Book: Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov "Stalingrad"

[Rrralphster]

Does anyone know or have this book?
I'm reading a Dutch translation with the Russian names translated into "readable" Dutch which is kinda crappy.
And only the Russian units and a few of the most important German units have designations.

I'm hoping to get some new insights of Russian doctrine.

Copyrights from 1962

[[TW]Wilsonam]

If you want Soviet "doctrine", I have copies of the 1939, 1941 and 1944 "Ustav" - the Red Army doctrinal manuals Most of the 1960s ("first Glasnost") era books tend to be a little wayward on accuracy... it was the first post-Stalin-revisionist time!

[Rrralphster]

That's going to be a deep dig to get. Those probably can't be found in mainstream bookstores. They rather sell games/software then good books.

[[TW]Wilsonam]

No - they can't be found in regular bookstores - but I have copies (including translations into English in pdf format...)

[Rrralphster]

I will PM you my gmail/email details if that is ok with you.
My normal email account probaly doesn't accept pdf's as attachments.
My ISP is pro-active in security matters.
Dunno what you standpoint is in matters of "googlism".

Thanks in advance!

[Donut]

Originally Posted by [RO]Wilsonam

No - they can't be found in regular bookstores - but I have copies (including translations into English in pdf format...)

That would be REALLY nice to have! (wink wink, nudge nudge...)

[Rrralphster]

Almost done with the book now. The first part (about 3/4 of the book) is about the advance on and fights in Stalingrad.
After that it continues in a summary of how the Russians fought in the city.
Tactics of the Russians are quite interesting.
Did you know that the handgrenade was the most used weapon in Stalingrad itself? More grenades were used in those few months then in the rest of the entire war. Russian stormtroops packed 8 - 12 grenades per person per attack (...and people complain about nadespamming in RO ).
More then 1/3 of the German armour was taken out with anti-tankrifles. The anti-tankrifle was widely used and by no means obsolete.
Streetfighting wasn't done in the streets but in buildings. Not a single person dared to walk the streets and squares.
The "No step back!" order was issued because there was nothing to fall back to behind Stalingrad. Not because of some insane dictatorial idea of Stalin but because it would mean victory for the Germans.

I think that a lot of what is written by western historians doesn't cover the whole story. And it certainly doesn't tell about the motivations of the Russians.

[Bolt]

Have you read Beevor's "Stalingrad"? If yes, could you compare these two books?
It would be interesting for me, because i haven't read Beevor's nor Chuikov's "Stalingrads", but i want to. From which book should i start?

[Rrralphster]

I havn't read Beevor's book so I can't really tell. There are not that many books in Holland written from a Russian or eastern point of view.
Chuiov's book is ok. It's just translated in a crappy way so I probably still don't get the full scope of things.
Certain political organisations are not explained and/or translated in a recognisable way for me for instance.
What I have learnt though is that Russian motivation wasn't forced by dictatorial orders alone. Totally different from what I read in most western written books.

[Bolt]

What I have learnt though is that Russian motivation wasn't forced by dictatorial orders alone. Totally different from what I read in most western written books.

Cool. I'll read it when i'm done with Starinov's book about partyzan's and diversions.

[aktionman]

Chuikov's book called "The End of the Third Reich" - about the period from crossing the Vistula up to celebratiion of May Day in Berlin in 1945 (with a cover like Bolt's sig above) somehow gave me the feeling it was written for political purposes. I don't know about his Stalingrad one.

Worth looking at on this topic may be "Stalingrad" - a translation (1958) of: "Stalingrad. Bis zur letzten Patronen" by Heinz Schr[FONT=Tahoma]ö[/FONT]ter who was a war correspondent of the 6th Army.