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Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945

Revised ed. Edition, Kindle
Edition
by
Richard Overy

(Author)

Format: Kindle Edition




249 ratings

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"A penetrating and compassionate book on the most gigantic military struggle in world history."--
The New York Times Book Review

"An extraordinary tale... Overy's engrossing book provides extensive details of teh slaughter,
brutality, bitterness and destruction on the massive front from the White Sea to the flank of
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ISBN-13:
978-0140271690
ISBN-10:
0140271694
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Making excellent use of newly available Presidential archival material and K.G.B. film collections, Overy ... attributes the Soviet victory to the tough Russian
spirit, which was hewn by the bitter climate, cruelllly harsh working conditions and Stalin's heinous purges and farm collectivization programs.... [a]
penetrating and compassionate book... -- The New York Times Book Review, Chris Patsilelis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this
title.

From the Publisher

10 1.5-hour cassettes
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product details
ASIN
‫
‏‬:
‎
B00502X5UK
Publisher
‫
‏‬:
‎
Penguin Books; Revised ed. edition (August 1, 1998)
Publication date
‫
‏‬:
‎
August 1, 1998
Language
‫
‏‬:
‎
English
File size
‫
‏‬:
‎
5103 KB
Text-to-Speech
‫
‏‬:
‎
Enabled
Enhanced typesetting
‫
‏‬:
‎
Enabled
X-Ray
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‏‬:
‎
Not Enabled
Word Wise
‫
‏‬:
‎
Enabled
Print length
‫
‏‬:
‎
434 pages
Lending

:
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Not Enabled
Best Sellers Rank:
#354,644 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#330 in History of Russia & Former Soviet Republics
#842 in History of Individual Wars
#1,009 in Russian History (Books)
Customer Reviews:




249 ratings

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How are ratings calculated? Top reviews from the United States

Ron Vincent

A brilliantly written narrative about a titanic struggle that offers fresh insights.
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2018
Verified Purchase

An extraordinary book that analyzes and illuminates the Russian victory over Germany in World War II.
Overy provides a compelling and often gut wrenching presentation, one that explains and corrects a
host of myths that have often obscured the beliefs in both the West and Russia about The Great
Patriotic War. By September 1941, Russia’s defeat seemed a certainty. Less than four years later,
Russia’s triumph was so complete as to beggar description. The cost of that victory is virtually
matchless in history and the two opponents operated with a ferocious and merciless drive that is
remarkable even by most standards of unfettered warfare. A harrowing history in every way.
16 people found this helpful

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Ginger 3701

A brilliant account of Russia behind the war.
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020
Verified Purchase

This book pulls no punches in its profile of Stalin at war. The author doesn't fall into the habit of
ignoring the overwhelming evidence that Stalin was every inch the monster that Hitler was,
sometimes more so. His complete suppression of the Russian people and military led to the loss of life
on a staggering scale. However, unlike Hitler he finally realized that control had to be handed to his
generals if Russia was going to succeed. He was also quick to regain control once the tide turned and
the outcome assured. An excellent account. The research is excellent and in depth. In highly
recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of the war but also of Russian history. I
completely disagree with the author excusing Stalin and the Russian military for ignoring Poland
during the Warsaw uprising. While his argument is somewhat convincing he fails to address Stalin's
refusal to allow allied planes to use Soviet airfields to help the Home Army in their doomed but very
brave and courageous uprising against the Germans . Unfortunately Poland is still being ignored after
all these years. Even the magnitude of Polish deaths is often ignored in favor of Russian casualties.

4 people found this helpful

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Magnitude

At best, an Overyview
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
A popular historian in search of a home run, Overy landed another bloop single. British historians are
some of the finest of the modern period (Evans, Clark, Kershaw, Stone, and on and on). Overy’s work
always strikes me as in a lower tier, making me appreciate his jaw-dropping, home-run-hitting
colleagues when I read them.

I say all this after reading at least 4 of his books now (including “Why the Allies Won,” “The Battle of
Britain,” and “The Bombing War”).

Overy relies a lot on secondary sources here, and owes much to Glantz, Erickson, and others who came
before him (which he acknowledges). While his introductory remarks tout a fresh look at the Soviet
war effort in light of what was revealed after the fall of Communism, there doesn’t seem to be much
archival research. Primary sources, such as they are, are things like Zhukov’s memoirs, Grossman’s
work, or letters from soldiers. I’m not sure that any of this was eye-opening or revelatory when this
was published.

