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Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945 Paperback – August 1, 1998

by Richard Overy (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 511 ratings
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"A penetrating and compassionate book on the most gigantic military struggle in world history."--The New York Times Book Review

"An extraordinary tale... Overy's engrossing book provides extensive details of teh slaughter, brutality, bitterness and destruction on the massive front from the White Sea to the flank of Asia."--Chicago Tribune 

The Russian war effort to defeat invading Axis powers, an effort that assembled the largest military force in recorded history and that cost the lives of more than 25 million Soviet soldiers and civilians, was the decisive factor for securing an Allied victory. Now with access to the wealth of film archives and interview material from Russia used to produce the ten-hour television documentary Russia's War, Richard Overy tackles the many persuasive questions surrounding this conflict. Was Stalin a military genius? Was the defense of Mother Russia a product of something greater than numbers of tanks and planes--of something deep within the Russian soul?
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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Allen Lane History
  2. Print length
    432 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  5. Publication date
    August 1, 1998
  6. Dimensions
    5.1 x 0.75 x 7.8 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9780140271690
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0140271690
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As German armies stampeded through the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, Nazi politicians and Western statesmen alike predicted the USSR's collapse. In Russia's War, a balanced and acute portrayal of a combat theater that claimed more than 40 million Soviet lives, Richard Overy tells the story of how Stalin and his commanders held off defeat and engineered the most significant military achievement of the Second World War: the destruction of the Wehrmacht.

Russia's War is far from a tale of triumph, as the Russian capacity for resourceful creativity, desperate courage, and raw endurance was matched, if not exceeded, by the brutal oppression of the Soviet system. Overy argues, however, that victory was the result of precisely this uneasy combination. Drawing from extensive archival sources made available in the wake of glasnost, he revises both our conception of the Red Army as a horde that overwhelmed the Germans and the accepted wisdom that Hitler's defeat was the result of strategic bungling and a logistical overreach of the Nazi forces. Perhaps his most poignant contribution is the discussion of the crisis that recent disclosures have provoked in the Russian understanding of the conflict. What was once viewed by the Soviets as the "Great Patriotic War" has become "a crucible of miserable and incomprehensible revelations." In spite of these confusions, Russia's War commences to find significance in a contest that repeatedly disquiets and humbles the historical imagination. --James Highfill

Review

"Penetrating and compassionate..." - The New York Times

"Masterly ... a vivid account"-- Robert Service, Independent (London)

"A dramatic and exciting tale ... His set-piece descriptions of such visions of Hell as Stalingrad, the 900-day siege of Leningrad and the crucial battle of Kursk are as fascinating as they are horrifying"― Sunday Times (London)

"Overy is a first-class military historian ... He writes concisely and says what he means to say ... Now, we have an authoritative British account that understands both sides, without illusions." -- Norman Stone, Spectator (London)

"Excellent ... Overy tackles this huge, complex and multifaceted story with the vital gifts of clarity and brevity" -- Antony Beevor, Literary Review (London)

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0140271694
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Revised ed. edition (August 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780140271690
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140271690
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.75 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 511 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
511 global ratings
Russia at War 1941-45
5 Stars
Russia at War 1941-45
This book was written to accompany a ten part documentary series titled Russia's War. Although I have not seen the series I can assure potential readers that the book, by itself, is well worth acquiring and reading. The subtitle of this book is "A History of the Soviet War Effort: 1941-1945". Prior to reading this book I was unaware of the catastrophic effect the war had on Russian society. My overall impression after finishing this book was one of deep sadness that so many Russian people were either killed, enslaved or tortured not only as a result the War, but on the orders of the Communist leadership headed by Joseph Stalin. The author details the ebb and flow of battle along with a running commentary of how many Soviet citizens were sent to Siberia or to the firing squads. Stalin's paranoid delusions compounded the devastating effects of the War on the Russia people. The book has motivated me to seek out the films. I found the subject matter so captivating that to see the archival Soviet footage would be remarkable.
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Top reviews from the United States

