Island of Fire: The Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad

by Jason D. Mark

Overview

Stalingrad was one of the largest, bloodiest, and most famous battles in history as well as one of the major turning points of World War II.  For four winter months during the battle, German and Soviet forces fought over a single factory inside the city of Stalingrad.  Lavishly illustrated with photos and maps, Island of Fire presents a day-by-day—at times hour-by-hour—chronicle of that pitiless struggle as seen by both sides.  The book is unparalleled and exhaustive in its research, meticulous in its reconstruction of the action, and vivid in its retelling of the street-by-street, hand-to-hand fighting near the gun factory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811719919
Publisher:	Stackpole Books
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Pages:	656
Sales rank:	711,291
Product dimensions:	8.36(w) x 10.35(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Jason D. Mark is one of the world’s leading authorities on the Battle of Stalingrad. His other books include Death of the Leaping Horseman: The 24th Panzer Division in Stalingrad, Into Oblivion: Kharkov to Stalingrad, and Angriff: The German Attack on Stalingrad in Photos. He lives in Australia.

Editorial Reviews

04/16/2018
Historian Mark compiles a numbingly meticulous investigation of the German and Russian battle for the area surrounding the Barrikady gun factory during the larger battle for Stalingrad during the winter of 1942–1943. Mark chooses this focus because “this battered microcosm perfectly symbolizes the futility, waste, and changing fortunes known as ‘the Battle of Stalingrad.’ ” The book assumes a lot of knowledge on the reader’s part, leaving some military ranks and jargon such as shtrafnikov and Schirrmeister untranslated and unexplained. While Mark weaves in an impressively diverse set of primary sources, including soldiers’ letters home, speeches, military orders, combat journals, teletype messages, and situation reports, the result can sometimes feel more like a series of facts rather than a cohesive narrative or analysis of the battle. A few human moments come through in the story, such as a soldier finding time to celebrate his birthday during the battle, but they are few and far between. This herculean scholarly effort brings together a remarkable collection of materials—down to the precise number of mortar rounds fired—to create a useful reference but a challenging reading experience. (May)

Publishers Weekly