The War Of The Rats

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A supporting character siding with the Red Army is Captain Igor Semyonovich Danilov, a reporter for the Red Star, a Russian newspaper. He joins Zaitsev at the school and on a few of his missions to report Zaitsev's heroic events and ingenious tactics as a sniper. Danilov eventually is shot down by Thorvald when he spots Thorvald through a periscope and jumps up to yell. The story focuses in on the lives of two expert snipers, a Russian and a German, each with the goal of killing the other. The two snipers, Army Chief Master Sergeant Vasily Zaytsev of the Red Army and SS Colonel Heinz Thorvald of the German army, are equally matched. However, the story is complicated when a female sniper, Tania Chernova, becomes one of Vasily's most talented assistants and his battlefield lover. I've been trying to branch out in my reading lately, and every time I do, I get reminded why I don't.

This book, like the movie Stalingrad traverses every human emotion imaginable. The fortitude of the Russians to fight for the Rodina, not for political ideology but for themselves and the thousands of Russians caught in the grips of the Nazi war machine. He also paints a vivid description of the invaders. The arrogance has been left far behind. Stalingrad is a war unto itself. The once proud Wehrmacht is faced in a titanic struggle for what? Will the battle bring them victory or will is be just another conquered city along with thousands of others? Will the war end or will it continue to drag on taking with it tens of thousands other lives? For six months in 1942, Stalingrad is the center of a titanic struggle between the Russian and German armies—the bloodiest campaign in mankind’s long history of warfare. The outcome is pivotal. If Hitler’s forces are not stopped, Russia will fall. And with it, the world…. Finally I have read a novel by my former creative writing professor! I can stop feeling guilty now.Stalingrad was hell and a huge turning point in the second world war. In only 6 months, 1.9 million people died. All that was left of Stalingrad was rubble. The germans called it Rattenkrieg, War of The Rats. This book with the same name uses all true history mixed in with a little fiction to make it better story wise. The war of Stalingrad was fought with alot of Snipers, the urban environment was perfect for them. This is the story of Vasily Zaytsev, a master sniper who killed 32 people with a standard rifle and a whopping 225 with a sniper rifle. I hate guns personally, but am always fascinated by Snipers for some reason, and to read this book was a blast. Germany sends their own master Sniper to catch Zaytsev, a man who is a bit of a coward but an excellent marksman. The sort of cat and Mouse game they play with eachother is brilliant, and makes this book a very fast paced read. Recommended for history buffs and everyone that enjoys a thrilling story between two master Snipers. For six months in 1942, Stalingrad is the center of a titanic struggle between the Russian and German armies—the bloodiest campaign in mankind's long history of warfare. The outcome is pivotal. If Hitler's forces are not stopped, Russia will fall. And with it, the world....

a good candidate for the thriller of the summer award… gives a compelling and graphic sense of the heroism-filled nightmare called Stalingrad…A readable, gritty adventure story." —The New York Times If you ever seen the movie, Enemy at the Gates, this book's premise is going to sound familiar to you. Of course, there is a logical explanation for that, as it is based on a true story...or it could have just been Soviet propaganda, but it's based on something.A frighteningly realistic patchwork depicting the long siege that changed the course of the war. Based on a true story, the novel deftly captures an extraordinary time and place in history...[in a] vivid, authentic representation of men of unusual skill and focus in the midst of a barbarous war." --Richmond-Times Dispatch I remember watching Enemy at the Gates when I was knee high to a grasshopper and loving it. It was gritty, it was dirty, and it had Ed Harris and Bob Hotchkins. In the movie the romance works, it flows. In the book... it does not. In fact it's so misplaced that it distracts the reader. I get it, this is humanity in a time of turmoil, however... the personalities conflict. I can't grasp the romantic relationship of these two. One is an American with ties to Russia through heritage who loves communism but she's arrogant and impulsive to a very dangerous degree. The other is Russian, not impulsive, patient, calculating, and a cautious sniper. I just couldn't see it call me a pessimist.

I loved the descriptions of the bombed-out Stalingrad, jagged and honeycombed and swarming with soldiers. The details of how the two armies worked - like the commissars who kept the Russian army toeing the Communist Party line, using newsletters, loudspeakers, and guns - also intrigued me. Mr. Robbins doe an excellent job in describing not only the supposed duel between Zaitsez and Thorvald (which is still being debated by historians) but his ability to paint the picture of a city ravaged by the opposing forces is phenomenal. He puts you in the heart of the dieing city. Can you imagine the closets metropolitan town in your vicinity being decimated to hulks of sagging I-beams, burning timbers and crumbled concrete structures. Yes, it is worse than the current destruction we witnessed in Joplin, Mi and Tuscaloosa,Ala (all weather related). Yet at the same time, by the end, I found myself a little perplexed regarding what it was about - it both began long before and ended after the supposed central conflict of the novel, a sniper's duel. This off-center presentation was very appropriate, since war shouldn't be reduced to a simple high concept narrative, but it was rather noticeable by the end. Also, I felt like Zaitsev, one of the main characters, didn't become really complex until about halfway through - would've been nice to get to know him earlier.Robbins uses as touch points a number of known Stalingrad events, including Pavlov's House, the Grain Elevator, Goebbels's Stalingrad "choir," and the Cauldron offensives. Although the figures Tonia (more specifically Tania Chernova, often mentioned in books about the time period but never historically verified) and Thorvald (mentioned in Vasily Zaytsev's book, but again not historically verified) are in doubt, it's known that Russian women were snipers, and there is no doubt that Zaytsev was a sniper of great renown. This book thoroughly expresses the tension edured, physical effort, and mental acuity required of snipers. A frighteningly realistic patchwork depicting the long siege that changed the course of the war. Based on a true story, the novel deftly captures an extraordinary time and place in history…[in a] vivid, authentic representation of men of unusual skill and focus in the midst of a barbarous war." —Richmond-Times Dispatch German soldiers call the battle Rattenkrieg, War of the Rats. The combat is horrific, as soldiers die in the smoking cellars and trenches of a ruined city. Through this twisted carnage stalk two men—one Russian, one German—each the top sniper in his respective army. These two marksmen are equally matched in both skill and tenacity. Each man has his own mission: to find his counterpart—and kill him.