The Stalingrad Cauldron: Inside the Encirclement and Destruction of the 6th Army (Modern War Studies) - Hardcover

Ellis, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0700619011 ISBN 13: 9780700619016

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 2013

Synopsis

The encirclement of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad in mid-November 1942 and its final collapse in February 1943 was a signature defeat for Hitler, as more than 100,000 of his soldiers were marched off into captivity. Frank Ellis tackles this oft-told tale from the unique perspective of the German officers and men trapped inside the Red Army's ever-closing ring of forces. This approach makes palpable the growing desperation of an army that began its campaign confident of victory but that long before the end could see how hopeless their situation had become.

Highlighting these pages are three previously unpublished German army division accounts, translated here for the first time by Ellis. Each of these translations follows the combat experiences of a specific division—the 76th Infantry, the 94th Infantry, and the 16th Panzer—and take readers into the cauldron (or Kessel) that was Stalingrad. Together they provide a ground-level view of the horrific fighting and yield insights into everything from tactics and weapons to internal disputes, the debilitating effects of extreme cold and hunger, and the Germans' astonishing sense of duty and the abilities of their junior leaders.

Along with these first-hand accounts, Ellis himself takes a new and closer look at a number of fascinating but somewhat neglected or misunderstood aspects of the Stalingrad cauldron including sniping, desertion, spying, and the fate of German prisoners. His coverage of sniping is especially notable for new insights concerning the duel that allegedly took place between Soviet sniper Vasilii Zaitsev and a German sniper, Major Konings, a story told in the film Enemy at the Gates (2001). Ellis also includes an incisive reading of Oberst Arthur Boje's published account of his capture, interrogation, and conviction for war crimes, and explores the theme of reconciliation in the works of two Stalingrad veterans, Kurt Reuber and Vasilii Grossman.

Rich in anecdotal detail and revealing moments, Ellis's historical mosaic showcases an army that managed to display a vital resilience and professionalism in the face of inevitable defeat brought on by its leaders. It makes for compelling reading for anyone interested in one of the Eastern Front's monumental battles.

About this title

About the Author:

Frank Ellis is the author of Vasiliy Grossman: The Genesis and Evolution of a Russian Heretic; From Glasnost to the Internet: Russia’s New Infosphere; and The Damned and the Dead: The Eastern Front through the Eyes of Soviet and Russian Novelists. A former academic and veteran of the British army, he currently lives in the United Kingdom.

Review:

"Full of rigid scholarship and new insights into the life and death of the 6th Army."Infantry

"... taps previously unpublished Wehrmacht records to offer vivid testimony."World War II Magazine

"[A] detailed and enlightening look at the German 6th Army's tenacious but doomed resistance. Ellis uses a wide range of newly uncovered German and Russian sources to weave a strong narrative about the complex and often misunderstood context within which the 6th Army fought and died in and around Stalingrad."H-Net Reviews

"A very interesting contribution to the literature on Stalingrad and the Eastern Front."New York Military Affairs Symposium Review

Characterized by sound scholarship, clarity, and acute attention to detail, Elliss work adds substantially to our understanding of the Battle of Stalingrad and the travails of the troops who fought, suffered, and often perished in the fighting.David M. Glantz, author of The Stalingrad Trilogy

Ellis has uncovered a number of previously unavailable or neglected sources that offer valuable insight into the daily struggles for survival in the Stalingrad cauldron.Stephen G. Fritz, author of Ostkrieg: Hitlers War of Extermination in the East

A fascinating and essential volume for all students of the Eastern Front.Robert M. Citino, author of The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Losing War, 1943

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0700619011
• ISBN 13: 9780700619016
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 558