Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

A reader asks: What’s the best book on WWII from the Russian perspective?

A reader writes with this request for you well-informed BD readers. It reminds me that I read the other day that Russia took more casualties at Stalingrad than the United States suffered during the entire war: While I’ve read many books about World War II, they’ve all been from the Western perspective (and predominantly about ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Wikimedia
Wikimedia
Wikimedia

A reader writes with this request for you well-informed BD readers. It reminds me that I read the other day that Russia took more casualties at Stalingrad than the United States suffered during the entire war:

A reader writes with this request for you well-informed BD readers. It reminds me that I read the other day that Russia took more casualties at Stalingrad than the United States suffered during the entire war:

While I’ve read many books about World War II, they’ve all been from the Western perspective (and predominantly about the United States’ role in the war). I’ve been reading Dominic Tierney’s mediocre but salvageable How We Fight, and he made a particularly interesting note about Russia’s more significant role in WWII compared to the US — more loss of life, greater stakes, and ultimate victory. 

I’ve never read an account of WWII from the Russian perspective, and I’m not quite sure where to start in my search for one or two good volumes. I was hoping you might either have a suggestion, or be interested in posting to your blog to see what answers may come. 

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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