Bruce Loveitt
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-Opening Account For Non-Russians
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2002
Verified Purchase
About a year ago I read an excellent book by Mr. Overy, entitled "Why The Allies Won." I was very impressed by that book so I decided to take a chance on this one as well. I was not disappointed. Whereas the earlier book stepped back and gave a broader view of the European conflict, "Russia's War" zooms in on the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia. If you have already read a few books on the Eastern Front, this book is probably not for you....it is meant only to provide a general outline of the war in eastern Europe. However, if you haven't read much about WWII, or if your reading up until now has concentrated on the Western Front, you might just find this book to be an eye-opener. I consider myself to be a fairly well-read person, but I am a bit ashamed to admit I didn't know much about the 1941 attack on Leningrad. I knew there was a siege that lasted about 2 1/2 years, but I didn't know much else. Mr. Overy explains Hitler's intent wasn't something as mundane as just getting Leningrad to surrender. He wanted to wipe Leningrad from the face of the Earth. Peter The Great had made it his capital, and so it had great importance to the Russian people and also to Hitler. The start of the siege in 1941 is horrible to read about and not for the squeamish. The city was surrounded and, besides being pounded by German artillery several times a day, for all intents and purposes was cut off from the outside world. What the population of Leningrad went through in the winter of 1941-1942 is unbelievable. Many people starved or froze to death or became so weak that they succumbed to sicknesses that, in normal times, would not have been fatal. But the survivors carried on and finally managed to get supplies thru by finding a gap in the siege lines that involved crossing a large lake. Leningrad managed to hold on until Russian advances in 1944 finally broke the siege. Mr. Overy also tells about how the Russians dismantled entire factories in the western part of the country right after the German invasion in June 1941 and moved everything by rail to the east. Factories were reassembled and workers constructed crude huts to live in, or sometimes just dug holes in the ground and lived in those. With the tradeoff of pretty much not producing any consumer goods, the Russian workers under these conditions managed to outproduce the Germans militarily....numbers of planes, tanks, artillery pieces, etc. As difficult as this was to accomplish, it was essential if the Russians were going to survive as tremendous amounts of military hardware were destroyed during the initial German assault in 1941. The author also gives credit to the lend-lease program. Stalin gave this short shrift in public, but in private he admitted that Russia could not have survived without the large quantities of trucks, jeeps, fuel, telephones and telephone wire, etc. provided by her allies. The Russian military also learned from their early mistakes. They adapted strategy and tactics to fight a modern, mechanized war...with concentrated firepower and improved communications. Mr. Overy also gives the Devil his due. At the beginning of the conflict, Stalin thought he could run the show. He thought he knew more than his military leaders. When he was told in early 1941 that if the Germans attacked the attack would likely be aimed to capture Moscow, Stalin refused to believe it. He was sure the Germans would go for the economic jugular....the southwestern part of Russia where the oil was produced. Russian defenses were therefore skewed to fit Stalin's thinking. Of course, Stalin was wrong......and his error was almost catastrophic. Stalin made other mistakes, such as ordering massive counter-offensives when the Russian army, both organizationally and militarily, was unprepared to undertake such actions. These attacks caused many unneccesary deaths and loss of equipment that the army could ill-afford. But the author shows that Stalin learned from his mistakes. He worked long hours and familiarized himself with all the strategic aspects of the conflict. He was man enough to admit, at least to himself, that he was making mistakes. He listened to advice and criticism and he often let the military men have the final say, once he had people in place that he felt he could trust. Of course, after the war, what he did to these same people is a whole other story! But that's another book... Mr. Overy writes well, and is always evenhanded and judicious in coming to his conclusions. I don't think you could find a better book concerning an introductory history of the war on the Eastern Front.
20 people found this helpful
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R. Forczyk
4.0 out of 5 stars Foremost Cause of Soviet Victory: Stalin
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2008
Verified Purchase
Once the Soviet Union fell in 1991 and the era of Glasnost arrived it was inevitable that western historians would seek to re-appraise the eastern front in the Second World War. One of the early efforts was Russia's War, written by British historian Richard Overy. He used some of the early released information to re-examine our knowledge of the Russo-German War and to attempt to explain just how the Soviet Union was able to defeat what appeared to be the strongest military power on earth. Readers should be aware that this book is not a blow-by-blow campaign history but rather, a book that uses thematic-based chapters to chart the course of Soviet victory. Furthermore, this book has already been dated by further research into Soviet wartime records by historians such as the prodigious David M. Glantz; for example, there is no mention of the disastrous 1942 Operation `Mars.' Overall, this book is a useful supplement to Glantz's own one-volume summary of the war, When Titans Clash, since it touches on elements affecting Soviet power that Glantz (who is strictly focused on military issues) omits.

