Dzhonatan Dimblbi - Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the War [calibre]

Jonathan Dimbleby

BARBAROSSA

How Hitler Lost the War

Contents

Illustrations

Maps

Preface

PART ONE THE SLIDE TO WAR

1 Paving the Way

2 Dictators and Democrats

3 Shuttle Diplomacy

4 Self-Delusion and Bad Faith

5 A Pact with Satan

6 Thieves Fall Out

7 Stalin Ignores the Warnings

PART TWO INVASION

8 The Blitzkrieg

9 Hatreds and Horrors

10 Watching On

11 Stalins Rallying Cry

12 A Shaky Alliance

13 Hideous Realities

14 America Makes a Move

15 Disarray on the Soviet Front

16 Hitlers Hiatus

PART THREE COUNTERSTRIKE

17 Between the Lines

18 The Carnage of Kiev

19 Leningrad

20 Wars of Words

21 Operation Typhoon

22 The Great Panic

23 General Mud

24 The Jewish Question

25 Allied Preoccupations

26 Mood Changes

PART FOUR RETREAT

27 The Final Assault

28 The Fateful Terminus

29 A Global War

30 The Retreat

31 Eden Meets Stalin

32 The Fatal Gamble

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Jonathan Dimblebys previous books include the highly acclaimed Second World War histories The Battle of the Atlantic and Destiny in the Desert: The Road to El Alamein, which was shortlisted for the Hessell-Tiltman Prize and was followed by his BBC2 programme Churchills Desert War. His other books include Russia: A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People, Richard Dimbleby: A Biography, The Palestinians, The Prince of Wales: A Biography and The Last Governor: Chris Patten and the Handover of Hong Kong.

Praise for Barbarossa

With his customary literary flair and capacity to master and mobilize very many and varied sources, Jonathan Dimbleby gives us the best single-volume account of the Barbarossa campaign to date

Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny

Jonathan Dimbleby rightly identifies the last six months of 1941 following Hitlers invasion of the Soviet Union as the fulcrum on which the history of twentieth century Europe turns. Its a vital story, one everyone should know, and Dimbleby tells it with verve and elan

Laurence Rees, author of Hitler and Stalin

Like a fast-moving juggernaut of horror, Dimblebys Barbarossa is a page-turning descent into hell and back this fresh and compelling account of Hitlers failed invasion of the Soviet Union should be on everyones reading list for 2021

Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire

Jonathan Dimblebys analysis of this monumental struggle is masterly, not least by his use of unpublished Russian sources

General Sir Mike Jackson

After The Battle of the Atlantic, another vivid and engrossing tableau from a master of military and high-political narrative

Brendan Simms, author of Hitler: Only the World Was Enough

Jonathan Dimblebys masterly account of the most monumental conflict in human history is an impressive achievement. This is a fast-paced, gripping read, but it is the wealth of eyewitness evidence detailing the unspeakable horror and hardship, the apocalyptic scenes and sheer savagery of Barbarossa that leaves the most lasting impression

Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich

A great read. Dimbleby gives an excellent account of the relationships between the leaders and, thanks to a wide range of sources, an authentic sense of the military experience he brings Barbarossa very vividly to life, as if you are there

Robert Kershaw, author of War Without Garlands: Operation Barbarossa 19411942 and Borodino Field 1812/1941

Jonathan Dimblebys thought-provoking and elegantly written study of Operation Barbarossa describes in compelling detail how Nazi Germany, despite its earlier military triumphs, had lost this war already by the end of 1941. This book is a captivating eye-opener Gerhard Hirschfeld, author of The Policies of Genocide and former President of the International Committee for the Study of the Second World War

Jonathan Dimblebys epic account captures all the drama and magnitude of an event that determined not just the outcome of the war, but the future of the world

Martin Sixsmith

Jonathan Dimblebys book is not only superbly well written, but also happens to be the most comprehensive study of Hitlers invasion of the USSR in years

Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent

Expertly narrated and written with piercing (and often horrifying) clarity, this monumental work of popular history leaves no doubt that the holocaust of the Jews and the deliberate starvation and slaughter of many millions of Russian civilians were part of the Nazi plan from the outset

Frederick Taylor, author of 1939: A Peoples History

A chilling account of war at its worst

Bear Grylls

Superb. Jonathan Dimbleby has produced an epic, compelling and powerfully written account of what was unquestionably the defining campaign of the Second World War. Full of fresh insights and vivid details, Barbarossa is a book of huge importance, and one that stays with you long after you have finished

Henry Hemming, author of Our Man in New York

A brilliant account of the decisive land battle of the decisive land campaign of the Second World War, an epic in the story of industrialized land warfare This is a wonderful piece of history, fresh with up to date details, new sources, and novel insights

Robert Fox

For my grandchildren

Barnaby, Chloe, Max and Arthur

Illustrations

1. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel. (ullstein bild Dtl./Gettyimages)

2. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. (ullstein bild Dtl./Gettyimages)

3. Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. (ullstein bild Dtl./Gettyimages)

4. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. (ullstein bild Dtl./Gettyimages)

5. Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch and Franz Halder. (STF/AFP/Gettyimages)

6. General Gotthard Heinrici. (ullstein bild Dtl./Gettyimages)

7. Heinz Guderian. (Bettmann/Gettyimages)

8. Joseph Goebbels. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Gettyimages)

9. Heinrich Himmler inspecting Soviet prisoners of war. (Historical/Corbis Historical/Gettyimages)

10. Hans-Ulrich Rudel. (ullstein bild Dtl./Gettyimages)

11. Defence Commissar Marshal Semyon Timoshenko and General Georgy Zhukov. (Sovfoto/Universal Images Group/Gettyimages)

12. Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossovsky. (TASS/Gettyimages)

13. Colonel Dmitry Pavlov. (Bettmann/Gettyimages)

14. Marshal Kliment Voroshilov. (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Gettyimages)

15. General Ivan Boldin. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Gettyimages)

16. General Boris Shaposhnikov. (Paul Popper/Popperfoto/Gettyimages)

17. Maxim Litvinov. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Gettyimages)

18. Harry Hopkins with Sir Stafford Cripps. (Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection/Gettyimages)

19. Winston Churchill with Ivan Maisky. (Picture Post/Gettyimages)

20. Walther Rathenau at the Genoa Conference in April 1922. (ullstein bild Dtl./Gettyimages)

21. Georgy Chicherin. (Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Gettyimages)

22. David Lloyd George. (Bettmann/Gettyimages)

23. Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain at Munich in September 1938. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Gettyimages)

24. Joseph Stalin with Joachim von Ribbentrop and Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov in 1939. (AFP/Gettyimages)

25. Soviet and Nazi troops at Brest-Litovsk. (akg-images/Alamy Stock Photo)