Review: Enemy At The Gates

Full title: Enemy At The Gates - The Battle For Stalingrad
Author: William Craig
Publisher: Konekcy & Konecky
Total Pages: 457

William Craig takes readers inside one of the most infamous battles of World War II with this work. After laying some groundwork, explaining the events that lead to the battler itself, Craig meticulously lays out the events that unfolded in and around Stalingrad from August of 1942 through early February of 1943. Using first-hand accounts, this work weaves a tapestry of emotions of the military men and women who fought on both sides and also the civilians caught in the middle while presenting the facts of the battle itself.

Some may remember the movie of this same title that was released several years ago. While I am sometimes wary of reading books that have been made into major motion pictures, I was quite pleasantly surprised by Enemy At The Gates. The movie simply didn't do the book justice. I'll admit that it's been some time since I've seen the movie, but my memory is that it is primarily the story of two snipers battling in the cauldron that was Stalingrad. What took Hollywood nearly two hours to portray takes place over the course of just 4 pages in this book. There is so much more to this story outside of that duel. Craig's treatment of the battle goes far beyond and includes a wide array of participants, but not so many that the reader can't remember who is who (something I have encountered in other books). Craig does his best to tell the tale from both the German and Russian perspective. Both sides are well represented.

The author's writing style is very easy to read, even 38 plus years after its initial publication. The book contains several maps, which are helpful in illustrating troop movements and the lines that made up the front throughout the conflict, as well as pictures of the city and several key participants. Additionally, the book ends with one of my favorite features, a epilogue, which describes what happened to the survivors who were introduced to the reader throughout the book after the conclusion of the battle.

There are some graphic descriptions, both of injuries suffered by participants and of living conditions in the battle zones, that some readers may find disturbing. That being said, these details are not merely for shock value, but to help paint a true picture of the toll this battle took on all involved.

Bottom line:

Would I read it again? Yes
Would I recommend this book to someone else? Yes