by David Stahel, editor
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. Pp. xvi, 404.
Illus., maps, notes, guide for further reading, index. $35.99 paper. ISBN:1009656724
Informative and Insightful Studies on the Nazi-Soviet War
In this volume, Prof. Stahel (New South Wales), author of ‘Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany's Winter Campaign, 1941-1942,’ ‘Joining Hitler's Crusade: European Nations and the Invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941,’ and other works on the Nazi-Soviet War, has collected twenty papers by noted scholars from over a half dozen countries on the Russo-German War.
Following an introduction by Prof. Stahel, the papers are grouped into seven sections, each dealing with a particular aspect of the titanic struggle:
1. “Concepts of War,” three papers on the background and the political and strategic thinking of both sides.
2. “Opposing Forces,” one paper on the German army and two on the Soviets.
3. “Campaign,” six papers offering a chronological overview of the war.
4. “Criminality and Occupation,” two essays on the behavior of each side toward prisoners-of-war and non- combatants.
5. “Home Fronts,” papers on the war and the civilians in the two homelands.
6. “Comrades in Arms,” the relationship between the two principal powers and their allies.
7. “Post-war Legacies and Myth Making,” on how each country has used and misused the memory and memorialization of the war.
All of the papers are very good, offering fresh insights into the conduct, course, and experience of the war. Some stand out for throwing fresh light on matters, notably the papers in Part 1, dealing with the pre-war relations between the two sides and their respective strategic thinking, and in Part 4, “Germany and the Axis in the East,” which offers a more favorable view of Germany’s allies than is usually the case.
Anyone with an interest in the Russo-German War will find The Cambridge Companion to the Nazi-Soviet War informative and at times ground-breaking.
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Note: The Cambridge Companion to the Nazi-Soviet War is also available in hardback & e-editions.
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