Sacrifice on the Steppe
The Italian Alpine Corps in the Stalingrad Campaign, 1942-1943
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $29.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
James Langton
-
By:
-
Hope Hamilton
About this listen
When Germany’s Sixth Army advanced to Stalingrad in 1942, its long-extended flanks were mainly held by its allied armies - the Romanians, Hungarians, and Italians. But as history tells us, these flanks quickly caved in before the massive Soviet counter-offensive which commenced that November, dooming the Germans to their first catastrophe of the war. However, the historical record also makes clear that one allied unit held out to the very end, fighting to stem the tide - the Italian Alpine Corps.
As a result of Mussolini’s disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany, by the fall of 1942, 227,000 soldiers of the Italian Eighth Army were deployed on a 270km front along the Don River to protect the left flank of German troops intent on capturing Stalingrad. Sixty thousand of these were alpini, elite Italian mountain troops. When the Don front collapsed under Soviet hammerblows, it was the Alpine Corps that continued to hold out until it was completely isolated, and which then tried to fight its way out through both Russian encirclement and “General Winter,” to rejoin the rest of the Axis front. Only one of the three alpine divisions was able to emerge from the Russian encirclement with survivors. In the all-sides battle across the snowy steppe, thousands were killed and wounded, and even more were captured. By the summer of 1946, 10,000 survivors returned to Italy from Russian POW camps. This tragic story is complex and unsettling, but most of all it is a human story. Mussolini sent thousands of poorly equipped soldiers to a country far from their homeland, on a mission to wage war with an unclear mandate against a people who were not their enemies. Raw courage and endurance blend with human suffering, desperation and altruism in the epic saga of this withdrawal from the Don lines, including the demise of thousands and survival of the few.
Hope Hamilton, fluent in Italian and having spent many years in Italy, has drawn on many interviews with survivors, as well as massive research, in order to provide this first full English-language account of one of World War II’s legendary stands against great odds.
©2011 Hope Hamilton (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941-1942
- Schwerpunkt
- By: Robert A. Forczyk
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Forczyk's incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of WWII developed their tactics and weaponry during the early years of the Russo-German War. He uses German, Russian, and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives.
-
-
A Great work on tank warfare
- By Anonymous User on 03-22-24
-
Blood, Dust and Snow
- Diaries of a Panzer Commander in Germany and on the Eastern Front
- By: Friedrich Sander, Robin Schafer - editor translator, Roger Moorhouse - foreword
- Narrated by: Stephan Goldbach
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The war on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 was the bloodiest combat theater in the bloodiest war in history. Oberleutnant Friedrich Wilhelm Sander experienced this bloodshed firsthand when serving with the 11th Panzer-Regiment. This regiment made up the core of the 6th Panzer-Division, one of Hitler's top armored formations, which was involved in most of the major campaigns on the Eastern Front; campaigns such as Operation Barbarossa and Operation Winter Storm.
-
-
Great account of a light tank commander during WWII, BUT
- By William T. on 09-16-23
By: Friedrich Sander, and others
-
We Will Not Go to Tuapse
- From the Donets to the Oder with the Legion Wallonie and 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade ‘Wallonien’ 1942-45
- By: Fernand Kaisergruber
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Until recent years, very little was known of the tens of thousands of foreign nationals from Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, and Spain who served voluntarily in the military formations of the German army and the German Waffen-SS. In Kaisergruber's book, the listener discovers important issues of collaboration, the apparent contributions of the volunteers to the German war effort, their varied experiences, their motives, the attitude of the German High Command and bureaucracy, and the reaction to these in the occupied countries.
-
-
Why did it end at Cherkassy?
- By DAVIS J BEAM III on 03-28-18
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
On a Knife’s Edge
- The Ukraine, November 1942-March 1943
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II. The German capture of the city, their encirclement by Soviet forces shortly afterwards, and the hard-fought but futile attempts to relieve them, saw bitter attritional fighting and extremes of human misery inflicted on both sides. In this title, a renowned expert on warfare on the Eastern Front reveals the often-overlooked German counteroffensive post-Stalingrad, and how it prevented the whole Axis front line from collapsing.
