The Greatest Battle: The Battle for Moscow by Andrew Nagorski

[Captain Hilts]

This is a fascinating - VERY readable - history of Germany's failed attempt to capture Moscow in '41-'42.

Right off the bat Nagorski explains why folks don't know much about this battle - the winners of a war write the history and this battle, ultimately, makes Stalin look very very stupid. Because he was stupid. The purge of Army leaders in the years leading up to the war, ignoring warnings from foreign diplomats and his own that Germany was up to no damned good, etc.

Yet, this battle was FAR bigger than Stalingrad, for example and involved far larger numbers of people. Yet, the Soviet government had good reason not to discuss it. It's an embarassment.

Like most people who've been to Russia, all a lot of us know about the battle is that there are giant anti-tank hedgehogs along side the road from the airport into the city. That's it. Despite living in Moscow for a year, I'll admit to being no whiz on Soviet history.

He uses diplomatic messages from Stalin's own diplomats to underline how stoooopid Stalin was prior to the threat.

Nagorski also interviewed someone that spent the war taking care of Lenin's body - and living in luxury. This section is very interesting as it covers the evacuation of Lenin, etc.

This book is very readable for someone not that up on Soviet or WWII history and I found it to be a real page-turner.

WSC: We tried to warn you.
FDR: Dumbass.
JS: Running dogs of capitalism.

[MountainLaurel]

1. Thank you for the rapid review

I'll be sure to look this one up once I'm finished with my current reading.

[Captain Hilts]

2. I find it really compelling. Moreso than I imagined.

Let me know what you think.