Your Books on the Battle of Stalingrad and the Eastern Front

[Chuck_Owl]

Greetings, everyone!

I thought of creating this topic to gather your suggestions about good reads about the battle of stalingrad and the eastern front. I am a big reader and I am always looking for new material to add to my library. So... you have this incredible book about the design of the 109? Or this book about the Yak-1 or the Il-2? Do share!

I would recommend

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942-1943 by Anthony Beevor.

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer

A Writer at War by Vasily Grossman 

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

 

I am also planning on buying Fighters over Stalingrad Volume 1: Air Operations of the Soviet Union VVS and Luftwaffe by Nikita Egorov and Boris Nechkin when it releases (the release date has been pushed back from 2013 to late 2014 though... uuugh)

 

I am a great fan of technical books like Haynes' series (even if it might be light on details sometimes, but it's still very interesting stuff). Any good books on the 109, 190, Yak-1 or Pe-2 worth reading?

[Matt]

The only books i own which cover the Russian front are,

 

Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War Vol. 1 and 2

Black Cross / Red Star Vol. 3 Everything for Stalingrad

 

I can definateyl recommend the Soviet Combat Aircraft series. Probably the best books if you're interesting in the planes of the VVS. It covers pretty much all planes, also prototypes or planes which only saw very limited use. It's very technical though and does not contain that much information about the organisation of the VVS, combat reports etc.

 

Black Cross / Red Star 3 is very much focussed on combat reports. It's a good book, but it can become a bit tedious and for me, it's tough to keep reading it for longer periods of time. It has some interesting overall infos, about squadrons, order of battle, etc. It does feel more like a summary of pilot reports though, so it can be a bit bland at times. But i would still recommend buying it, especially because it covers both sides, even including the German allies. It also has a few very nice aircraft profiles. They look fantastic and are probably the best i've seen in any book so far.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Matt

[Picchio]

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

Sorry, I just had to come in and approve. Very, very good, my friend.

[C-Bag]

If you want to read about the man who designed the Yak's "The Aim of A Lifetime" by Alexander Yakovlev might fit the bill. I got the hardcover for a great price and am enjoying it. It certainly describes a world totally different than the one I grew up in! What a cool thing to have the resources of the country support your interests and passion. I don't know if it's going to be technical enough for you. I'm close to a quarter through and am enjoying all the trials and travails he went through coming up through the ranks with the herd of great designers that were all around him.

[ACG_Flyby]

"Enemy at the Gates; the Battle for Stalingrad". covers the ground war for the city. See why the city in BoS looks absolutely wasted.

Flyby out

[SYN_LennysCopilot]

Greetings, everyone!

 

I thought of creating this topic to gather your suggestions about good reads about the battle of stalingrad and the eastern front. I am a big reader and I am always looking for new material to add to my library. So... you have this incredible book about the design of the 109? Or this book about the Yak-1 or the Il-2? Do share!

 

I would recommend

 

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942-1943 by Anthony Beevor.

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer

A Writer at War by Vasily Grossman 

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

 

I am also planning on buying Fighters over Stalingrad Volume 1: Air Operations of the Soviet Union VVS and Luftwaffe by Nikita Egorov and Boris Nechkin when it releases (the release date has been pushed back from 2013 to late 2014 though... uuugh)

 

I am a great fan of technical books like Haynes' series (even if it might be light on details sometimes, but it's still very interesting stuff). Any good books on the 109, 190, Yak-1 or Pe-2 worth reading?

I loved Life and Fate!  In fact, I liked all four of the books you recommend.

 

Audible.com also has a dramatized version of Life and Fate that Kenneth Branagh produced.  It is abridged, but quite good nonetheless.

 

I tried to get into David Glantz's Stalingrad trilogy, but I couldn't.  The maps are awful.  I think some of the maps were German staff maps that were shrunk down to fit into the book.

[J2_Trupobaw]

The only one I have is Stuka pilot by Hans Rudel; it covers whole Eastern Front timeline, including Stalingrad Battle. Lots of from point of view of Grerman pilot, with good insight on both what Stuka squadron operations looked like, and into mentlaity and daily life of German soldiers (as opposed to Nazi politicians). 

[pilotpierre]

I have read hundreds of books on WW2 over the last 60 years and my latest read ranks among the best.

 

Graf and Grislawski - A Pair of Aces by Chtister Bergstrom.

 

A very good quality book with lots of Photos.