-
-
Best of its kind!
- By Max on 02-10-20
By: Prit Buttar
-
Retribution
- The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943-44
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 17 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Making use of the extensive memoirs of German and Russian soldiers to bring their story to life, the narrative follows on from On A Knife's Edge, which described the encirclement and destruction of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad and the offensives and counter-offensives that followed throughout the winter of 1942-43.
-
-
Solid, substantial military storytelling
- By Rodney W. Schmisseur on 12-21-19
By: Prit Buttar
-
Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941-1942
- Schwerpunkt
- By: Robert A. Forczyk
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Forczyk's incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of WWII developed their tactics and weaponry during the early years of the Russo-German War. He uses German, Russian, and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives.
-
-
A Great work on tank warfare
- By Anonymous User on 03-22-24
-
Blood, Dust and Snow
- Diaries of a Panzer Commander in Germany and on the Eastern Front
- By: Friedrich Sander, Robin Schafer - editor translator, Roger Moorhouse - foreword
- Narrated by: Stephan Goldbach
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The war on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 was the bloodiest combat theater in the bloodiest war in history. Oberleutnant Friedrich Wilhelm Sander experienced this bloodshed firsthand when serving with the 11th Panzer-Regiment. This regiment made up the core of the 6th Panzer-Division, one of Hitler's top armored formations, which was involved in most of the major campaigns on the Eastern Front; campaigns such as Operation Barbarossa and Operation Winter Storm.
-
-
Great account of a light tank commander during WWII, BUT
- By William T. on 09-16-23
By: Friedrich Sander, and others
-
We Will Not Go to Tuapse
- From the Donets to the Oder with the Legion Wallonie and 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade ‘Wallonien’ 1942-45
- By: Fernand Kaisergruber
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Until recent years, very little was known of the tens of thousands of foreign nationals from Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, and Spain who served voluntarily in the military formations of the German army and the German Waffen-SS. In Kaisergruber's book, the listener discovers important issues of collaboration, the apparent contributions of the volunteers to the German war effort, their varied experiences, their motives, the attitude of the German High Command and bureaucracy, and the reaction to these in the occupied countries.
-
-
Why did it end at Cherkassy?
- By DAVIS J BEAM III on 03-28-18
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
On a Knife’s Edge
- The Ukraine, November 1942-March 1943
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II. The German capture of the city, their encirclement by Soviet forces shortly afterwards, and the hard-fought but futile attempts to relieve them, saw bitter attritional fighting and extremes of human misery inflicted on both sides. In this title, a renowned expert on warfare on the Eastern Front reveals the often-overlooked German counteroffensive post-Stalingrad, and how it prevented the whole Axis front line from collapsing.
-
-
Best of its kind!
- By Max on 02-10-20
By: Prit Buttar
-
Retribution
- The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943-44
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 17 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Making use of the extensive memoirs of German and Russian soldiers to bring their story to life, the narrative follows on from On A Knife's Edge, which described the encirclement and destruction of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad and the offensives and counter-offensives that followed throughout the winter of 1942-43.
-
-
Solid, substantial military storytelling
- By Rodney W. Schmisseur on 12-21-19
By: Prit Buttar
-
The Rifle
- Combat Stories from America's Last WWII Veterans, Told Through an M1 Garand
- By: Andrew Biggio
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Rifle is the inspirational story of a 28-year-old US Marine, Andrew Biggio, who returned home from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, full of questions about the price of war. He found answers from those who survived the costliest war of all - WWII veterans. It began when Biggio bought a 1945 M1 Garand Rifle, the most common rifle used in WWII. When Biggio showed the gun to his neighbor, WWII veteran Corporal Joseph Drago, it unlocked memories Drago had kept unspoken for 50 years.
-
-
A must read
- By david cohen on 06-03-21
By: Andrew Biggio
-
The Rising Sun
- The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 41 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."
-
-
A political as well as military history
- By Mike From Mesa on 07-30-15
By: John Toland
-
Meat Grinder
- The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.
-
-
A totally absurd effort in racist German Bashing with some grudging respect for the German soldier and German Army.
