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Title: War of the Rats by David L. Robbins ISBN: 0-553-58135-X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 06 June, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.88 (197 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Wow! One helluva book.
Comment: WAR OF THE RATS is a superb novel of combat. Combat in a theater of World War II that most Americans, dismally familiar only with the fighting role of the US in the Pacific and Europe, know little about - the Russian Front. Specifically, in this book, the Battle of Stalingrad at the end of 1942.
Chief Master Sergeant Vasily Zaitsev ("The Hare") is an expert sniper in the 62nd Army, that force of the Red Army desperately maintaining a toehold in Stalingrad, under siege by the German 6th Army. Zaitsev is so good at his job that he is ordered to establish a sniper school. One of his students is Tania Chernova, an American woman of Russian descent fighting to avenge the execution of her grandparents at the hands of the Nazis. The graduates of The Hare's training become so proficient at killing Germans that the morale of the 6th Army's front-line troops is seriously threatened. Zaitsev becomes a Red Army hero and a winner of the Order of Lenin. As a counter, the Reich's most expert sniper, SS Colonel Heinz Thorvald ("The Headmaster"), is flown from Germany into the Stalingrad battle. His orders - to find and kill The Hare.
There is no superlative too extravagant to describe this book. At 470 pages in paperback, I absorbed it at one sitting on a flight from Washington, DC to Los Angeles. Zaitsev, Chernova and Thorvald were all actual combatants in Stalingrad. Their roles, as well as the movements of both the German and Russian forces in the battle as a whole, are facts lifted from historical sources researched by the author, David Robbins. The insight Robbins gives the reader into the skills and training of the military sniper is absolutely riveting. The action is gritty and realistic. The characters are finely drawn.
One measure of a novel's excellence is its ability to inspire the reader to delve further into the subject. I've just added to my Amazon.com Wish List a history of the Stalingrad siege.
Rating: 5
Summary: Moving, remarkable and historically on the mark
Comment: I am a retired military officer. I read plenty of World War II histories and novels, and I have to say David Robbins' depiction of Stalingrad ranks among the best researched and best told World War II books of any I have read. The story line is moving, his characters ring true to the veterans I have known, and his history is precise and flawless. The story in War Of The Rats, particularly the duel between Thorvald and Zaitsev, tracks exactly the accounts I have read of this encounter. Robbins carries the day with clean writing, insightful dialogue, and razor sharp descriptions. If you're looking for a fantastic historical read, or a swashbuckling adventure, or even a heartfelt romantic war story, this is the book for you. Five stars!
Rating: 4
Summary: Brick Dust and Blood!
Comment: An excellent read. What a great choice of subject matter. The two main characters, the German sniper Thorvald and the Soviet sniper Zaitsev are well constructed. When the novel concentrates on their thoughts, motivations and actions it works extremely well with great atmosphere [appropriately bleak.]This book is a real page turner. However, the one flaw I did find was too much ersatz poetic rumination on the part of the Soviets. The inevitable love story also detracted from what could otherwise have been a ''thundering good read.''If Mr. Robbins had kept War of the Rats a quote-unquote ''man's book'' [I'm sure men are 95% of his readership] then he would have been better served. More emphasis on the snipers, their thoughts and actions. A more linear story along these lines would at least put this book on the same bookshelf with The Naked and the Dead. Still a good read. Recommended.
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Title: The End of War by David L. Robbins ISBN: 0553581384 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 29 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig ISBN: 1568523688 Publisher: Konecky & Konecky Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.98 |
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Title: Last Citadel: A Novel of the Battle of Kursk by David L. Robbins ISBN: 0553801775 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor ISBN: 0140284583 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Grandfather's Tale: The Tale of a German Sniper by Timothy Erenberger ISBN: 0595164625 Publisher: Writers Club Press Pub. Date: 26 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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