Enemy At the Gates

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. . . Bestselling . 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. It became a New York Times bestseller and was also the inspiration for the 2001 film of the same name, starring Joseph Fiennes and Jude Law.