Russia's War is divided into ten chapters, consisting of 330 pages of text and 36 pages of endnotes. The author also provides 11 sketch maps and 3 tables, as well as 32 very dark and blurry B/W photos. The author states his hypothesis up front when he says that, "material explanations of Soviet victory are never quite convincing" and opines that one cannot account for Soviet victory without addressing the idea of a Russian soul or spirit. Instead, he seeks to demolish the stereotype that Soviet victory was simply the product of overwhelming numerical superiority.

The first chapter deals with the creation of the Stalinist state in the USSR during the interwar period and Stalin's pre-occupation with building up the Soviet Union against both internal and external attack. Overy notes that Stalin's forced collectivization - always condemned outright in the West - made a huge demographic shift from rural areas to the cities, which made possible the industrial programs of the 1930s. In short order, Stalin transformed Russia from a primarily agrarian economy to a nation of heavy industries, which provided the basis for industrial mobilization in 1941-45. The author concludes that, "without the economic transformation, the Red Army would have been a feeble force in 1941, relying on a vast base of peasant manpower." Although Overy also discusses the impact of Stalinist purges on the Soviet military, he believes that they have been exaggerated and that, the Red Army `had severe weaknesses both before and after the purges," such as very weak command and control due to lack of radios and the interference of political commissars.

The next several chapters are rather disappointing. Chapter two deals with the lead-up to war in 1937-41 but skims over Soviet military modernization efforts as well as Khalkin-Gol and the Russo-Finnish War. Chapters three and four deal with Operation Barbarossa and Soviet efforts to defend Leningrad and Moscow but really don't offer any new material. Overy does conclude that, "it was not the tough winter conditions that halted the German army but the remarkable revival of Soviet military manpower after the terrible maulings of the summer and autumn," but contends that these actions were not decisive. In the fifth chapter, on terror and resistance, Overy crosses over an old `taboo' line by mentioning the active cooperation of thousands of Cossacks with the invading Germans and states that, "an estimated one million Soviet soldiers ended up fighting against their country." These comments are important but exaggerated, since Vlasov's army was not formed until 1945 and most other units formed from eastern volunteers were only battalion or regiment-sized. The author also assails the cherished icon of Soviet partisans, stating that their role was fairly limited and describes them as "the kamikazes of the Soviet war effort."

On a number of issues, Overy seems unable to drag himself out of the morass of Soviet wartime propaganda. For example, he claims that virtually all of the German troops involved in the Korsun Pocket breakout in February 1944 were `massacred' - essentially parotting Soviet wartime claims - while fresh research reveals that 35,000 out of 45,000 Germans escaped the pocket. Similarly, Overy's treatment of Soviet inactivity during the uprising of the Polish Home Army is August 1944 is as insulting as it is faulty.

