Enemy at the Gates

The Battle for Stalingrad

By: William Craig

Narrated by: David Baker

Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A classic work of World War II history that brings to vivid, dramatic life one of the bloodiest battles ever fought - and the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.

On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of the 6th Army, an elite German combat unit dispatched by Hitler to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad and press on to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The Luftwaffe had already bombed the city into ruins. German soldiers hoped to complete their mission and be home in time for Christmas.

The siege of Stalingrad lasted five months, one week, and three days. Nearly two million men and women died, and the 6th Army was completely destroyed. Considered by many historians to be the turning point of World War II in Europe, the Soviet Army's victory foreshadowed Hitler's downfall and the rise of a communist superpower.

Best-selling author William Craig spent five years researching this epic clash of military titans, traveling to three continents in order to review documents and interview hundreds of survivors. Enemy at the Gates is the enthralling result: the definitive account of one of the most important battles in world history. The book was the inspiration for the 2001 film of the same name, starring Joseph Fiennes and Jude Law.

©1973 William Craig; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Best book on Stalingrad

This is the best book on Stalingrad that I have found, by far. More words.

Big subject, well researched, powerfully presented

My only regret is that I didn't have a battlefield map to go along with it. I really wanted to see the movements of forces, the endless encirclements, the terrain, the breakthroughs, the retreats, etc. This telling of Stalingrad exceeded my expectations.

one of the best stories i have ever heard.

absolutely brutal and heartbreaking, and incredibly interesting. the narrator did an awesome job reading it

Great listen

Great history told in a great way. Narrator was also fantastic. War is hell, and a cautionary tale.

A decent retelling of Stalingrad

As with Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, another classic WWII narrative written by a journalist, one has to take some aspects of the account with a grain of salt. Obviously the story is more interesting with a little emotional embellishment, and there’s a lot for academic historians to take issue with here. Like other reviewers, I found the number of characters Craig focuses on to be too many, and it’s hard to keep things straight after a while when the battle devolves into chaos. I also found the narrator to be fairly good, but it would have been better if he’d have had more than a passing familiarity with either German or Russian, as his pronunciation of some names and words is painful. Overall, I would recommend this with a few minor reservations.

Man's inhumanity toward man.

While hard to envision the many characters and scenes, I was still engrossed to the end.
The narrator wad flawless.

Great historical read

A revealing account of the horrors that occurred on the Eastern Front of World War 2 and during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Good account of the battle of Stalingrad

I enjoyed the authors coverage of the battle which seem balanced to both sides involved.
Not just limited to the strategy of the battle the tales of survival and the individual strength of men and women directly involved gave me since of what really occurred.

History written by the victors

It is refreshing to find a good audiobook about the 1942-43 Eastern Front battles written by the allied (winning) side, so that you can actually root for the subjects under study. In far too many other works, the Nazis are hailed as protagonists and the authors (Buttar and similar) plunder the US army accounts written by the losing field marshals and generals. In these histories, the allies (soviets) are usially portrayed as incompetent cannon fodder fed into a meat grinder that overwhelms the superior Nazis like wave of corpses. This book takes you inside Stavka HQ, from the kremlin to crimea and of course Stalingrad before, during, and after the battle. The narrator was not my favorite, and clearly he does not speak any language other than English. Please find someone proficient who can pronounce the Russian or German names and places. It is positively robotic.

WELL DONE

One of the best work of those who suffered under two maniacal leaders during World War II.