- By Anonymous User on 05-01-24
By: Prit Buttar
-
The Napoleonic Wars
- By: Alexander Mikaberidze
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 35 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Napoleonic Wars saw fighting on an unprecedented scale in Europe and the Americas. It took the wealth of the British Empire, combined with the might of the continental armies, almost two decades to bring down one of the world's greatest military leaders and the empire that he had created. Napoleon's ultimate defeat was to determine the history of Europe for almost 100 years. From the frozen wastelands of Russia, through the brutal fighting in the Peninsula to the blood-soaked battlefield of Waterloo, this book tells the story of the dramatic rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire.
-
-
No description of battles
- By John Gaston on 01-15-21
-
Until the Eyes Shut
- Memories of a Machine Gunner on the Eastern Front, 1943-45
- By: Andreas Hartinger
- Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The rulers’ mistakes are paid for with the blood of the people. This is shown in history both recent and ancient, time and time again. It was no different for an Austrian mountain farmer’s son who was thrown into the carnage of the Eastern Front. He was in the prime of his youth, and the German Reich was already close to losing the war. In ripe-old age, he remembers those dark hours that have haunted him throughout his life.
-
-
Short & Insightful
- By Salvatore on 05-07-21
-
Panzer Commander
- The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck
- By: Hans von Luck, Stephen E. Ambrose - introduction
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A stunning look at World War II from the other side.... From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front - von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers. Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman.
-
-
Reads like Forrest Gump ( a fiction )
- By Randall on 11-08-16
By: Hans von Luck, and others
-
On Desperate Ground
- The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hampton Sides' superb account of this epic clash in the Korean War relies on years of archival research, unpublished letters, declassified documents, and interviews with scores of marines and Koreans who survived the siege. While expertly detailing the follies of the American leaders, On Desperate Ground is an immediate, grunt's-eye view of history, enthralling in its narrative pace and powerful in its portrayal of what ordinary men are capable of in the most extreme circumstances.
-
-
typical armchair critic armed with hign site
- By Brent on 10-03-18
By: Hampton Sides
-
Russia at War, 1941–1945
- A History
- By: Alexander Werth, Nicolas Werth - foreword
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 38 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1941, Russian-born British journalist Alexander Werth observed the unfolding of the Soviet-German conflict with his own eyes. What followed was the widely acclaimed book, Russia at War, first printed in 1964. At once a history of facts, a collection of interviews, and a document of the human condition, Russia at War is a stunning, modern classic that chronicles the savagery and struggles on Russian soil during the most incredible military conflict in modern history.
-
-
Simply Astonishing
- By Nicholas Robinson on 02-28-22
By: Alexander Werth, and others
-
Normandy '44
- D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the 76 days of bitter fighting in Normandy that followed the Allied landing, have become the defining episode of World War II in the west - the object of books, films, television series, and documentaries. Yet as familiar as it is, as James Holland makes clear in his definitive history, many parts of the OVERLORD campaign, as it was known, are still shrouded in myth and assumed knowledge.
-
-
Excellent account of Normandy but be weary...
- By S. H. Moore on 02-22-20
By: James Holland
-
Retreat from Moscow
- A New History of Germany’s Winter Campaign, 1941-1942
- By: David Stahel
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Germany's winter campaign of 1941-1942 has commonly been seen as its "first defeat". In Retreat from Moscow, David Stahel argues that, in fact, it was its first strategic success in the east. Though the Red Army managed to push the Wehrmacht back from Moscow, the Germans lost far fewer men (one to six), frustrated their enemy's strategic plan, and emerged in the spring unbroken and poised to recapture the initiative.
-
-
Nothing new on the Eastern front basically!
- By philippe jacob on 03-28-20
By: David Stahel
-
The End
- The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the preeminent Hitler biographer, a fascinating and original exploration of how the Third Reich was willing and able to fight to the bitter end of World War II. Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost World War II, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question of how and why it was able to hold out as long as it did.
