"John Barber and Mark Harrison explore how the political and economic system of the USSR stood up to the German invasion which penetrated deep into Soviet territory, and to the colossal burdens of total war. They examine the ways in which the Soviet leaders rallied their people and their resources, and show how the Soviet people themselves lived and worked in wartime. They give an account of the role played by the USSR's British and Amerian allies; and they try to assess how far the terrible experience of war changed the social, multinational and economic order of the Soviet Union, and influenced its long-term political future."--Page 4 of cover.

The first history of the Soviet home front experience during World War II and of the civilians who bore the burden of total war and played a critical role in the global victory over fascism. After Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, German troops conquered the heartland of Soviet industry and agriculture and turned the occupied territories into mass killing fields. The country's survival hung in the balance. In Fortress Dark and Stern, Wendy Z. Goldman and Donald Filtzer tell the epic tale of the Soviet home front during World War II. Against the backdrop of the Red Army's early retreats and hard-fought advances after Stalingrad, they present the impact of total war behind the front lines in a chronicle of spirited defense efforts, draconian state directives, teeming black markets, official corruption, and selfless heroism. In one of the greatest wartime feats in history, Soviet workers rapidly evacuated factories, food, and people thousands of miles to the east. After long and dangerous journeys in unheated boxcars, they built a new industrial base beyond the reach of German bombers. As the Soviet state reached the height of its power, imposing military discipline and sending millions of people to work thousands of miles from home, ordinary people withstood starvation, epidemics, and horrific living conditions to supply the front and make the Allied victory possible This book examines the dark and painful war years from a new perspective, telling the stories of evacuees, refugees, teenaged and women workers, runaways from work, prisoners, and deportees. Based on a vast trove of new archival materials, Fortress Dark and Stern reveals a history of suffering, sacrifice, and ultimate triumph largely unknown to Western readers.

This classic WWII history presents a comprehensive yet vividly detailed account of the Third Reich’s epic and bitter clash with the Red Army. The opening onslaughts of Operation Barbarossa began on June 22nd, 1941, as German forces stormed into the Soviet Union. Few of them were to survive the five long years of bitter struggle. A posting to the Eastern Front during the Second World War was rightly regarded with dread by the German soldiers. They faced the unremitting hostility of the climate, the people and even, at times, their own leadership. There were epic conflicts, such as the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. But surrounding these famous events was a daily war of attrition which ultimately ground Hitler’s war machine to a halt. In this classic account, military historian James Lucas examines the Eastern Front from trench warfare to a bicycle-mounted antitank unit fighting against the oncoming Russian hordes. Told through the experiences of the German soldiers who endured these nightmarish years of warfare, War on the Eastern Front is a unique record of this cataclysmic campaign.

Outlines events on the Eastern Front of World War II from the 1941 German the invasion of the Soviet Union to Stalin's declaration of war with Japan in 1945

Compelling history of Operation Barbarossa - Hitler's planned invasion of Russia.

In 1941, Russian-born British journalist Alexander Werth observed the unfolding of the Soviet-German conflict with his own eyes. What followed was the widely acclaimed book, Russia at War, first printed in 1964. At once a history of facts, a collection of interviews, and a document of the human condition, Russia at War is a stunning, modern classic that chronicles the savagery and struggles on Russian soil during the most incredible military conflict in modern history. As a behind-the-scenes eyewitness to the pivotal, shattering events as they occurred, Werth chronicles with vivid detail the hardships of everyday citizens, massive military operations, and the political movements toward diplomacy as the world tried to reckon with what they had created. Despite its sheer historical scope, Werth tells the story of a country at war in startlingly human terms, drawing from his daily interviews and conversations with generals, soldiers, peasants, and other working class civilians. The result is a unique and expansive work with immeasurable breadth and depth, built on lucid and engaging prose, that captures every aspect of a terrible moment in human history. Now newly updated with a foreword by Soviet historian Nicolas Werth, the son of Alexander Werth, this new edition of Russia at War continues to be indispensable World War II journalism and the definitive historical authority on the Soviet-German war.

Hitlers invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 precipitated a massive clash of arms that gave rise to destruction and suffering on an unprecedented scale. The outcome of this ruthless struggle on the Eastern Front was decisive for the course of the war in Europe. Yet the campaigns fought there still receive less attention than those fought by the Western Allies, and are less well understood. That is why this new survey of the Soviet Union during the Second World War, edited by David R. Stone, is so timely and significant.Stone has brought together a distinguished group of experts who give a penetrating reassessment of the Soviet war effort and economy. They offer a telling insight into the way in which enormous obstacles were overcome and sacrifices were made in order to achieve an overwhelming victory that changed the shape of Europe. Their wide-ranging analysis seeks to dispel myths and misperceptions that have distorted our understanding of the performance of the Red Army and the Soviet people.Editor David R. Stone is professor of history at Kansas State University. He is a leading authority on the military and political history of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s. As well as writing numerous journal articles, he is the author of two major studies: A Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya and Hammer and Rifle: The Militarization of the Soviet Union 1926–1933.