The Retreat

Description

At the moment of crisis in 1941 on the Eastern front, with the forces of Hitler massing on the outskirts of Moscow, the miraculous occurred: Moscow was saved. Yet this turning point was followed by a long retreat, in which Russian forces, inspired by old beliefs in the sacred motherland, pushed back German forces, steeled by the vision of the ubermensch, the iron-willed fighter. Many of Russia's 27 million military and civilian deaths occurred in this desperate struggle. In THE RETREAT, Michael Jones, acclaimed author of LENINGRAD, draws upon a mass of new eye-witness testimony from both sides of the conflict to tell, with matchless vividness and comprehensiveness, of the crucial turning point of the Second World War - the moment when the armies of Hitler could go no further - and of the titanic and cruel struggle of two mighty empires.

Michael Jones has a PhD in History from Bristol University. He subsequently taught at Bristol Polytechnic, Glasgow University and Winchester College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and now works freelance as a writer, media historical consultant and presenter. He has written two books and for the last 5 years he has conducted Battlefield Tours of the Eastern Front.

A gripping account . . . told with verve and scholarship - Andrew Roberts Praise for STALINGRAD and LENINGRAD by Michael Jones - - : A milestone in the treatment of the battle ... highly effective and utterly captivating. Previous accounts have been unable to fully convey the desperate ferocity of the battle. Now we see it in all its horror - and better understand the courage of Stalingrad's defenders. This is the finest history of its type published to date - David Glanz Where the book stands out is in the portrait of ordinary life in extraordinary circumstances ... Fluently written ... the uniquely terrible experience of suffering, especially of 1941-2, is effectively described - BBC History A tribute to the resilience of the human spirit - HERALD A mass of first-person material that has been cleverly assembled to paint a striking picture - BBC History Magazine