-
-
Engrossing yet horrifying
- By Liz on 10-14-11
By: Ian Kershaw
-
Beyond Band of Brothers
- The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
- By: Dick Winters, Cole C. Kingseed
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were called Easy Company, but their mission was never easy. Immortalized as the Band of Brothers, they suffered huge casualties while liberating Europe in an unparalleled record of bravery under fire. Dick Winters led them through the Battle of the Bulge, the attack on Foy, where Easy Company reached its breaking point, and finally into Germany, by which time each member had been wounded. Outside Munich, they liberated an S.S. death camp and captured Berchtesgaden, Hitler's alpine retreat.
-
-
I listen to this over and over
- By David Ewing on 08-10-07
By: Dick Winters, and others
Related to this topic
-
Stalingrad
- The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1942, an overconfident Adolf Hitler would attempt to invade Stalin's namesake city on the Volga. The battle of Stalingrad is extraordinary in every way: the triumphant invader fought to a standstill; then the Soviet trap sprung, surrounding their attackers; and the terrible siege, with Germans starving and freezing, forced to fight on by a disbelieving Hitler.
-
-
Audible! Pls provide Michael Tudor Barnes
- By Anand on 07-02-15
By: Antony Beevor
-
Leningrad
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1941 Hitler's armies blocked the last roads leading into Leningrad. What followed was one of the most horrific sieges in history. When the German High Command encircled Leningrad it was a deliberate policy to eradicate the city's civilian population by starving them to death. As winter set in and food supplies dwindled, starvation and panic set in.
-
-
Great narration and a enthralling story line.
- By nathanfisch on 10-19-21
By: Michael Jones
-
The Fall of Berlin 1945
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Third Reich in January 1945. Frenzied by their terrible experiences with Wehrmacht and SS brutality, they wreaked havoc - tanks crushing refugee columns, mass rape, pillage, and unimaginable destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred; more than seven million fled westward from the fury of the Red Army. It was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known.
-
-
Engrossing
- By Salui on 09-06-16
By: Antony Beevor
-
The Polar Bear Expedition
- The Heroes of America's Forgotten Invasion of Russia, 1918-1919
- By: James Carl Nelson
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An extraordinary lost chapter in the history of World War I: the story of America’s year-long invasion of Russia, in which a contingency of brave soldiers fought the Red Army and brutal conditions during the fall and winter of 1918-1919.
-
-
Good history, idiot author.
- By Glaudrung on 12-30-19
-
Panzer Commander
- The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck
- By: Hans von Luck, Stephen E. Ambrose - introduction
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A stunning look at World War II from the other side.... From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front - von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers. Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman.
-
-
Reads like Forrest Gump ( a fiction )
- By Randall on 11-08-16
By: Hans von Luck, and others
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
Stalingrad
- The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1942, an overconfident Adolf Hitler would attempt to invade Stalin's namesake city on the Volga. The battle of Stalingrad is extraordinary in every way: the triumphant invader fought to a standstill; then the Soviet trap sprung, surrounding their attackers; and the terrible siege, with Germans starving and freezing, forced to fight on by a disbelieving Hitler.
-
-
Audible! Pls provide Michael Tudor Barnes
- By Anand on 07-02-15
By: Antony Beevor
-
Leningrad
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1941 Hitler's armies blocked the last roads leading into Leningrad. What followed was one of the most horrific sieges in history. When the German High Command encircled Leningrad it was a deliberate policy to eradicate the city's civilian population by starving them to death. As winter set in and food supplies dwindled, starvation and panic set in.
-
-
Great narration and a enthralling story line.
- By nathanfisch on 10-19-21
By: Michael Jones
-
The Fall of Berlin 1945
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Third Reich in January 1945. Frenzied by their terrible experiences with Wehrmacht and SS brutality, they wreaked havoc - tanks crushing refugee columns, mass rape, pillage, and unimaginable destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred; more than seven million fled westward from the fury of the Red Army. It was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known.
-
-
Engrossing
- By Salui on 09-06-16
By: Antony Beevor
-
The Polar Bear Expedition
- The Heroes of America's Forgotten Invasion of Russia, 1918-1919
- By: James Carl Nelson
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An extraordinary lost chapter in the history of World War I: the story of America’s year-long invasion of Russia, in which a contingency of brave soldiers fought the Red Army and brutal conditions during the fall and winter of 1918-1919.
-
-
Good history, idiot author.
