Barbarossa

Name: Barbarossa
SKU: 9780241291474
Availability: InStock

£25.00

Barbarossa, Hitler’s invasion of Russia in June 1941, was the largest military operation in history, its aim nothing less than ‘a war of extermination’ to annihilate Soviet communism, liquidate the Jews and create lebensraum for the so-called German master race. But it led to the destruction of the Third Reich, and was entirely cataclysmic; in six months of warfare no less than six million were killed, wounded or registered as missing in action, and soldiers on both sides committed heinous crimes behind the lines on a scale without parallel in the history of warfare. In ‘Barbarossa’, drawing on hitherto unseen archival material – including previously untranslated Russian sources – in his usual gripping style, Jonathan Dimbleby recounts not only the story of the military campaign, but the politics and diplomacy behind this epic clash of global titans.

SKU: 9780241291474 Category: History

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A SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

‘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

‘Like a fast-moving juggernaut of horror, Dimbleby’s Barbarossa is a page-turning descent into Hell and back. Part warning, part fable, but all too true, this fresh and compelling account of Hitler’s failed invasion of the Soviet Union should be on everyone’s reading list for 2021′ Dr Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire

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Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s invasion of Russia in June 1941, aimed at nothing less than a war of extermination to annihilate Soviet communism, liquidate the Jews and create Lebensraum for the German master race. But it led to the destruction of the Third Reich, and was cataclysmic for Germany with millions of men killed, wounded or registered as missing in action. It was this colossal mistake — rather than any action in Western Europe — that lost Hitler the Second World War.

Drawing on hitherto unseen archival material, including previously untranslated Russian sources, Jonathan Dimbleby puts Barbarossa in its proper place in history for the first time. From its origins in the ashes of the First World War to its impact on post-war Europe, and covering the military, political and diplomatic story from all sides, he paints a full and vivid picture of this monumental campaign whose full nature and impact has remained unexplored.

At the heart of the narrative, written in Dimbleby’s usual gripping style, are compelling descriptions of the leaders who made the crucial decisions, of the men and women who fought on the front lines, of the soldiers who committed heinous crimes on an unparalleled scale and of those who were killed when the Holocaust began. Hitler’s fatal gamble had the most terrifying of consequences.

Written with authority and humanity, Barbarossa is a masterwork that transforms our understanding of the Second World War and of the twentieth century.

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‘Superb. . . stays with you long after you have finished’ Henry Hemming, bestselling author of Our Man in New York

‘A chilling account of war at its worst’ Bear Grylls