Unforgettable, absorbing - Rated 
This wonderfully written book is intensely gripping. The battle for Stalingrad - modern day Volgograd- was a brutal unrelenting war which led to the destruction of the German 6th Army in the 'Kesselring' of Chuikov's pincer movement.
The reportage combines Journalistic paciness with a Historians careful eye for detail. Characters such as General Chuikov and Sniper Zaitsev are pivotal characters as the drama as Beevor portrays it, unfolds.
I normally dislike reading books about battles, but this is a story that needs to be told of total Warfare.
Stalingrad was razed to the ground. Thousands of troops died in hand to hand fighting. Prisoners in the hundreds of thousands were left in open air camps to freeze to death.
The tragedy and suffering of both sides is immense, and like so many aspects of Russian history in particular, must be told.
fantastic read - Rated
a compelling account of the turning point of world war 2, brutal at times but a very interesting insight into the disaster that was the german 6th armies invasion of russia, this is a must buy.
Well written but I think flawed - Rated 
If you don't know what happened at Stalingrad or why it mattered, read this book. If you want to know what to think and feel about it, I'd be more careful. My sympathies, of course, are with the Soviets. Beevor's don't seem to be. He writes about the privations suffered by the Russian soldiers and civilians, though not it seems to me in the same detail as he writes about the sufferings of the German prisoners of war after the defeat. He does write about Nazi atrocities (though more about Soviet ones), but the main thing that concerns him about Hitler is his meddling with the strategic decisions of his army commanders. German Communists working for the Soviets are always 'tame' - whereas the Hiwis (Russians who worked or even fought for the Nazis) are treated with sympathy throughout. There's little suggestion that any Russians might actually have been Communists, even though he does acknowledge that the re-appearance of shoulder pads and then gold braid on officers' uniforms did provoke a strong reaction from Red Army soliders.
Amazing - Rated
This is as close a description of the battle as I've read. However I dont think any of us who were not there can really truly imagine the reality of it. Everyone should read this book. Especially the younger generation (me included)
Stalingrad - spell blindingly gut wrenching - Rated
Many books are written from the Western Allied perspective, which Ive read many and the Red Army usually receives a footnote mentioning their repulsive behaviour towards German women on their battle towards Berlin. After reading Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-45, by Max Hastings, I was inspired to read more about the Wehrmacht's drive into Soviet Russia.
Stalingrad was the obvious place to start, it does receive very high praise, which always leaves me wondering if a book justifies the 'blurbs' on the jacket cover. In this case it does and more. Beevors' greatest gift is his narrative, drawing a truly dreadful, apocalyptic picture in the readers mind. He manages to weave historical fact with a compelling tale of human misery, on both sides. The sheer manic megalomania of both leaders, Stalin and Hitler and their ruthless pursuit of victory whatever the cost left me feeling regret for soldiers of both sides. Yes, even the ordinary German soldier who had a choice of being killed by the Red Army or their own side if they refused to fight, deserve a modicum of sympathy. That said compared to the Western Allies, Russia paid in blood beyond our wildest comprehension.
I dare anyone to read this book and not come away with a feeling of shock, despair and anger.
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