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Sacrifice on the Steppe
- The Italian Alpine Corps in the Stalingrad Campaign, 1942-1943
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
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Publisher's summary
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.
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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.
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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
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The Deserters
- A Hidden History of World War II
- By: Charles Glass
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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war is hell
- By Stevon on 10-08-13
By: Charles Glass
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Moscow 1941
- A City and Its People at War
- By: Rodric Braithwaite
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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slow, repetitive
- By Wylie on 12-27-06
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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
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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.
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Why did it end at Cherkassy?
- By DAVIS J BEAM III on 03-28-18
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11 Days in December
- Christmas at the Bulge, 1944
- By: Stanley Weintraub
- Narrated by: Patrick Cullen
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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c-
- By Nikki on 05-11-07
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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
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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.
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Incredible book - narrator was terrible
- By joseph metz on 01-06-22
By: James Megellas
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The Last Battle
- By: Cornelius Ryan
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Thanks to Dan Carlin of Hardcore History podcasts.
- By GB on 06-30-12
By: Cornelius Ryan
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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
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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.
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Couldn't put it down
- By P. Voelker on 08-06-17
By: Bruce Henderson
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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
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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.
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Soldiers and Slaves
- By Hilda on 01-29-09
By: Roger Cohen
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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
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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.
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Wish more about the Soviet POV was written.
- By brian on 10-07-18
By: Evgeni Bessonov, and others
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Leningrad
- The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-1944
- By: Anna Reid
- Narrated by: Peter Drew
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
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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.
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Very Good Look at the History We Were Not Taught
- By Chris Reich on 01-27-14
By: Anna Reid
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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
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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.
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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.
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- 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
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