Russia's War

by Richard Overy

Release Date: August, 1998

Edition: Paperback

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Incredible detail for its length

This book is superb. It really tells the story of the German-Soviet part of World War II without being too long or too dry. It was interesting and easy to read. It is told from the Russian perspective, which is refreshing. I agree that the before and after parts of this book are invaluable in setting the stage and in putting the conflict into perspective. A must-read for anyone interested in WW2 history.

All There, but Something's Missing

In his introduction to Russia's War the author notes: "In twenty years' time it may be possible at last to write something approaching a definitive history. Current writing has a provisional air to it, and this book is no exception." Therein lies the problem for the reader wishing to devote one books worth of reading time to arguably one of the most important historical events of the last hundred years. Where should one start?

Overy himself recognizes the contributions of John Erickson and David Glantz, "who have done more than any other Western scholars to communicate to the non-Russian world the fruits of Soviet and post-Soviet research". Knowing this I assembled the following list of candidates: Russia's War (1997) by Overy, When Titans Clashed (1995) by Glantz and House, The Road to Stalingrad (1975) and The Road to Berlin (1983) by Erickson, and the classic Russia at War 1941-1945 (1964) by Alexander Werth (who was a correspondent in the Soviet Union from 1941-1948). While I was considering my decision I encountered an exchange of letters in the New York Review of Books between Anthony Beevor, author of Stalingrad, and a reviewer over the accuracy of his book in light of recent work by Glantz. In the end I chose Russia's War. If there was no definitive work at least I wanted the book that had access to the latest sources.

First the positive. Overy is very good at bringing recent evidence to controversial and muddied (often by Stalinist and Soviet propaganda) issues. An example is the effect of Lend Lease. For years its importance was denied. Overy notes a bugged conversation of Marshall Zhukov recorded in 1963 but released in 1993. Here, according to Overy, Zhukov "endorsed" the view that without Lend Lease the Soviet Union 'could not have continued the war'. He is also good at identifying where there are holes in the evidence, making possible only tentative conclusions or future mysteries to be solved.

Another strength is the scope of the book. The coverage is vast. He literally seems to deal with everything. Particularly valuable are the last chapter, The Cult of Personality: Stalin and the Legacy of the War, and the epilogue, Russia's War: Myth and Reality. By continuing the story past 1945, after having started the story during Civil War, Overy situates Russia's War in the middle of our historical consciousness and it is here that I begin to have a problem.

One of the reason I would recommend that everyone study this war is its shear horror and the magnitude of that horror. There are certainly heroic actions and temporary heroes but in the end everyone is doomed: the fascists and the communists, the losers and the winners, the guilty and the innocent. Most of all it is the ordinary people: the Poles, the Jews, the Ukrainians, the other Nationalities, the Germans. the Russians. There was no place to hide. After the war, Stalin actually purged the generals who won the war.

All this is included. But I can't help feeling that something is missing. The wealth of information often seems like it is being presented by an accountant. The human element seems lost. Perhaps it's unfair to ask this of the author when he's done so much. Perhaps I've just become numb. Secondly, there was one survivor: Stalin. Though detailing many of individual events of his reign of terror, Overy refuses to connect the dots. Stalin's presence looms so large that the book could have been called Stalin's War or Stalin's Russia, yet we are left to draw our own conclusions, search for our own meaning.

Overall this is a good book. I don't know if there is a better one available. I will certainly use its fine notes and bibliography as a reference. But I will continue to look at the other candidates on my list for greater understanding and to see if it's possible for a non-fiction work on this subject to do what I have asked it to do. I will also turn to Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. Written by 1960 and finally published in the Soviet Union in 1988, Overy calls it "one of the greatest novels on war in any language". Maybe here I will find what seems to be missing.