Published: 16 August 2022
ISBN: 9780241979198
Imprint: Penguin General UK
Format: Paperback
Pages: 656
RRP: $30.00

Categories:

Warfare

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Barbarossa

How Hitler Lost the War

Jonathan Dimbleby

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The gripping bestselling account of the largest military campaign ever, by the much-acclaimed WW2 historian

Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of Russia in June 1941, aimed at nothing less than a war of extermination to annihilate Soviet communism, liquidate the Jews and create Lebensraum for the German master race. But it led to the destruction of the Third Reich, and was cataclysmic for Germany with millions of men killed, wounded or registered as missing in action. It was this colossal mistake -- rather than any action in Western Europe -- that lost Hitler the Second World War.

Drawing on hitherto unseen archival material, including previously untranslated Russian sources, Jonathan Dimbleby puts Barbarossa in its proper place in history for the first time. From its origins in the ashes of the First World War to its impact on post-war Europe, and covering the military, political and diplomatic story from all sides, he paints a full and vivid picture of this monumental campaign whose full nature and impact has, until now, remained unexplored. Written with authority and humanity, Barbarossa is a masterwork that transforms our understanding of the Second World War and of the twentieth century.

Published: 16 August 2022
ISBN: 9780241979198
Imprint: Penguin General UK
Format: Paperback
Pages: 656
RRP: $30.00

Categories:

Warfare

Share…

About the author

Jonathan Dimbleby

Jonathan Dimbleby is a distinguished broadcaster and author, who has reported from Russia at pivotal moments in the country's recent history. His documentary series The Eagle and the Bear and The Cold War Game investigated the impact of the Soviet Union on the rest of the world. In 1989 he became the first British journalist to interview President Gorbachev when he met the Soviet leader shortly before his fall from power.

Jonathan Dimbleby has written several bestselling books, including a biography of his father Richard Dimbleby, The Palestinians, The Prince of Wales and The Last Governor. For many years he presented flagship political programmes for ITV, and he is well known as the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Any Questions.

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Praise for Barbarossa

A chilling account of war at its worst
Bear Grylls

A great read . . . he brings Barbarossa very vividly to life, as if you are there
Robert Kershaw, author of 'War Without Garlands: Operation Barbarossa 1941-1942' and 'Borodino Field 1812/1941'

The best single-volume account of the Barbarossa campaign to date
Andrew Roberts, author of 'Churchill: Walking with Destiny'

Should be on everyone's reading list for 2021
Dr Amanda Foreman, author of 'A World on Fire'

Masterly
General Sir Mike Jackson

It's a vital story, one everyone should know, and Dimbleby tells it with verve and elan
Laurence Rees, author of 'Hitler and Stalin'

Thought-provoking . . . a captivating eye-opener
Prof Dr Gerhard Hirschfeld, University of Stuttgart, former President of the International Committee for the Study of the Second World War

An impressive achievement . . . a fast-paced, gripping read
Julia Boyd, author of 'Travellers in the Third Reich'

Vivid and engrossing
Brendan Simms, author of 'Hitler: Only The World Was Enough'

Superbly well-written . . . the most comprehensive study of Hitler's invasion of the USSR in years
Keith Lowe, author of 'Savage Continent'

Expertly narrated and written with piercing clarity
Frederick Taylor, author of '1939: A People's History'

Superb . . . stays with you long after you have finished
Henry Hemming, bestselling author of 'Our Man in New York'

Brilliant . . . a wonderful piece of history
Robert Fox

Epic . . . captures all of Barbarossa's drama and magnitude
Martin Sixsmith

Brings to life the sheer, staggering scale of these events... with great skill, care and attention to detail
Keith Lowe, Sunday Times

[An] encyclopedic new account... a vivid, meticulous tapestry, densely weaving the threads of German and Soviet military strategy, political calculation from Washington and London to Moscow, and war's pitiless human cost
Julian Evans, The Telegraph

[Dimbleby] skilfully tracks the shifts and turns of the campaign, sparing no detail . . . a riveting account
Tony Rennell, Daily Mail, Book of the Week

Dimbleby tells the story of strategic miscalculation and (self-)deception on all sides, and then Hitler's 'war of extermination', magnificently
Allan Mallinson, The Spectator