Russia at War, 1941–1945

A History

By: Alexander Werth, Nicolas Werth - foreword

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

In 1941, Russian-born British journalist Alexander Werth observed the unfolding of the Soviet-German conflict with his own eyes. What followed was the widely acclaimed book, Russia at War, first printed in 1964. At once a history of facts, a collection of interviews, and a document of the human condition, Russia at War is a stunning, modern classic that chronicles the savagery and struggles on Russian soil during the most incredible military conflict in modern history.

As a behind-the-scenes eyewitness to the pivotal, shattering events as they occurred, Werth chronicles with vivid detail the hardships of everyday citizens, massive military operations, and the political movements toward diplomacy as the world tried to reckon with what they had created. Despite its sheer historical scope, Werth tells the story of a country at war in startlingly human terms, drawing from his daily interviews and conversations with generals, soldiers, peasants, and other working class civilians. The result is a unique and expansive work with immeasurable breadth and depth, built on lucid and engaging prose, that captures every aspect of a terrible moment in human history.

©1964 Alexander Werth; Foreword copyright 2011 by Nicolas Werth; English translation of foreword copyright 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing (P)2021 Tantor

Mass

You would only say Mass if your from Mass. you from Mass would know this.

Eye opener

Detailed, balanced eye witness account and thorough analysis from someone who lived in Russia through the war.

The canonical WWII eastern front book

Long and detailed. Written by firsthand observer - a British journalist embedded in Russia. This book is an expansion of his realtime notes and reporting. Includes an entire chapter on the relocation of industry.

Timeless historical study

That this book was written in the 1964 by an individual who lived amongst the Russians during the great Patriotic War is especially poignant. It provides first hand experiences from a well informed observer fluent in Russian, as well as interpretations untarnished by current biases from anti-Putin sentiments to woke political correctness. The narrative was clear and captivating and the content was almost scholarly in detail. The narrator was superb and was obviously linguistically adept. It was a pleasure to listen to and will be one of the few books I will read again.

Well written and eye-opening, from someone who was there

There have been a few details that have been filled in since the end of the Cold War, but it still holds up extremely well. Werth was actually there, spoke with many important generals while the war was raging and saw all the famous battlegrounds while they were still smoldering.

Obviously, he was shown many more of the red army’s victories and German atrocities than the soviets’ blunders and setbacks. Still, he was able to fill in the suppressed details in the two decades since and combines his memory and contemporary reporting with an excellent historical overview of that massive war. He alternates between eyewitness accounts and the grand scale of the war: political, economic and military, yet still makes time for several well-chosen deep-dives on the war’s most harrowing and pivotal moments, such as Leningrad and Stalingrad (these chapters are almost small books by themselves).

This is an excellent introduction to the subject. It is the biggest story Americans know nothing about. Stalin was a monster, but as a result we’ve gotten the impression that there was something morally ambiguous about the war in the east. There was not. This is the story of people who steadfastly refused to be annihilated by people who wanted to exterminate them. 20 million people died, and the nazis were worn down to certain defeat before Allies even landed in France, due to the incredible, desperate actions by the USSR. I’d say a bunch of stuff about politics and selective memory but I’m honestly not sure the American national security state ever even thought this was a bad thing.

Interestingly, the Russians liberated the first Nazi extermination camp in *August* 1944. A western correspondent (Werth) was there to report on it. The BBC never ran the story. The Brits didn’t believe their own Russia correspondent (or chose to stay silent).