- Summary
- The bestselling historian on the dramatic wartime relationship - and shocking similarities - between two tyrants. This compelling book on Hitler and Stalin - the culmination of thirty years' work - examines the two tyrants during the Second World War, when Germany and the Soviet Union fought the biggest and bloodiest war in history. Yet despite the fact they were bitter opponents, Laurence Rees shows that Hitler and Stalin were, to a large extent, different sides of the same coin. Hitler's charismatic leadership may contrast with Stalin's regimented rule by fear; and his intransigence later in the war may contrast with Stalin's change in behaviour in response to events. But at a macro level, both were prepared to create undreamt of suffering, destroy individual liberty and twist facts in order to build the Utopia they wanted, and while Hitler's creation of the Holocaust remains a singular crime, Rees shows why we must not forget that Stalin committed a series of atrocities at the same time. Using previously unpublished, startling eyewitness testimony from soldiers of the Red Army and Wehrmacht, civilians who suffered during the conflict, and those who knew both men personally, bestselling historian Laurence Rees - probably the only person alive who has met Germans who worked for Hitler and Russians who worked for Stalin - challenges long-held popular misconceptions about two of the most important figures in history. This is a masterwork from one of our finest historians.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Rees, Laurence, 1957- author.
- Published
- New York : Public Affairs, 2021
©2021
- Locale
- Germany
Soviet Union
- Edition
- First US edition
- Contents
-
The pact
Eliminating Poland
Opposite fortunes
Dreams and nightmares
Hitler's war of annihilation
Invasion
Desperate days
A World War
Hunger
Stalin's overreach
Across the Steppe
Struggle on the Volga
Fighting on
Fiction and reality
Mass killing
Collapse of the centre
Dying days
Victory and defeat
Afterword.
- Notes
-
"Originally published in 2020 by Viking, part of the Penguin Random House group of companies"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-464) and index.
The pact -- Eliminating Poland -- Opposite fortunes -- Dreams and nightmares -- Hitler's war of annihilation -- Invasion -- Desperate days -- A World War -- Hunger -- Stalin's overreach -- Across the Steppe -- Struggle on the Volga -- Fighting on -- Fiction and reality -- Mass killing -- Collapse of the centre -- Dying days -- Victory and defeat -- Afterword.
