Total War

Description

In February 1943, German forces surrendered to the Red Army at Stalingrad and the tide of war turned. By May 1945 Soviet soldiers had stormed Berlin and brought down Hitler's regime. Total War follows the fortunes of these fighters as they liberated Russia and the Ukraine from the Nazi invader and fought their way into the heart of the Reich. It reveals the horrors they experienced - the Holocaust, genocide and the mass murder of Soviet POWs - and shows the Red Army, brutalized by war, taking its terrible revenge on the German civilian population. For the first time Russian veterans are candid about the terrible atrocities their own army committed. But they also describe their struggle to raise themselves from the abyss of hatred. Their war against the Nazis - which in large part brought the Second World War in Europe to an end - is a tarnished but deeply moving story of sacrifice and redemption.

Michael Jones was awarded a history PhD by Bristol University, and subsequently taught at Glasgow University and Winchester College. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the British Commission for Military History, and works now as a writer, media consultant and presenter. He has written books on the battles of Bosworth, Agincourt, Stalingrad and Leningrad, and most recently The Retreat: Hitler's First Defeat. For the last few years has conducted battlefield tours of the Eastern Front.

Praise for Michael Jones - --- A milestone in the treatment of the battle . . . highly effective and utterly captivating . . . This is the finest history of its type published to date - David Glanz A tribute to the resilience of the human spirit - Herald Jones deserves full credit for the remarkable personal testimonies he has amassed - Max Hastings, Sunday Times An epic depiction of a "tarnished victory" - Independent