Includes bibliographical references (p. 477-485) and index

In June 1941, German forces swept across Soviet territory in an offensive that finally brought them within twenty-five miles of Moscow. But in August 1942, the overconfident Hitler chose the wrong target, Stalin?s namesake city on the Volga. The battle of Stalingrad is extraordinary in every way: the triumphant invader fought to a standstill; then the Soviet trap sprung, surrounding their attackers; and the terrible siege, with Germans starving and freezing, forced to fight on by a disbelieving Hitler.The story has never been told as Antony Beevor tells it here. He writes of the great Manichaean clash between Stalin and Hitler, and the strategic brilliance and fatal flaws of their generals. Stalingrad is first and foremost the story of the man on the ground, a soldier?s-eye view of fighting house-to-house on an urban battlefield, with helpless civilians caught in the crossfire. Beevor has gained access to Russian reports on desertions and executions that have never been seen by Western scholars, German transcripts of prisoner interrogations, and private letters and diaries. These help re-create the compelling human drama of the most terrible battle in modern warfare

Stalingrad -- Contents -- List of illustrations -- List of maps -- Preface -- Double-edged sword of Barbarossa -- Nothing is impossible for the german soldier! -- Smash in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down! -- Hitler's hubris: Delayed battle for Moscow -- Barbarossa relaunched: General Paulus's first battle -- How much land does a man need? -- Not one step backwards -- Volga is reached! -- Fateful city: Time is blood: September battles -- Rattenkrieg -- Traitors and allies -- Fortresses of rubble and iron -- Paulus's final assault -- All for the front! -- Zhukov's trap: Operation Uranus -- Hitler's obsession -- Fortress without a roof -- Der manstein kommt! -- Christmas in the German way -- Subjugation of the sixth army air-bridge -- Surrender out of the question -- German field Marshal does not commit suicide with a pair of nail scissors! -- Stop dancing! Stalingrad has fallen -- City of the dead -- Sword of Stalingrad -- Appendix A: German and soviet orders of battle, 19 November 1942 -- Appendix B: Statistical debate: Sixth army strength in the kessel -- references -- Source notes -- Select bibliography -- Index