The Stalingrad Cauldron: Inside the Encirclement and Destruction of the 6th Hardcover – 28 May 2013

While this may sound like criticism, its not; I enjoyed this book immensely. This is not a comprehensive study of the operational aspects of the battle for Stalingrad like you have read from David Glantz. This is a specialty book, a niche book that Mr Ellis, with topics meticulously chosen, has developed. Its main theme concerns urban warfare and what life was like for the trapped men of 6th Army though there is minor, initial coverage of crossing the Don and transversing the land bridge to Stalingrad and the subsequent defense of the extreme flanks by Italian, Hungarian and Rumanian troops. The importance of controlling the Volga is also shown.The opening chapter is ideal for setting the stage for the rest of the book by describing the horrific fighting in the city for both sides before the November 19 counter offensive. Though this narrative is generally German driven, much is said in this chapter on Stalin's Order # 227 (Not one step back), the impact it had on the Russian soldier and the involvement of the NKVD in prosecuting this order. The author clearly shows Stalin and his security division had much less concern for the welfare of the Soviet soldier with the implementation of this unreasonable order that saw thousands killed or inprisoned.The author also believes the German soldier and especially the cadre of junior officers were better trained and disciplined over its counterpart to fight an urban battle and was a prime reason why more Soviet forces were lost than German forces but it was also pointed out several times how both sides learned from this dreadful fighting.Besides the terrible battle conditions, its shown how long term deteriorating logistical and psychological conditions impacted the troops of both sides but especially the German side. As a relevant but secondary issue after the trap was sprung, I particularly enjoyed the insightfulness of General Seyditz-Kurzbach and his argument to General Paulus for disobeying Hitler's order to remain in Stalingrad and to make a breakout attempt in the last week of November to the south toward Kotelnikovo. Seyditz knew that 6th Army could never be resupplied by air so deep in enemy territory and that it would be doomed if it stayed at Stalingrad.To support the author's opening overview, the war diaries of 16th PzD, 94th ID, 76th ID are presented to show the deteriorating conditions of fighting and living conditions in the cauldron in bitter winter with little food or ammunition against a relentless foe.Another interesting chapter concerns sniping. Over the decades, myths and legends have risen about the superiority of Soviet snipers over German snipers. The author presents the case the two sides were more or less equal and that thousands of victims were taken from long range on both sides. First presenting a brief history of sniping going back to WWI, the author then presents what he believes is the true history of the contribution of sniping in general as well as the duels between Konings vs Zaitsev and many others that fought there.There are also other interesting chapters on battlefield espionage, deception, propaganda, war crimes and post battle inprisonment. The recruitment of Russian minorities by the Germans to support and in a few cases to fight in the trenches was also noteworthy. There are many topics covered and positions defended in this book that are absent or barely touched on in other books that make this book worthy of your consideration. Mr Ellis clearly shows his knowledge of Stalingrad by the topics chosen along with providing quality commentary and analysis. The author has clearly done his homework and has tried not to heavily duplicate earlier works yet still presents pertinent information to the interested student.In addition to the select narrative, the Notes Section is especially informative and helpful as is the six part Appendix. Though the author gives praise to the works by David Glantz, David Stone, Antony Beever and V Grossman, most of the author's references are either German or Russian as the Bibliography clearly points out. There is also a small but worthy photo gallery; at least half of the photos I haven't seen before and were appreciated. There are many informational tables but no maps. Thats too bad; it would have been interesting seeing a series of maps showing the shrinking pocket.The battle for Stalin's city and the Volga was one of the landmark events of the War. I would suggest that "The Stalingrad Cauldron" would make an excellent, even must have supplement to the traditional works by Glantz, Jason Mark, Hayward and Bergstrom etc if you're looking for a well rounded knowledge of the Stalingrad Battle. This book is therefore highly recommended to all Stalingrad students.