[SCG_Neun]

I have read hundreds of books on WW2 over the last 60 years and my latest read ranks among the best.

 

Graf and Grislawski - A Pair of Aces by Chtister Bergstrom.

 

A very good quality book with lots of Photos.

Sounds good...I'll check this one out...(Just ordered it....very reasonable price)

Edited September 18, 2014 by JagdNeun

[No601_Prangster]

The best reference book for the BoS period is Stalingrad - The Air Battle: 1942 through January 1943 by Christer Bergström. I was disappointed that volume 3 of Black Cross Red Star ends before the commencement of Operation Uranus.

 

For Stuka operations I'd recommend reading Conversations with a Stuka Pilot, a lecture by Paul-Werner Hozzel commander of the Immelmann Wing during the Stalingrad campaign. It was published as a book in the early 80's but you can read it here: http://www.allworldwars.com/Conversations-with-a-Stuka-Pilot-Paul-Werner-Hozzel.html

[LLv44_Mprhead]

Joel S. A. Hayward; Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's defeat in The East; 1942 - 1943.

[von_Greiff]

Hi, y'all!

 

"Air War over Russia" by Andrew Brookes

 

and

 

"Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front" by John Weal

 

is it here.

 

v.Greiff

[SYN_LennysCopilot]

The only one I have is Stuka pilot by Hans Rudel; it covers whole Eastern Front timeline, including Stalingrad Battle. Lots of from point of view of Grerman pilot, with good insight on both what Stuka squadron operations looked like, and into mentlaity and daily life of German soldiers (as opposed to Nazi politicians).

I've seen the Rudel book. I'll have to check it out. I always feel like the ground-pounders don't get enough love, compared to the fighter jocks.

Edited September 19, 2014 by LennysCopilot

[SCG_Neun]

Hi, y'all!

 

I take it you're from Southern Germany.....?   By the way...I have that book you're referencing...I like it too...Lots of great 109 and 190 profiles...

Edited September 19, 2014 by JagdNeun

[WhiteYeti]

Black Edelwiess is a fairly decent book to read.

[LLv24_Vilppi]

For a little more academic approach:

Major Willard B. Akins II, Stalingrad: The Air Campaign 1942-1943, Us Army Command and General Staff College, 2014

 

Major Akins is a C-130 pilot and this book is his Master's Thesis for Master of Military Art and Science. In the book Maj. Akins analyses the role of Luftwaffe and the failure in Stalingrad from two points of view:

 

1) What factors contributed to the failure of the aerial supply

2) How did leadership affect the outcome

 

The book is very interesting, while some might find the academic tone a bit tedious. I still highly recommend it to everyone interested in the matter. It gives a good and objective view on the happenings what lead to the Stalingrad disaster and analyses how earlier supply experiences, communication problems and leadership affected the situation. I simply couldn't put the book down after I started to read it. First part of the book summarizes the war leading up to Stalingrad, mostly from Luftwaffe's point of view. The second part discusses what effect the experiences the German Air Force and military had Demyansk and Kholm and how they relate to the decisions made in Stalingrad, and goes into details about the Stalingrad aerial supply operation itself. The first two parts take about two thirds of the book, while the beginning of the third part discusses the lessons to be learned from the Stalingrad and what implications they have to the modern US military.

 

The last part of the book summarizes the operations of JG 27, KG 51 and StG 77 through out the war and has a chapter on the Ju 52. The book also contains annexes about operation "Blue" and the land actions in Stalingrad, and glossary of terms. And what seems to be rather extensive "selected bibliography" which will most likely give anyone some hints about other interesting books.

 

Just one warning: The Kindle version @ Amazon has several typos and formatting errors. The book is definitely readable, but frequent errors (most likely result of OCR of the original text) make the reading a bit of a chore at places. Like He 111 is many times written as He Ill and the references to the bibliography are very annoyingly formatted.

[33lima]

'The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe' by David Irving - actually a biography of Erhard Milch - has an interesting chapter ('Panama!') on the Stalingrad airlift. It's freely availabe in full, online, here:

 

http://www.fpp.co.uk/books/Milch/Milch.pdf

[453=SGII_Wotan]

Black Cross Red Star Volume 3, Red Phoenix Rising, Stalingrad by A Beaver, Total War are  all very good books with reference to the air war over Stalingrad 

[vonLazan]

Operation Typhoon - Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941 by David Stahel (ISBN: 978-1-107-03512-6) is a great resource on the closing act of Operation Barbarossa. Stahel goes into great detail about the operational and strategic context of Operation Typhoon, as well as the ultimate reasons why Barbarossa failed. Of course this sets the stage for Fall Blau which has the Stalingrad campaign at it's centre.