- By Glaudrung on 12-30-19
-
Panzer Commander
- The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck
- By: Hans von Luck, Stephen E. Ambrose - introduction
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A stunning look at World War II from the other side.... From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front - von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers. Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman.
-
-
Reads like Forrest Gump ( a fiction )
- By Randall on 11-08-16
By: Hans von Luck, and others
-
Enemy at the Gates
- The Battle for Stalingrad
- By: William Craig
- Narrated by: David Baker
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
An Unforgettable and Haunting Read
- By Jean on 02-03-16
By: William Craig
-
The Retreat
- Hitler's First Defeat
- By: Michael Jones
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The thrilling history of the turning point of the Second World War, when Hitler's armies were halted on the Eastern Front. At the moment of crisis in 1941 on the Eastern Font, with the forces of Hitler massing on the outskirts of Moscow, the miraculous occurred: Moscow was saved. Yet this turning point was followed by a long retreat, in which Russian forces, inspired by old beliefs in the sacred motherland, pushed back German forces steeled by the vision of the ubermensch, the iron-willed fighter.
-
-
how common soldiers experienced the Eastern Front
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 08-12-18
By: Michael Jones
-
The Deserters
- A Hidden History of World War II
- By: Charles Glass
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tale that redefines the ordinary soldier in the Second World War, The Deserters is a breathtaking work of historical reportage, weaving together the lives of forgotten servicemen even as it overturns the assumptions and prejudices of an era. The Deserters reveals that ordinary soldiers viewed "desertion" as a natural part of conflict, as unexpected and inexplicable as bravery. The Deserters moves beyond the false extremes of courage and cowardice to reveal the true experience of the Allied soldier.
-
-
war is hell
- By Stevon on 10-08-13
By: Charles Glass
-
Moscow 1941
- A City and Its People at War
- By: Rodric Braithwaite
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1941 Battle of Moscow, unquestionably one of the most decisive battles of World War II, marked the first strategic defeat of the German armed forces in their seemingly unstoppable march across Europe. The Soviets lost many more people in this one battle than the British and Americans lost in the whole of the Second World War. Now, with authority and narrative power, Rodric Braithwaite tells the story in large part through the individual experiences of ordinary Russian men and women.
-
-
slow, repetitive
- By Wylie on 12-27-06
-
We Will Not Go to Tuapse
- From the Donets to the Oder with the Legion Wallonie and 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade ‘Wallonien’ 1942-45
- By: Fernand Kaisergruber
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Until recent years, very little was known of the tens of thousands of foreign nationals from Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, and Spain who served voluntarily in the military formations of the German army and the German Waffen-SS. In Kaisergruber's book, the listener discovers important issues of collaboration, the apparent contributions of the volunteers to the German war effort, their varied experiences, their motives, the attitude of the German High Command and bureaucracy, and the reaction to these in the occupied countries.
-
-
Why did it end at Cherkassy?
- By DAVIS J BEAM III on 03-28-18
-
11 Days in December
- Christmas at the Bulge, 1944
- By: Stanley Weintraub
- Narrated by: Patrick Cullen
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
11 Days in December tells the unforgettable story of one of the grimmest points of World War II and its Christmas Eve turn toward victory. In December 1944, the Allied forces thought their campaign for securing Europe was in its final stages. But Germany had one last great surprise attack still planned, leading to some of the most intense fighting in World War II: the Battle of the Bulge.
-
-
c-
- By Nikki on 05-11-07
-
All the Way to Berlin
- A Paratrooper at War in Europe
- By: James Megellas
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In mid-1943 James Megellas, known as "Maggie" to his fellow paratroopers, joined the 82nd Airborne Division, his new "home" for the duration. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples.
-
-
Incredible book - narrator was terrible
- By joseph metz on 01-06-22
By: James Megellas
-
The Last Battle
- By: Cornelius Ryan
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Battle for Berlin was the culminating struggle of World War II in the European theater. The last offensive against Hitler’s Third Reich, it devastated one of Europe’s historic capitals and marked the final defeat of Nazi Germany. It was also one of the war’s bloodiest and most pivotal battles, whose outcome would shape international politics for decades to come.
