Christmas at Stalingrad by Antony Beevor Review

Antony Beevor published what may be the definitive book on the Battle of Stalingrad (modern-day Volgograd) in 1998 - Christmas at Stalingrad is a short extract from that book, focusing on the bitter winter of 1942-43 when the fate of Hitler’s doomed Sixth Army was sealed.

For context, the Battle of Stalingrad wasn’t just the worst battle of WW2 but it’s considered one of, if not the worst, battles in human history. It’s certainly the worst urban battle of all time. In this book, Beevor picks up the story as the tide is turning and the Soviets have begun pushing the Nazis out of their country for good.

Part of the reason for this was the infamous and unstoppable Russian winter but also the logistical nightmares that the Nazis failed to overcome, where the Luftwaffe simply weren’t delivering the requisite supplies, leading to severe food, as well as fuel and ammunition, shortages. By December, the German soldiers not dying in combat were dying up to 20 a day from a combination of exhaustion, hunger and cold.

Beevor writes about how the young German soldiers tried to celebrate Christmas on their pathetic rations and I kinda felt sorry for some of them - they couldn’t all have been true-blue Nazis who believed in the cause. I’m sure some of them were poor bastards who got drafted, who hated Hitler, and, through no fault of their own, this would be their last Christmas, dying in the Russian snow for nothing. That’s strong writing from Beevor - showing the humanity of his subjects rather than the cartoonish villainy with which how the Wehrmacht are often portrayed in popular media.

The book has the same pitfalls I’ve encountered before when reading military history: too many unit/officer/operation names, all coming at you too quickly that makes it hard to follow at times.

Also, this particular edition has some detail missing that I would’ve liked to have seen included. You eventually find out the date but I wanted to know from the start when this was taking place (Dec ‘42 to Jan ‘43), and the final, vital outcome is missing. How soon after the envoys’ attempt to reach Field Marshal Paulus did the Sixth Army fall? What became of Paulus and the remnants of the army? I know now but I had to read about it online, which I feel is a failing of a history book and makes it a less satisfying read. That’s a problem with the short format of this paperback, but still.

I learned more about the final stages of the Battle of Stalingrad and enjoyed reading enough of it. Even in this brief book, it’s not something you can casually read - you definitely have to be paying attention to get anything out of it - but it is also accessible; Beevor is a really good writer as well as historian. Christmas at Stalingrad is definitely worth a look for readers interested in this extremely dark episode of the darkest of wars but aren’t willing to commit to Beevor’s full length work.