The Battle of Stalingrad

'An insightful book, which captures the drama and significance of the battle… Corrigan's prose is gripping, whilst his judgement is measured.' Oliver Webb-Carter, Editor of Aspects of History

June 1941.

Operation Barbarossa. The German army invades the USSR. They swiftly plough through the Red Army, killing and capturing hundreds of thousands.

By the summer of 1942, the Wehrmacht are approaching the River Volga. The aim is then to turn south and take the Caspian oil fields.

There is only one thing standing in their way – the city of Stalingrad.

Stalingrad could easily have been isolated and rendered unable to interfere, and the advance to the Caspian achieved.

But Hitler, defying military advice, ordered Stalingrad to be captured. The fateful decision led to a long, bloody and unnecessary struggle which saw the deaths of 120,000 soldiers of the German 6th Army and the capture of 90,000 more.

Stalingrad was arguably the beginning of the end. The Wehrmacht were defeated on the Eastern Front - which ultimately led to Germany losing the Second World War.

Gordon Corrigan recounts the Battle of Stalingrad, its place in history - and what might have been.

Major Gordon Corrigan is a retired Gurkha officer, a member of the British Commission for Military History and Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. Fluent in the Nepali language, he is now a freelance military historian and battlefield lecturer. He is a well-known figure on the History channel. He is also the author of Sepoys in the Trenches, Loos: 1915 and Wellington: A Military Life.

Praise for Gordon Corrigan:

‘Political, fluent, well-researched and extremely argumentative.’ Andrew Roberts

'Meticulously researched and well-written.' Pennant

Sepoys in the Trenches:
'In this scholarly and eminently readable book, Major Gordon Corrigan . .. has, at a stroke, filled a significant gap in the historiogaphy of the the First World War.' Professor Peter Simkins

The Second World War: A Military History:
‘… will serve as an invaluable source of reference, but more to the point this book should be savoured for its trenchant opinions and its forceful and uncluttered prose.’ The Daily Express

The Battle of Aegospotami:
‘A masterful storyteller and expert military historian, Gordon Corrigan recounts the bravado, betrayal and bloody final battle of the multi-generational war that tore the Greek world into two. A thrilling account of one of history’s most decisive encounters.’ Hareth Al Bustani, author of Nero and the Art of Tyranny