The subtitle of this provocative and useful work by a noted historian (The Tsar's Last Armada
) accurately describes its subject. The author supports the revisionist thesis that Stalin was not deceived about Hitler's ultimate intentions, only their timing, and was planning a preemptive attack into Poland and the Balkans—in 1942. Soviet deployments certainly make this plausible, as do other factors, such as the failure to build up defenses on the new Soviet border after
stripping the old ones of most of their weapons and troops. The Germans, as is well known, struck first, and the result was a Russian military disaster of such proportions as to influence history to this day. The book is well-balanced, moving from the Kremlin, where Stalin was in denial and Zhukov was at least keeping his head, to soldiers of every rank from general to unarmed private. With his talent for assembling gripping narratives out of long-suppressed sources, Pleshakov will bring joy to fans of John Erickson. (May 5)