-
-
Thanks to Dan Carlin of Hardcore History podcasts.
- By GB on 06-30-12
By: Cornelius Ryan
-
Sons and Soldiers
- The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler
- By: Bruce Henderson
- Narrated by: Brett Barry
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942 the US Army unleashed one of its greatest secret weapons in the battle to defeat Adolf Hitler: training nearly 2,000 German-born Jews in special interrogation techniques and making use of their mastery of the German language, history, and customs. Known as the Ritchie Boys, they were sent in small, elite teams to join every major combat unit in Europe, where they interrogated German POWs and gathered crucial intelligence that saved American lives and helped win the war.
-
-
Couldn't put it down
- By P. Voelker on 08-06-17
By: Bruce Henderson
-
Soldiers and Slaves
- American POWs Trapped by the Nazis' Final Gamble
- By: Roger Cohen
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In February 1945, 350 American POWs captured earlier at the Battle of the Bulge or elsewhere in Europe were singled out by the Nazis because they were Jews or were thought to resemble Jews. They were transported in cattle cars to Berga, a concentration camp in eastern Germany, and put to work as slave laborers, mining tunnels for a planned underground synthetic-fuel factory. This was the only incident of its kind during World War II.
-
-
Soldiers and Slaves
- By Hilda on 01-29-09
By: Roger Cohen
-
Tank Rider
- Into the Reich with the Red Army
- By: Evgeni Bessonov, Bair Irincheev - translator
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tank Rider is the riveting memoir of Evgeni Bessonov telling of his years of service at the vanguard of the Red Army and daily encounters with the German foe. He brings large-scale battles to life, recounts the sniping and skirmishing that tried and tested soldiers on both sides, and narrates the overwhelming tragedy and horror of apocalyptic warfare on the Eastern Front. So much of the Soviet experience of World War II remains untold, but this memoir provides an important glimpse into some of the most decisive moments of this overlooked history.
-
-
Wish more about the Soviet POV was written.
- By brian on 10-07-18
By: Evgeni Bessonov, and others
-
Leningrad
- The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-1944
- By: Anna Reid
- Narrated by: Peter Drew
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On September 8, 1941, 11 weeks after Hitler's brutal surprise attack on the Soviet Union, Leningrad was surrounded. The German siege was not lifted for two and a half years, by which time some three quarters of a million Leningraders had died of starvation.
-
-
Very Good Look at the History We Were Not Taught
- By Chris Reich on 01-27-14
By: Anna Reid
-
Voices of the Foreign Legion
- The History of the World's Most Famous Fighting Corps
- By: Adrian D. Gilbert
- Narrated by: Eric Brooks
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The French Foreign Legion has established a reputation as the most formidable of military forces. Created as a means of protecting French interests abroad, the legion spearheaded French colonialism in North Africa during the nineteenth century. Accepting volunteers from all parts of the world, the legion acquired an aura of mystery—and a less than enviable reputation for brutality within its ranks.
-
-
A good, if not amazing listen
- By Shaun on 03-06-13
What listeners say about Sacrifice on the Steppe
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Meliannos
- 06-03-15
Tens of thousands of my countrymen dead.
I am a history buff & know a great deal about WWII. The story of the betrayal of the Italian Alpine troops by the Germans is an old story in my Italian family. I have no doubt that Ms. Hamilton's research & scholarship have replaced the largely apocryphal stories I've always heard.
Having said that, I feel very skeptical about the information presented here. Hamilton is talking about elite Italian mountain infantry - I'd love to believe that my countrymen were plaster saints who always loathed the Germans, but it doesn't ring true. These men were sad to leave home, but going-ho about going to Russia with their allies. They admired the German soldiers of the Wehrmacht. Hamilton notes chastely that when Italian troops "misbehaved" they were disciplined severely. Again, it doesn't ring true. I simply don't believe that the Italians didn't "misbehave" right alongside their German allies in the Wehrmacht & Einsatzgruppen.
Finally, I just couldn't finish it. I got about 3/4 through with it, but the continuing portrayal of Italian troops as saintly helpers of suffering people finally saccharined me right out of the book. I'd like to think well of my ancestors. But none of them were this saintly
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful