Stalingrad reading list?

Ask, comment, read.
User avatar
Tomislav Uzelac
2x2 Games
Posts: 2211
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:24 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:49 am

I just ran into a very interesting video regarding the employment of Tigers on the Eastern Front. They incorrectly claim that the Tigers were first used in March 1943 (3rd Kharkov), but apart from that, very nice original footage of the Tigers in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ix1Gh7MubY

Tigers actually saw action earlier, in January '43 along the Rostov axis, as shown in the "Race for Rostov" scenario.

Imperial Dane
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:12 pm

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Imperial Dane » Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:28 pm

Hmm. interesting footage, although it did repeat itself somewhat in the beginning. Not sure i agree with their assesment on Korsun/Cherkassy though. As far as i know, the Panzers never broke through to the entrapped germans and they had to break out, never mind that a lot more than 30.000 made it out of there alive. Oh well. Just from what i've read here and there :P

User avatar
Tomislav Uzelac
2x2 Games
Posts: 2211
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:24 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:45 pm

Yep, the Germans broke out of the pocket (those that did) without any of the heavy equipment... barely scraped it basically.

Incidentally, Korsun Pocket was the first wargame I played aside from the Panzer General series. I still think it was awesome...

Imperial Dane
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:12 pm

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Imperial Dane » Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:44 pm

Never played those games. And while it certainly was a close scrape for the germans, they did manage to give Ivan one very bloody nose :P From what i've read somewhere around 800 tanks damaged beyond recovery. and somewhere around 100.000 casualties. Though i could imagine there's some contention on the issue. Though it is where i caught Beevor in less than proper. Claiming that the soviets ambushed the germans escaping, when they were the ones to surprise the Russians with the breakout, casualties for the russians are never mentioned either. And he usse the word crushed as to how the soviets dealt with it. When most of the germans did manage to get out of there. I mean i had a nagging feeling while reading Beevor, but that is where i saw what it was about :idea:

I mean granted, it wasn't a huge victory for the wehrmacht. But it wasn't a glorious victory for the Motherland either ;)

User avatar
Tomislav Uzelac
2x2 Games
Posts: 2211
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:24 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:07 pm

Hm, there's a Glantz book on Korsun Pocket. Didn't read that one though... yet! :)

I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record with Glantz but to me he is really the outstanding east front author out there. People say his books are dry, but I think he's actually a remarkably good writer and that the books are eminently readable given the mountains of facts he manages to cram in there.

Imperial Dane
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:12 pm

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Imperial Dane » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:20 pm

Well the book i read on the topic was by Zetterling. Seemed good :) Currently not getting so many books since my economy is a bit tight :P The only two games i'll be getting for the rest of this year are Skyrim and Unity of command.

User avatar
Tomislav Uzelac
2x2 Games
Posts: 2211
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:24 pm
Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Tomislav Uzelac » Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:30 pm

Yeah, that one's in the wishlist for me too. Sorry to hear about the economy, but glad about that last bit :)

I really hope the game doesn't disappont. We're working hard to iron out the wrinkles in these last two weeks. Fingers crossed...

Imperial Dane
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 8:12 pm

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby Imperial Dane » Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:25 pm

Well i certainly hope the game doesn't dissapoint as well ;) Well Skyrim too obviously :P But i have a good feeling about both games :)

ReiCJ41
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:35 pm

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby ReiCJ41 » Wed Nov 16, 2011 5:51 am

There is an excellent PBS series called "Secrets of the Dead" and I know that Glantz has been mentioned numerous times but this show was where I first heard of him and his research.

They aired an episode called Deadliest Battle which is about Stalingrad and it goes into the campaign itself. Here's a link (it's not heavily detailed as a book BUT it's a good primer)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/episode ... isode/666/

Another one was this BBC production called "Battlefield" and they did an incredible one on Stalingrad. I don't know how you can find it, but if you do it's great. They detail the men, the leaders, the equipment. Again, not as heavily detailed as a book, but still a good place to start.

kop101
First Lieutenant
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:43 pm

Re: Stalingrad reading list?

Unread postby kop101 » Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:52 pm

Can anyone recommend another books about ww2 or maybe some of the biggest battles? I'm looking for a very best and unbiased ones. I haven't read much yet about this subject, and although there is a very big variety of ww2 themed books on market, I'm kinda afraid of commie/antinazi propaganda, especially by russian authors.
Needed interesting and relatively easy to read, but historycal works about blitzkrieg and eastern front, maybe some fair analysis. Thanks in advance.