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20 people found this helpful

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BJT

Great!
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
Excellent. I expected this to be simply a military history of the Eastern Front, and it was so much more.
Tremendous insight from the author on not only the military battles, but the lesser known Soviet
battles as well (Stalin v Zhukov, Communism v Nationalism, etc). The numbers are also staggering; the
Eastern Front was where World War 2 was won.
6 people found this helpful

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Michael E. Martin

An Insightful History
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2013
Verified Purchase

After reading this book, I have a much better understanding of the Soviet Union's failures and
accomplishments in WWII. Mr. Overy provides countless details that explain not only the politics and
battlefield strategy, but also the character of the leaders, soldiers, and civilians who fought this war.
For example, he desribes Stalin's insecurites and interactions with Churchill and Roosevelt and then
explains why non-smoking Germans were put at the front of squads moving into enemy territory.

There are the usual list of casualties and maps you'd expect to find in a military history, but more
importantly, Mr. Overy explains how the Soviet Union and their supposedly backward and unflexible
leadership actually made dramatic changes in their conduct of the war that enabled them to defeat
the Germans.

The book is easy to read and very thoroughly researched. I think Mr. Overy probably had enough
material to write a book twice as long, but to his credit, he focused on only that which help the reader
understand the eventual outcome of the war. He is objective in both describing the tyranny of Soviet
leadership,
Read more the terrible losses, and at the same time the contribution that Soviet armies made toward

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Dr W. H. Konarzewski

Compelling, authoritative plus new insights
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
There have been many books written about the German-Russian War 1941-1945. Why read this one?
There are several good reasons. The first is that Overy writes with such clarity and sympathy for the
reader that this book is intensely readable. Another is that Overy dispels certain myths. For example, it
is commonly believed that the Red Army did not come to the aid of the Warsaw Uprising because it
suited Stalin to allow the Germans to kill off all Poles with leadership potential so that he could
dominate Poland more easily after the war. Overy argues that the Red Army was not in a position
militarily to come to the aid of the beleaguered Poles. Another misconception is that the Germans
were mainly defeated by the savage Russian winters. Overy believes it was the patriotism and heroism
of the ordinary Russian people that prevailed primarily, and that the Russian winters were only a
secondary factor. There are plenty of details about the personalities of Stalin, Zhukov, Rokossovsky,
Chuikov and Timoshenko, and also about the hideous activities of the NKVD who persecuted their own
Russian people to the detriment of the war effort.

Overall, in my opinion, this is one of the five best books I've read about the Russian War. It's as
readable
Read more
as Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad and as authoritative as the memoirs of Georgy Zhukov.

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conjunction

Shines light on the Russian experience.
 Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2010
Verified Purchase

This isn't a cheery book to read. In fact my jaw dropped, on a number of occasions, as I read it.

For me the most important thing to say about it is that it quite radically challenged my understanding
of what happened in the Second World War, a view which was formed primarily by reading Churchill.

In his book 'The World at War', which kind of softened me up for reading Overy, Mark Arnold-Forster
suggests that if necessary Russia could have defeated Germany unaided, and that the Germans weren't
defeated because of their own incompetence or the weather but that they met a militarily superior
opponent.

Overy doesn't make the first claim but he backs up the rest. Although Russia had a vast army and
considerable weaponry at the outset of the war they were disorganised and in particular Stalin was
unwilling to trust his generals. It took about a year and a half for these problems to be overcome and
after that Russia hardly put a foot wrong. Having said that he also makes clear the important of the
'lend-lease'
Read moresupplies the Russians got from the USA.

50 people found this helpful

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Anthony

Compulsive reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2020
Verified Purchase

A very well researched account of the war on the eastern front from the Soviet perspective. The
descriptions of Stalin and the Soviet regime were fascinating albeit disturbing. The account of Stalin's
last days were particularly nteresting. Overall an excellent read.
2 people found this helpful

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John Morgan

Wow what an eye opener
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2021
Verified Purchase

We may have thought we had a bad time of it but almost unimaginable what happened in Russia even
the fact that Stalin murdered so many of his own people wow that takes some getting your head
round,

a really good book a must read

2 people found this helpful

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ian

Russia War
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2020
Verified Purchase
Good book

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