Stalingrad

By: Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler - translator, Elizabeth Chandler - translator

Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Elliot Levey

In April 1942, Hitler and Mussolini meet in Salzburg where they agree on a renewed assault on the Soviet Union. Launched in the summer, the campaign soon picks up speed, as the routed Red Army is driven back to the industrial center of Stalingrad on the banks of the Volga. In the rubble of the bombed-out city, Soviet forces dig in for a last stand.

The story told in Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad unfolds across the length and breadth of Russia and Europe. At the heart of the novel is the Shaposhnikov family. Even as the Germans advance, the matriarch, Alexandra Vladimirovna, refuses to leave Stalingrad. Far from the front, her eldest daughter, Ludmila, is unhappily married to the Jewish physicist Viktor Shtrum. Viktor's research may be of crucial military importance, but he is distracted by thoughts of his mother in the Ukraine, lost behind German lines.

In Stalingrad, published here for the first time in English translation, and in its celebrated sequel, Life and Fate, Grossman writes with extraordinary power and deep compassion about the disasters of war and the ruthlessness of totalitarianism, without, however, losing sight of the little things that are the daily currency of human existence or of humanity's inextinguishable, saving attachment to nature and life.

©2019 Ekaterina Vasilievna Korotkova and Elena Fedorovna Kozhichkina; English translation copyright 2019 by Robert Chandler; Introduction, notes, and afterword copyright 2019 by Robert Chandler (P)2024 Tantor

One of the best audiobooks of all time

Grossman's work here is well known, and much has been written about it that I need not repeat. I would only add that this book is packed with memorable, thought-provoking settings and characters: the recounting of the onset of war as seen by Novikov, Vavilov's conscription, and the unexpected meeting of Tamara Berozkina and her husband during her travels as a refugee, to name only a few. Grossman's ability to describe the consciousness of hardened Nazis, whether dealing with historical figures or fictional characters, is chilling. The conclusion of this novel, with Novidov's entry into Stalingrad, rises to mythic proportions and transcends all history. All of that said, the narration of this novel is standard-setting. It is truly spectacular.

war and peace

Excellent version of WW2’s War and Peace. Wonderfully narrated. Highly recommended. Looking for the audiobook version of Life and Fate.

Stalingrad

One of the great books ever written. it's intricate and devastating. A lot to keep track of and a lot to get lost in. This is as important and as powerful as any book you'll ever read.

A masterpiece

Grossman’s telling of the Third Reich’s assault on Stalingrad is masterful. The reader is excellent.

Amazing tale of patriot resilience

A written masterpiece expertly narrated. Grossman, a master storyteller in the Soviet tradition, details the struggle of the various roles played by countrymen of the working and warfighting proletariat class during a joint heroic struggle to protect their beloved city and, by extension, their motherland.