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A classic work of World War II history that brings to vivid, dramatic life one of the bloodiest battles ever fought - and the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of the 6th Army, an elite German combat unit dispatched by Hitler to capture the industrial city of Stalingrad and press on to the oil fields of Azerbaijan. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The Luftwaffe had already bombed the city into ruins. German soldiers hoped to complete their mission and be home in time for Christmas. The siege of Stalingrad lasted five months, one week, and three days. Nearly two million men and women died, and the 6th Army was completely destroyed. Considered by many historians to be the turning point of World War II in Europe, the Soviet Army's victory foreshadowed Hitler's downfall and the rise of a communist superpower. Best-selling author William Craig spent five years researching this epic clash of military titans, traveling to three continents in order to review documents and interview hundreds of survivors. Enemy at the Gates is the enthralling result: the definitive account of one of the most important battles in world history. The book was the inspiration for the 2001 film of the same name, starring Joseph Fiennes and Jude Law. Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, cost the lives of nearly two million men and women. It was perhaps the single most important engagement of World War II and signaled the beginning of the end of the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler. Based on 100s of interviews with survivors of the battle, this text presents the story of the bloody battle. A Shocking, Epic Tale It is hard to put into words this tremendous epic of a book. Beginning with the German 6th Army's confident march towards Hitler's "prize", Stalingrad, the book carefully and descriptively moves through stages the battle from both German and Russian accounts, drawing in the reader from one heart-stopping moment to the next. William Craig does a masterful job of describing the deteriorating situation in the city, the countless lives lost, and the tragedy that occurs during the capitulation and capture of the German 6th Army and its Italian and Romanian allies. All armies involved in the battle suffered immeasurably for what they believed in, and the human cost and brutality described during the battle and its aftermath is breath-taking. Craig also did an unbelievable job of gathering first-hand accounts from the survivors to put the reader directly on the front lines. To learn the whole truth about this tragedy of WWII history I highly recommend this book.