So much has been written about the Battle of Stalingrad – the Soviet victory that turned the tide of the Second World War – that we should know everything about it. But the history of the war, and the battle, is evolving and is being written anew, and Alexey Isaev’s engrossing account is a striking example of this fresh approach.

By bringing together previously unpublished Russian archive material – strategic directives and orders, after-action reports and official records of all kinds – with the vivid recollections of soldiers who were there, in the front lines, he reconstructs what happened in extraordinary detail. The evidence leads him to question common assumptions about the conduct of the battle – about the use of tanks and mechanized forces, for instance, and the combat capability, and tenacity, of the defeated and surrounded German Sixth Army in the last weeks before it surrendered.

His gripping narrative carries the reader through the course of the entire battle from the first small-scale encounters on the approaches to Stalingrad in July 1942, through the intense continuous fighting through the city, to the encirclement, the beating back of the relieving force and the capitulation of the Sixth Army in February 1943.

Alexey Isaev’s latest book is an important contribution to the literature on this decisive battle. It offers a thought-provoking revised view of events for readers who are already familiar with the story, and it is a fascinating introduction for those who are coming to it for the first time.

"...a fresh look at what is perhaps the most famous battle of the Russo-German War from the Soviet perspective...an essential read for anyone with an interest in the Second World War."

"Despite the plethora of other titles on the same subject, Isaev fills his pages with plenty of new and interesting material...His work complements the existing body of work on Stalingrad and proves there's still much about the battle to be learned, even by those who have been reading all the important books on the topic."

"Having as much detailed information as is presented here continually helps put the various phases of the Sixth Army's advance on and into Stalingrad, and Soviet attempts to stem the German offensive, into a better and more critical context. "

"The analysis from the author with regards to diaries and memoirs is very impartial and well done..."

"Alexey Isaev's fresh account of the iconic Battle of Stalingrad is something of an eye-opener."