The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1941-45

'The Great Patriotic War and the Soviet Union contains a very considerable amount of commentary on the texts which the author has collected, and this weaves the documents together into coherent chapters that have a clear narrative trajectory--including a very interesting assessment of the validity of Victor Suvorov's ""Icebreaker thesis."" This is highly desirable, as the commentary both provides context for the documents and makes the work far more interesting than would a simple collection of Soviet military order. Hill notes in his introduction that he intended this work chiefly with student use in mind, particularly if paired with When Titans Clashed, by David Glantz and Jonathan House, and/or Evan Mawdlsey's Thunder in the East.6 Both of these are excellent texts and indeed Hill's work would nicely complement them in a course reading list. However, Hill's work also stands very well on its own, and it would have a deserving place in the library of anyone with a personal or professional interest in the Russo-Soviet War.' C. Dale Walton, University of Reading, UK 'This work helps to fill a gap in the literature by making Soviet wartime documents available to a wide audience in English translation...Recommended.' A. Drobnicki, York College, CUNY, USA ""Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above."" -- CHOICE, August 2009 Vol. 46 No. 11