This book traces the developments in the Soviet Army from its formation in 1918 to its victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the turning points in the Second World War. It focuses on the critical command decisions that preceded the German attack and the roll of Stalin and his trusted lieutenants in the enormous losses that followed. Their performance makes you wonder, as did one Soviet marshal in retrospect, why Stalin did not rid himself of these old acquaintances who had outlived their capabilities. Instead, he trusted them with wartime posts far beyond their competence. Stalin also often accepted their unfair evaluation of regular officers at face value to the detriment of their subsequent professional careers. This was the same Stalin who did not hesitate to order the execution of thousands of officers during the purges of 1937/38 and who often equated failures of command during the war with treason. --Military Review

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