in the area of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in WW2, a reader might expect that his 'To the Gates of Stalingrad' trilogy would be clear, revelatory and gripping. In reality Book 1 reads like a telephone directory - turgid, monotonous and dreary. Details as to particular army divisional formations in any advance are recycled to the point of extreme tedium without clearly explaining the overall significance.Maps are particularly poor, small and mean, giving the impression as having been taken from a black-and-white ordnance survey source then xeroxed many times over to a uniform grey. The author is clearly indifferent as to whether readers can follow the narrative of events. I gave up after page 270 in disappointment.

very good

.Both `Luka Novak' and `Dave History student have done some good review of this weighty work; well here is my contribution for what it is worth. This is the first of a trilogy of work that looks at `Stalingrad' through a microscope I found this book, in its approach and layout, to have very good attention to detail and was comprehensive. I liked the way in which local commanders on both sides of the conflict were brought into the profile and the way in which their abilities, style and leadership were brought to fore.The seeds for Nazi disaster may have been sown in 1941, the cementing of the fate of​ the German 6th Army and its Axis allies could have been reduced, the signs were there to warn the High Command how tenuous the situation was becoming.You can see the detailed research that is applied in illustrating each key battle in the city - where people fought floor by floor and room by room. We are shown the strengths and weakness of the opposing forces their effectiveness in the field. The reader is provided with good maps and tactical data, there is also very good photographic evidence as well. If the battle for Stalingrad holds an interest for you, and you want more than just an overview this book comes highly recommended..