Everyone knows that World War II was big, but not too many people grasp what this particular use of the word "big" really means. The Greatest Battle gives a reader the beginnings of a notion. 

This book is an account of the Battle for Moscow, fought between the Germans and the Russians during the winter of 1941-42. During six months of bitter fighting, a total of 2.5 million men (more than 600,000 Germans, nearly 1.9 million Russians) were killed, wounded, or captured. It was, Andrew Nagorski claims, the most important battle of the Second World War because outside Moscow, for the first time, and despite horrific Russian losses, Hitler’s armies were stopped in their tracks. 

The book’s broad scope covers diplomatic maneuverings, espionage, the German view of events, etc., in addition to the fighting. More than anything, though, The Greatest Battle is a window into the workings of Stalin and his regime. The view is horrifying. 

Balancing the evil inflicted by Stalin against the crimes of Hitler is kind of pointless. The crimes of each are so far beyond the imaginings of most common mortals that they tend to be as bewildering as they are horrifying. Stalin was lucky, though. Being on the winning side, much of what he did managed to get overlooked. To this day, there are surprising numbers of people who ignore his crimes and celebrate his supposedly determined and competent leadership during the Second World War.   

Actually, there’s less to celebrate than many would think.

As Nagorski makes plain, Stalin seemed more paralyzed than determined at the outset of the war with Germany. As for competence, his military ineptitude was so vast that it resulted in the collapse and even surrender of Russian armies numbering hundreds of thousands of men. Yet, during and after the war, the millions of men lost to German captivity as a result of Stalin’s lack of capability were punished as traitors by the very man whose own shortcomings caused them to fall into the hands of the enemy.

For many reasons, but particularly because of what it tells the reader about Stalin’s regime at war, The Greatest Battle is an utterly fascinating book, also available on CD. You can only feel sorry that the people of Russia had to fight under such a leader. 
 
Joe McHugh – Administration Office

While Max Hastings’ Retribution focuses on Asia and Armageddon on Europe, together these grim but fascinating books examine the last year of World War II.

Both books share a trait typical of many earlier World War II histories, since a fair amount of the material in each comes from the author’s personal interviews with surviving participants. However, at this point, this "typical trait" is actually sort of unique. After all, 1945 is now sixty-three years in the past and interviewees are a dying breed. So it seems very likely that Retribution and Armageddon may be the last major accounts of the Second World War where some portions, at least, are based on the direct verbal accounts of survivors.

Besides good writing there’s something else about Max Hastings’ accounts of the last year of the war that make them special. Historians tend to write what the available sources allow them to write. Since 1945, this means that the scope of most of the English language histories of the events of the 1940s have focused on the experiences of Americans, Englishmen, Germans, and Japanese. These two books signal an enormous change in writing about the war as Hastings expands our perspective to a broader view.

There are plenty of pages in both volumes that focus on Americans and the other "usual suspects." However, while Retribution does not slight the Pacific battles fought between the Americans and the Japanese, what makes it particularly interesting are the accounts of the campaigns on the mainland of Asia and the involvement of Indians, Chinese and, even Africans. The depressing tale of Australia and its army in the last year of the war, as well as the pages devoted to the Russian invasion of Manchuria, provide some absorbing reading. Armageddon gives good coverage of the fighting on the Western Front while also informing the reader about people and events in Eastern Europe.

After more than half a century of books on the Second World War, it’s got to be hard for an author to come up with a history that covers the war in a new and different way. With Retribution and Armageddon, Max Hastings has come up with two of them.

Joe McHugh – Administration Office

Although Ilf and Petrov’s American Road Trip sounds like a really bad summer teen flick, this book is actually an easy to read, entertaining, and sometimes biting travelogue.

In 1935, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, satirical writers, came to America for two months, rented a Ford, and drove from New York to San Francisco and back. (Perhaps this inspired Nabokov to send Humbert Humbert on a tour with Lolita…) This book is a kind of political/social commentary journal, but it’s no boring laundry list of tourist traps.

Most of the chapters are titled geographically , such as “The Small Town,” “The Desert” and my personal favorite, “Hollywood.” Also included are chapters on “Native Americans” and “Advertising.” The chapter “Negroes” contains an excruciating Borat-style transcript of a conversation with a young man.

Although the style is more acerbic than charming, I often laughed out loud at how they described their situations. Visiting a Mexican restaurant:

“A bonfire caught fire in our mouths and burned for at least three days.”

The authors lived before Stalin’s terror purged many writers, but to help avoid hotel Gulag Archipelago they sprinkled some political statements throughout the book, mostly on the order of Communism=Good, Capitalism=Bad.

They complained Americans valued mindless, vapid entertainment, something heard even today:

“You can graduate from twenty schools and universities and after a few years of regular cinema attendance turn into a total idiot.”

They were in awe of America’s technology but were astounded at the social inequality and the lack of curiosity people had toward them. They mused, why, in a country with so much technology and wealth, there were so many poor. They were two communist writers for Pravda traveling through America, and no one asked them questions.

Ilf took some snapshots along their journey. The reproductions aren’t top quality, but it doesn’t matter too much since Ilf was no Ansel Adams. Imagine giving your six-year-old a camera to record the family vacation. Nothing is framed, posed or even has a slice-of-life look. The photos are oddly static, like a drawing of a plant or bird in Meriwether Lewis‘ journal, but the book would not have as much impact without them.

I highly recommend this title for anyone who appreciates dry, sarcastic humor—it’s a fine ride.

Karen Marks – Elkridge Branch