The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Centre of WWII's Greatest Battle

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Even though, I did enjoy reading and learning about this battle, I found parts of it slow. The chapters were really long, also. One reason for my 3.8 rating is that there were so many names. I kept getting confused on who was on what side. It was well researched, as Macgregor interviewed relatives and saw papers from both sides that had never been interviewed or seen before.

The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Epic Siege at the Hea… The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Epic Siege at the Hea…

Shoes the price the Russians paid to defeat the Nazis, and by extension for the freedom of western Europe. If you thought you knew all about the Battle of Stalingrad, Iain Macgregor’ s gripping account will put you right. Drawing on a remarkable range of diaries, letters and memoirs, many of which have never been published before, he provides an illuminating, authoritative and unforgettable insight into the decisive days of that most terrible struggle on the banks of the Volga.” — Jonathan Dimbleby , BBC broadcaster and Sunday Times bestselling author of Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the WarHere’s a Lear for the graphic novel era. Pace is everything in a production, directed by its star... ★★★☆☆ Within this deadly struggle Soviet war correspondents such as Vasily Grossman lauded the fight for a key strategic building in the heart of the city, 'Pavlov's House', situated right on the frontline, codenamed: 'The Lighthouse'. Standing a few hundred metres from the river the legend grew of a small garrison of Russia guardsmen holding out against overwhelming odds right up until the battle had been won. A look at brave men and women in difficult circumstances as they battled in the fall and winter of 1942-43 over the city of Stalingrad. Iain MacGregor tells how the Germans attempted and failed to capture the city. It is a story of heroism, death, and denial. In it, he discusses the "myth" of Pavlov's House. While Junior Sargent Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov, 3rd Nat talion, 42nd Guards Rifle Regiment was part of the storming of the House he was injured and was not there the entire time, but he was turned into the leading figure by the Soviet government in an attempt to rally the Soviets to victory in WWII. To the Soviet Union, the sacrifices that enabled the country to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II were sacrosanct. The foundation of the Soviets’ hard-won victory was laid during the battle for the city of Stalingrad, resting on the banks of the Volga River. To Russians, it is a pivotal landmark of their nation’s losses, with more than two million civilians and combatants either killed, wounded, or captured during the bitter fighting from September 1942 to February 1943. Both sides endured terrible conditions in brutal, relentless house-to-house fighting. Yes, it does contain information generally known, but it also looks at the way the then Soviet Union and the Russian Federation since publicized the events (e.g., Pavlov's House), machinations, and personalities of that battle in ways that have more to do with raising the morale, confidence, and fighting spirit of the Russian population and fighting forces--then and now--than it did revealing many of the facts of the event.

THE LIGHTHOUSE OF STALINGRAD | Kirkus Reviews

The Lighthouse of Stalingrad goes into a lot of detail about the fighting between Russian and Germany over Stalingrad. There are also some maps of the battles at the beginning of some of the chapters. It also has a small section of photos. There are echoes of the invasion of Ukraine in the epic battle for Stalingrad, but this time Russia is on the wrong side of history. The Russians fought the Germans hard for this city. It was completely destroyed during the fall and winter of 1942.The procession had arrived at the pathway to the enormous memorial complex, which covered 1.3 square miles of the eastern slope of the Mamayev. Before they would reach their destination, the mourners were now faced with a series of terraces to ascend, each with sculptures eulogizing a stage of the battle. 14 They began by walking up the 100-meter (328-foot) path, before climbing up the two hundred steps, representing the two hundred days of the battle, which took the cortege and the multitude of followers up to the Avenue of Lombardy Poplars. They were now walking through a circular piazza enclosed by birch trees, giving the mourners a dominating view across the Volga that emphasized how crucial in commanding the high ground this position had been to both sides.