Stalin's War: Tragedy and Triumph, 1941-1945

By Edwin P. Hoyt

Book Overview

The battlefields of the USSR witnessed the most devastating confrontations of World War II. In every one of those battles, Communist dictator Josef Stalin exercised his influence, meddling with (and executing) his generals, hurling unprepared armies into pure chaos, and meeting with his Western allies to divide the world up into zones of influence that would soon be embroiled in a new war. World War II scholar Hoyt describes the war from Stalin's vantage point and shows how his decisions, especially his early refusal to go to war with Germany even after they attacked, led to the historic battles for Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Moscow. Hoyt also explains how Stalin's bloody purges before the war left a military bereft of leadership, yet opened the doors for Zhukov, Chuikov, Rokossovsky, and other crucial commanders to spearhead a Soviet victory. Stalin's War also examines Stalin's use of propaganda to vilify the German army and blame Soviet war crimes and human rights violations on the Nazis.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815410328
• ISBN13: 9780815410324
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A profoundly informative and highly recommended history

Stalin's War: Tragedy And Triumph 1941-1945 by military historian and author Edwin P. Hoyt is a resolute examination of Communist dictator Josef Stalin's role in World War II, ranging from his ill-advised nonaggression pact with Hitler; to the deadly cost of the war itself; to the postwar creation of Communist puppet governments in Eastern Europe. An inset section of black-and-white photographs enhances this profoundly informative and highly recommended history of Stalin's influence in the World War II European Theatre and Post-War European political developments.