Alexander Werth (1901–1969)

The author is qualified to write this book for he was born in St. Petersburg, escaped with his family during the revolution and lived in Russia from 1942-1948. Above all, he wishes to remind the current generation (book written in 1964) and future generations of Russia’s importance in defeating the Nazis (although he does say Stalin stated Russia could not win the war against the Nazis by herself). He wants to tell the story of the common people and not just military history. Author declares his book to be least of all a formal history of Russia’s part in WWII for it is not possible for such to be written by one man. The author, British war correspondent, a native Russian speaker, writes a balanced report of Russia’s part in the war. He was allowed unprecedented access to conflict zones and conducted interviews with thousands of individuals both civilian and soldiers. He doesn’t criticize the Red Army or Stalin or decisions made by the Soviet government; he lets the reader draw their own conclusions. The corpus of work he draws from for his bibliography is immense, wide ranging in scope, sequence, and authorship. It is quite likely the most accurate book on Russia’s part in WWII to ever emerge from the Soviet Union.… (altro)

Werth era tanto ruso como británico y actuó como corresponsal de guerra durante la IIGM. En este libro describe el transcurso de la guerra desde la perspectiva sovieta y es importante porque la destrucción de la Alemania nazi no se debió a UK o USA y menos a Francia, sino que fue una tarea casi exclusivamente rusa. Werth fue de los primeros corresponsales que presenció los campos de exterminios alemanes y sus reportes fueron silenciados en occidente pensando que se trataba de exageraciones soviéticas. Este libro es una gran narración de un testigo directo de la tragedia humana del 39 al 45.
Werth acompaña la narración de lo que vio con datos estadísticos, apuntes de prensa y conversaciones con líderes. Es el relato, de primera fuente, de la gesta rusa que permitió ganar la segunda guerra mundial.… (altro)