The Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II. The armies of Hitler's Nazi Germany and Stalin's Communist Soviet Union fought to the death in this industrial city on the banks of the Volga. Initially, it seemed impossible for the Soviets to hold out against the Wehrmacht and supporting Luftwaffe aircraft, but the hand-to-hand fighting in ruined factories, rubble-strewn streets and houses pockmarked by machine-gun bullets gradually turned events in their favour. Then, a vast outflanking movement led by Marshal Zhukov in November 1942 dramatically turned the tables, surrounding General Paulus's German Sixth Army. Over a period of three months this army was bled white while Hitler refused to let it break out to the west, and Hermann Goering's claim that he could supply it from the air turned out to be the hollowest of boasts. SELLING POINTS: New examinations of this perennially interesting battle Includes newly-discovered photographs and information from Soviet archives First-hand accounts feature heavily, bringing home the grim reality of urban fighting Strategic overview of Operation Blue, the codename of the 1942 German offensive in Russia Detailed time line chapters allow the reader to put the Stalingrad battle in a strategic context Comparison of the fighting techniques and weapons employee by eh Germans and Soviets in 1942 ILLUSTRATIONS: 160 b/w photos & maps