In the sixth and seventh chapters, the author covers the critical battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, considered the decisive actions. He notes that the combination of Stalin's `not-a-step-backward' order and ferocious Soviet propaganda brought Soviet society "to a fever pitch of hatred and vengeance" in 1942, which contributed to the Red Army's victory at Stalingrad. In the Kursk chapter, he cites Stalin's willingness to gradually give more decision-making authority to his military professionals, which contrasted greatly with Hitler's move in the opposite direction and that this, "created a central team of military managers and thinkers which radically altered Soviet fighting power." With Soviet industry churning out large numbers of modern tanks, artillery and aircraft, a revitalized Soviet military elite was allowed to plan and conduct its campaigns based on military rather than political logic. Overy also cites other factors that contributed to Soviet victory: two thirds of women were drafted to work in factories while most German women stayed at home; Western Lend-Lease provided the Soviets with vital non-combat gear (radios, trucks, boots), allowing Soviet industry to concentrate on weapons production; and the role of slave-labor in the Soviet Gulgag, which produced 15 percent of all ammunition. Overall, Professor Overy concludes that Soviet victory was based on a combination of factors, but the foremost were the series of brutal policies enacted by Stalin that made the Soviet Union a far more militarized state than the old Tsarist Russia. While this book made an important contribution when it first appeared over a decade ago, it is becoming obsolete and should be used with care.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Surfer Joe
5.0 out of 5 stars Brings too light uncomfortable facts.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2022
Verified Purchase
If you are primarily looking for battlefield action look elsewhere. If you want insight into Soviet characters at the top and various military and political situations then this book is for you, even if first published as long ago as 1997 (i.e. 25 years ago as of this review). A short, sharp and concise treatment of Russia's (big part in the) war from start to finish and many of the behind the scenes power plays. Ideally one should read this book first to make sense of the Russian 'stance / mindset' before delving into other books that focus on particular battles throughout the war. However, even if you have read other books on the Eastern Front and the fall of Berlin, this book still contains some 'enlightening' background information. It also contains uncomfortable facts oft left unsaid in other works. An excellent book in my opinion, unless of course one finds the truth hard to stomach. The book is worth the buying simply for the last chapter (10) and the epilogue alone, i.e. The Cult of Personality: Stalin and the Legacy of War: and the epilogue; Russia's War: Myth and Reality.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Cult of Personality & it’s serious consequences
Reviewed in India on December 3, 2018
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Superbly written historical account of the regime in Russia during the war years.
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Giorgio
5.0 out of 5 stars Super
Reviewed in Italy on August 28, 2014
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To really understand the modern russian culture, temperd by wars and sacrifices. The origin of the russian nationalism and proud.
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ICB
5.0 out of 5 stars Kindle Edition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2013
Verified Purchase
I found this book to be highly informative and a thoroughly engaging read that I didn't want to put down. It's an excellent overview with a fair amount of detail though volumes would be needed to go into the major aspects of the war such as Stalin's regime, the social impact of the war and the tyranny of facism on the occupied peoples, Kursk, et. It does a superb job of covering the major and important aspects of the war and doing so in a well written, accessible yet not simplistic way.
5 people found this helpful
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Matt Sanderson
4.0 out of 5 stars Great general history of the Eastern Front
Reviewed in Canada on August 12, 2014
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Richard Overy does a remarkable job of choosing aspects most important to the Soviet war effort between 1941 and 1945, and condensing them into digestible segments. This is a book composed of 330 pages, written on a topic that could be made into dozens and dozens of different books this size, all on different aspects of the war. The Eastern Front was a truly gargantuan conflict, and Overy does a good job of squeezing a great part of it (not all of it, mind you) into Russia's War.

The book begins well before the war, just following the Bolshevik Revolution, and I found these chapters, along with the other chapters and segments that touch on the partisan war effort, the big personalities of the war in the east, and the years after the war most interesting. These are expertly written, and Overy does a good job in giving you a real feel for the people involved. The parts I most disliked, however, were the paragraphs on military maneuvers. It is difficult to do justice to the military side of the war and its different battles in a tome of this size, and I found myself glossing over the parts where division numbers and army compositions began to be trotted out. For a more in depth study on the military battles and maneuvers of the Eastern Front, I would recommend the works by John Erickson.

Overall, for a general history of the Soviet war effort, I highly recommend this book. It covers a lot of ground, touching on both social and military aspects of the conflict. In the hands of a lesser writer and historian it might have become mired in the spring muds, but in the hands of Overy, it reads with quickness and clarity.
2 people found this helpful
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