Edited January 4, 2015 by 2./JG54_vonLazan

[redzvezda]

Hello all,

 

Grossman's book is by far the best in my opinion.

 

There are also "Stalingrad, the City that defeated the third Reich" by J.Hellbeck, and "Stalingrad Battle Atlas" by A.Joly.

 

The first is a rich collection of interviews by the actors (mostly Soviet side), very interesting with original and unpublished material.

 

The second is also outstanding as it displays the frontline in the city on actual wartime aerial photos instead of synthetic maps, and this for every day in the Stalingrad campaign (3 volumes available).

 

These two are must-reads books.

[Sim]

A couple of my recent reads:

 

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

 

An incredible book.. highly recommended.

 

Red Star Against the Swastika: The Story of a Soviet Pilot over the Eastern Front - Vasily B Emelianenko

 

Not based around Stalingrad, but mostly Caucasus. Interesting story from an IL-2 pilot point of view.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Sim

[6./ZG26_Emil]

The best reference book for the BoS period is Stalingrad - The Air Battle: 1942 through January 1943 by Christer Bergström. I was disappointed that volume 3 of Black Cross Red Star ends before the commencement of Operation Uranus.

 

 

Yes the title was a little misleading of Black Cross Red Star 3! I have the Stalingrad Air Battle book which is pretty good and ideal for mission makers.

 

Joel S. A. Hayward; Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's defeat in The East; 1942 - 1943.

 

I have this as well, it's a very good book and very cheap compared to Bergstrom's

[6./ZG26_Custard]

Not a book strictly about the ostfront, but worth a mention.  While its not perfect by a longshot it has a wealth of very good photographs throughout.

 

[redzvezda]

[ITAF_Rani]

The War Diary of Hauptmann Helmut Lipfert: Jg 52 on the Russian Front 1943-1945

 

Really good book

Regards

[[CPT]Pike*HarryM]

Easier to just post a pic. I guess I have a pretty good collection on it, started collecting back when the original Il-2 came out.

 

[Warden]

I see we are getting an Odessa map, I suggest you read...

 

From Barbarossa to Odessa Vol 1 and 2, Denes Bernad, Dmitriy Karlenko and Jean-Louis Roba

 

These 2 volumes are based on great research from sources on both sides of the conflict. It covers the air war, day by day,  in the southern region from June to October 1941. It's a great resource for scenario/mission creation.

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

 I just got the latest edition of Graf & Grislawski by Christer Bergström. Great read so far. Grislawski and his family were heavily involved in making of the book as well as Graf's wife. Grislawski died 1 month after the book was released. Other books I have about Eastern Front are about Rudel, Lipfert, Rall, Hartmann etc. Also Ju88 and Bf110 pilot books. I also have a few infantry and tanker memoirs from German side, like Otto Carius's Tigers in the mud etc. From soviet side I have the IL-2 pilot memoirs mentioned above, Emelianenko's book. It was OK read. I tried to read some other russian memoirs, but they were so full of soviet propaganda that you could choke on it. Had nothing to do with reality, but filled utopistic achievements and fairy tales of one Su-85 crew taking out more Tigers than ever produced etc. Then I have some Finnish books as it can be related to Eastern Front. I wish to get more books, like the Red Star Black Cross series etc.

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

S!

 

I just got the latest edition of Graf & Grislawski by Christer Bergström. Great read so far. Grislawski and his family were heavily involved in making of the book as well as Graf's wife. Grislawski died 1 month after the book was released. Other books I have about Eastern Front are about Rudel, Lipfert, Rall, Hartmann etc. Also Ju88 and Bf110 pilot books. I also have a few infantry and tanker memoirs from German side, like Otto Carius's Tigers in the mud etc. From soviet side I have the IL-2 pilot memoirs mentioned above, Emelianenko's book. It was OK read. I tried to read some other russian memoirs, but they were so full of soviet propaganda that you could choke on it. Had nothing to do with reality, but filled utopistic achievements and fairy tales of one Su-85 crew taking out more Tigers than ever produced etc. Then I have some Finnish books as it can be related to Eastern Front. I wish to get more books, like the Red Star Black Cross series etc.

I read those to (both sides of war) and i definitely choke many times when reading books about germans pilots to. Same with reds.