Hitler and Stalin : the tyrants and the Second World War / Laurence Rees.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rees, Laurence, 1957- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.

Hitler, Adolf.

Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953.

Stalin, Joseph.

World War, 1939-1945--Germany.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Soviet Union.

World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities.

Atrocities.

Germany--Politics and government--1933-1945.

Germany.

Politics and government.

Soviet Union--Politics and government--1936-1953.

Soviet Union.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxxviii, 488 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm

Edition:

First US edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Public Affairs, 2021.

Summary:

The bestselling historian on the dramatic wartime relationship - and shocking similarities - between two tyrants. This compelling book on Hitler and Stalin - the culmination of thirty years' work - examines the two tyrants during the Second World War, when Germany and the Soviet Union fought the biggest and bloodiest war in history. Yet despite the fact they were bitter opponents, Laurence Rees shows that Hitler and Stalin were, to a large extent, different sides of the same coin. Hitler's charismatic leadership may contrast with Stalin's regimented rule by fear; and his intransigence later in the war may contrast with Stalin's change in behaviour in response to events. But at a macro level, both were prepared to create undreamt of suffering, destroy individual liberty and twist facts in order to build the Utopia they wanted, and while Hitler's creation of the Holocaust remains a singular crime, Rees shows why we must not forget that Stalin committed a series of atrocities at the same time. Using previously unpublished, startling eyewitness testimony from soldiers of the Red Army and Wehrmacht, civilians who suffered during the conflict, and those who knew both men personally, bestselling historian Laurence Rees - probably the only person alive who has met Germans who worked for Hitler and Russians who worked for Stalin - challenges long-held popular misconceptions about two of the most important figures in history. This is a masterwork from one of our finest historians.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. The Pact

2. Eliminating Poland

3. Opposite Fortunes

4. Dreams And Nightmares

5. Hitler's War Of Annihilation

6. Invasion

7. Desperate Days

8. A World War

9. Hunger

10. Stalin's Overreach

11. Across The Steppe

12. Struggle On The Volga

13. Fighting On

14. Fiction And Reality

15. Mass Killing

16. Collapse Of The Centre

17. Dying Days

18. Victory And Defeat.

Notes:

"Originally published in 2020 by Viking, part of the Penguin Random House group of companies."--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781610399647

1610399641

OCLC:

1143646587