Ellis, Frank: The Stalingrad CauldronThis is a quirky book. The author, Ellis, states in the beginning that it fulfills a lifelong desire to make a contribution to the study of the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad. He certainly has done this. However, the result is not a narrative (Beevor) nor an operational history (Glantz) nor a memoir (Doctor at Stalingrad). It reminds me more of the collections of primary source materials I often encountered as a history major and PhD student.At the heart of the book in my mind are the three divisional histories describing the period from Nov 1942-February 1943. There are also sections on the effects of cold weather, starvation, and exhaustion on human physiology, an analysis of the disastrous fate of the German prisoners who surrendered in the pocket, and an extended discussion of sniping and the role of snipers in the Stalingrad theater. But the chapters definitely do not comprise a narrative and the result is somewhat disjointed as a consequence.The divisional histories in particular are extremely interesting - one main point they seek to make is that morale stayed high among the German troops even at the bitter end. Hope of relief remained, the continuous Red Army attacks were beaten back with heavy losses, individual heroics were not uncommon, and the final surrender was due primarily to the absolute lack of food, ammunition, and other vital material rather than loss of morale. This is not the usual interpretation, and possibly reflects a understandable desire to vindicate after the fact. However, I couldn't figure out the origin of these divisional histories. It seems highly unlikely that they were smuggled out and safely preserved under the utterly brutal conditions prevailing in the Soviet POW camps. Were they reconstructed after the war based on recollections and notes? Were they flown out in the final days before the collapse of the Kessel? I really need to go back and look more carefully through the notes to see if Ellis sheds any light on this question.Overall this is a good if not great book. I would recommend it to the serious student of the Eastern Front or the Stalingrad specialist, but not for the general reader. In fact, the book would be baffling for someone who didn't already have a fairly good grasp of the narrative of the 1942 German offensive and its aftermath.4 stars, but as a labor of love more than as a polished narrative.

Stalingrad Cauldron is a very good book that explains what happened as well as the results. Isn't too complicated breaking Units down to platoons, but gives you all the different units and stories that revolve around that horrendous battle.

Maybe I didn't read the other reviews carefully enough, but I bought this book expecting to read an account of the "encirclement and destruction of the 6th Army," in other words a standard military history of this campaign. This is not that book.In fact, this book is not a military history of the campaign at all, but rather ten chapters dealing with various narrow topics relating to the battle. These chapters (topics) are as follows (I've paraphrased the chapter titles below):1) the battle in the post-cold war persepective;2) diary of 16th panzer division officer at Stalingrad;3) diary of 94th infantry division officer at Stalingrad;4) diary of 76th infantry division officer at Stalingrad;5) German and Soviet snipers at Stalingrad;6) Soviets working on the German side on the eastern front;7) espionage and counter-espionage at Stalingrad;8) German POWs in Soviet camps;9) materials relating to Arthur Boje, a German colonel, in Soviet captivity; and10) work of the German graves registration bodies, etc. after the war.The author spends a lot of time (text) on certain topics which seem near to his heart, such as Stalin's order 227, the supposed sniper duel in Stalingrad, Hiwis helping the Germans, etc. Some of this is interesting, but some of it is wholly unconvincing.As one example, on page 368 the author shows a table taken from Soviet records listing different categories of Soviets arrested for various reasons. One of the categories is "Volunteers in the German Army", which to me clearly means the Hiwis. I quote the author's reaction:"The interesting thing here...is the total absence of any reference to Hiwis...one must ask why there was no reference to Hiwis in this and similar reports. 'Volunteers in the German Army could be a euphanism for "Hiwis'. It is as if the use of the word 'Hiwi' had been banned from Soviet documents so as not to draw attention to them. Was this intended to hide something sinister?"I'm not sure why the author finds it strange that the Soviets do not use a German word in Soviet documents, and I don't know how much clearer the term "Volunteers in German Army" could be...and yet the author supposes some "sinister" intent behind the Soviet's failure to use a German expression. There are many similar examples where the author refuses to accept Soviet explanations, documents, etc.Another odd thing is that in the chapter on espionage and counter-espionage at Stalingrad the author avoids mentioning the elephant in the room--how the Germans overlooked, or ignored, or whatever, the massive Soviet buildup on their flanks.In any event, the author has done quite a bit of research and the book would probably be useful for anyone studying Stalingrad in depth, but I would not recommend it for the general reader looking for an account of the battle.

Excellent book. Highly Detailed and very informative. This book stands with David Glant'z superb scholarship and is highly recommended for students of the Stlingrad campaign.