Monday, December 15, 2014

Survivors of Stalingrad: Eyewitness Accounts from the 6th Army, 1942-1943 by Reinhold Busch

I'm not new to Second World War literature, and definitely familiar with the Eastern Front.  I've read countless books and reviewed dozens if not hundreds.  I've read Red Army, Wehrmacht, US Army, British, etc., memoirs, recollections, reminiscences, etc.  This is by far one of the least interesting accounts I've come across.  Even worse is that I can't credit the author for not encountering interesting events or people while serving on the Eastern Front because there is no author here but an editor, an historian specializing in 'health.'  Reinhold Busch selected what to include in this collection and the majority is sorely lacking in substance or interest.  Much here is the 'woe is me' type of reminiscence about an armed force finding itself in the depths of an enemy country, encircled and seemingly left to their own devices as Hitler and his propaganda spin the situation any way they can to avoid the truth, or simply omit any mention of it at all.  For my money, there are more interesting accounts of this battle.  In the end I can't say this is a collection I'd recommend.


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