WWII & a keen grasp of the obvious
http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_140225453.html
Sigh. I'm getting pretty sick and tired of the myth that's once again stated in this article about the Eastern Front of WWII somehow being ignored or unknown. Perhaps among our historically uneducated public it is, (but then they don't know ANY thing about the war - who fought, who won, when it happened, where it happened, etc.). But amongst students of history, it's VERY well known. Russian archives and memoirs may have been difficult to come by, but the German sources weren't, (and many British historians have concentrated on this Front as well). I remember Bantam publishing several excellent studies and memoirs about it decades ago when I was in high school. Ballantine's famous series devoted many volumes to the conflict, as has Osprey in recent years. Hell, old wargame companies and mags often focused on the famous battles and campaigns in Russia. If you had enough money in the 70's you could buy one game that fought the entire campaign out at division/brigade level! Yet I keep reading pop pieces about "new & astounding revelations" that I knew from easily available sources 25 - 35 years ago! Just because John Wayne or Harrison Ford didn't make a movie about an event doesn't mean it's somehow hidden from those of us who are literate and interested in the topic. Let's take our eyes off the boob tube for a moment and at least try to raise the bar...
As for the author's mewling that nazis shouldn't die like they did at Stalingrad, I can only reply: My dear, that's EXACTLY how they should die..."
Sigh. I'm getting pretty sick and tired of the myth that's once again stated in this article about the Eastern Front of WWII somehow being ignored or unknown. Perhaps among our historically uneducated public it is, (but then they don't know ANY thing about the war - who fought, who won, when it happened, where it happened, etc.). But amongst students of history, it's VERY well known. Russian archives and memoirs may have been difficult to come by, but the German sources weren't, (and many British historians have concentrated on this Front as well). I remember Bantam publishing several excellent studies and memoirs about it decades ago when I was in high school. Ballantine's famous series devoted many volumes to the conflict, as has Osprey in recent years. Hell, old wargame companies and mags often focused on the famous battles and campaigns in Russia. If you had enough money in the 70's you could buy one game that fought the entire campaign out at division/brigade level! Yet I keep reading pop pieces about "new & astounding revelations" that I knew from easily available sources 25 - 35 years ago! Just because John Wayne or Harrison Ford didn't make a movie about an event doesn't mean it's somehow hidden from those of us who are literate and interested in the topic. Let's take our eyes off the boob tube for a moment and at least try to raise the bar...
As for the author's mewling that nazis shouldn't die like they did at Stalingrad, I can only reply: My dear, that's EXACTLY how they should die..."
posted by mendip at
10:11 AM
1 Comments:
A somewhat curious project, given that a landmark book on Stalingrad has been published relatively recently (Antony Beevor's). Still, it will be interesting to compare the two.
Most popular treatments of the European theater do focus on the fronts in which Americans were involved -- just go to the World War II section in any bookstore and note the paucity of books dealing with the eastern front. Mistaken popular impressions abound. I have met fairly knowledgeable people who were vaguely aware that the USSR actually did the lion's share of the fighting to defeat the Nazis, but believed that it was largely military aid from the West which made this possible. The stereotype of the Russians as drunken bumblers is disturbingly deep-rooted.
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Anonymous, at 5:27 PM
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