Myths and Legends of the Eastern Front: Reassessing the Great Patriotic War

by Boris Sokolov, Richard W Harrison (Translator)

Overview

The memory of the Second World War on the Eastern Front – still referred to in modern Russia as the Great Patriotic War – is an essential element of Russian identity and history, as alive today as it was in Stalin’s time. It is represented as a defining episode, a positive historical myth that sustains the Russian national idea and unites the majority of Russian citizens.

As a result, as Boris Sokolov shows in this powerful and thought-provoking study, the heroic and tragic side of the war is highlighted while the dark side – the incompetent, negligent and even criminal way the war was run – is overlooked. Although almost eighty years have passed since the defeat of Nazi Germany, he demonstrates that many of the fabrications put forward during the war and immediately afterwards persist into the present day.

In a sequence of incisive chapters he uncovers the truth about famous wartime episodes that have been consistently misrepresented. His bold reinterpretation should go some way towards dispelling the enduring myths about the Great Patriotic War. It is necessary reading for anyone who is keen to understand how it continues to be misrepresented in Russia today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526742261
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	11/27/2019
Edition description:	Translatio
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,056,614
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Dr. Boris Sokolov is a prolific author and a member of PEN International, which celebrates literature and promotes freedom of expression. In 2008, he was forced to resign from his post at the Russian State Social University after publishing an article about the Russian-Georgian War. His work has focused on WW2 and biographies of prominent military and political leaders.

Richard W. Harrison earned degrees from Georgetown University, where he specialized in Russian Area Studies. He later earned his doctorate in War Studies from King’s College London. He spent several years living and working in post-communist Russia and has taught Russian History and Military History at the US Military Academy at West Point.

Dr Harrison lives with his family near Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Translator's Introduction vii

Preface ix

1 The Origins of the Second World War 1

2 Stalin's and Hitler's Plans to Attack Each Other 24

3 The 1941 Campaign 53

4 The Battle of Moscow 73

5 The Battles for Stalingrad and the Caucasus 110

6 The Battle of Kursk - the Wehrmacht's Final Offensive on the Eastern Front 152

7 The Normandy Invasion and Soviet Successes in 1944-5 175

8 The Battle of Berlin 211

9 If Not for the Allies 243

10 Life Under German Occupation 250

11 Life in the Soviet Rear 267

12 The Price of Victory 276

13 Epilogue: Soviet Heroic Myths and Real Feats 310

Notes 334