Bestselling author Victor Suvorov probes newly released Soviet documents and reevaluates existing material to analyze Stalin's strategic design to conquer Europe and the reasons behind his controversial support for Nazi Germany. A former Soviet army intelligence officer; the author explains that Stalin's strategy leading up to World War II grew from Vladimir Lenin's belief that if World War I did not ignite the worldwide Communist revolution; then a second world war would be needed to achieve it. Stalin saw Nazi Germany as the power that would fight and weaken capitalist countries so that Soviet armies could then sweep across Europe. Suvorov reveals how Stalin conspired with German leaders to bypass the Versailles Treaty; which forbade German rearmament; and secretly trained German engineers and officers and provided bases and factories for war. He also calls attention to the 1939 nonaggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany that allowed Hitler to proceed with his plans to invade Poland; fomenting war in Europe.Suvorov debunks the theory that Stalin was duped by Hitler and that the Soviet Union was a victim of Nazi aggression. Instead; he makes the case that Stalin neither feared Hitler nor mistakenly trusted him. Suvorov maintains that after Germany occupied Poland; defeated France; and started to prepare for an invasion of Great Britain; Hitler's intelligence services detected the Soviet Union's preparations for a major war against Germany. This detection; he argues; led to Germany's preemptive war plan and the launch of an invasion of the USSR. Stalin emerges from the pages of this book as a diabolical genius consumed by visions of a worldwide Communist revolution at any cost―a leader who wooed Hitler and Germany in his own effort to conquer the world. In contradicting traditional theories about Soviet planning; the book is certain to provoke debate among historians throughout the world.
#1080747 in Books R A Burt 2012-03-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 11.50 x 1.40 x 9.80l; 4.70 #File Name: 1591140528448 pagesBritish Battleships 1919 1945
Review
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful. A Must for anyone interested in Battleships and BattlecruisersBy Admiral2525The 1993 first edition of this book by R. A. Burt has long eluded me; the result of the hundreds of dollars that a second hand copy demands. As a long time battleship (BB) and battlecruiser (BC) enthusiast; I always felt that my collection was incomplete without this particular book. When this new revised edition was available for pre-order; I had no hesitation ordering months before its publication. At the price it is a no brainer. In fact; I ordered copies from both the site and the UK site to make sure that I would get it at the earliest possible time (and I have no intention to return any of the copies). Now that the book has arrived; I am very pleased with my decision; as this book is an authoritative reference on British BBs and BCs for the period after World War One.In my opinion; this is one of the two masterpieces on this subject; the other being Alan Raven and John Roberts' (RR) British Battleships of World War Two: The Development and Technical History of the Royal Navy's Battleships and Battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946. Other works pale in comparison. The two books have many things in common; in particular their focus on the design of the ships and their changes over time. Thus; it does not surprise that the contents of the two books overlap quite a bit; and both contain a lot of excellent information; photos and line drawings. Nevertheless; I still believe any BB/BC enthusiast like me could not be wrong getting both Burt's book and RR's book.Both books cover Renown; Repulse and Hood in addition to the Queen Elizabeths; Royal Sovereigns; Rodney; Nelson; and King George Vs. Highlight of the key differences between Burt's and RR's:(1) The BB/BC classes pre-dating the Queen Elizabeth class BB are covered by Burt but not by RR; i.e. the 13.5" gunned BB/BCs such as the Iron Dukes and Tiger. RR starts with the QE class BBs.(2) The light battlecruisers (Glorious; Courageous; and Furious) and their new lives as aircraft carriers are covered by Burt but not by RR.(3) RR has a lot of details on the designs that were never built/completed; e.g. G3; N3; and the Lion Class BB. Only the G3 is briefly mentioned in Burt's book.(4) Vanguard is covered by RR but not by Burt; who ended his book with the King George V class BBs.(5) Burt covered the ships class by class. RR first by the time period and then class by class. Both ways have their goods and bads.(6) Burt gave a rather short conclusion and spent paragraphs defending the British designs; with virtually no comparison with foreign counterparts. RR provided a much more in-depth comparison of post-treaty British BB with foreign counterparts together with his conclusions; though some new information became available after the book had been written.(7) While there are many excellent drawings in Burt's book; they span at most just the two adjacent pages with a gap in between. On the other hand; RR has many even larger profile and deck plan drawings in fold-outs; of a similar high quality.It also puzzles me a bit why sometimes there are minor discrepancies between the two books; even though this revised edition by Burt is more than 30 years later than that by RR. Neverthless; most of the times they agree with each other. They both have details/opinions that are not found in the other and complement each other quite well.All in all; this book contains lots of information. Get this book and you would not regret; as long as you are interested in BB/BC of this period. If you do not already have RR's book; this book is an absolute must. It worths every dollar spent.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Affordable alternative to "British Battleships of World War Two"By Daryl CarpenterWith Norman Friedman's work on British battleships of the post-"Dreadnought" era due for publication in a October; I thought it would be a good time to compare two of the classic reference works on British capitol ships of the period between World War I and the end of World War II. On one side; we have Alan Raven's and John Roberts' expensive and sought-after classic "British Battleships of World War Two" of 1976. On the other side; we have R.A. Burt's "British Battleships 1919-1945;" which received an update and revision in 2012. It would be easy to dismiss Burt's book as a poor man's version of Raven's and Roberts' (who; interestingly enough; will be contributing plans to the new Friedman book) book. However; that would be unfair and untrue. In some respects; Raven and Roberts' (referred to as "RR" from now on) book still reigns supreme among British BB references. In a few key areas; however; Burt's is actually superior.The quality of the photographs in Burt's book is definitely superior to RR. As you'd expect from a recent Seaforth/Naval Institute title; most of the photographs are extremely crisp and detailed; presumably the result of them being scanned directly from the original negatives. RR suffers from being published in the mid-70s on poorer quality paper; and many of the photographs are rather muddy or feature excessively high contrast. Although Burt's line drawings aren't quite as sharp looking as John Roberts'; many of them actually more detailed; especially in the cross-sections of the King George V- and Nelson-class battleships; the transverse sections; and the depictions of battle damage.Burt's book is also superior to RR's when it comes to the histories of individual ships. Each ship here receives a fairly detailed timeline of its career post-1919; as well as detailed reports of each instance these ships received damage; accompanied by lengthy official reports and detailed diagrams. RR features a well-written distillation of British capitol ship operations during World War II; but not as much history as Burt. There are some intimate photographs of life onboard; and of calm moments between the World Wars; giving this book a more humanistic feel. There's even a few ships covered here but not in RR; including the ex-battlecruisers Furious; Glorious; and Courageous"; which receive two chapters; and the old battleship Iron Duke; in commission until the end of the war.In some respects; however; RR is vastly superior. The devil is in the details; and Burt never approaches the same level achieved by RR. RR included numerous chapters on the lessons learned in both world wars; comparisons with foreign battleships; British capitol ship design between the wars; including chapters on the Lion-class and the genesis of the King George V-class; and the impact of the Washington and London naval treaties. Burt largely focuses on the finished ships and their histories; pushing the more detailed nitty-gritty stuff aside. I prefer the layout of RR to Burt; RR is helped immensely by having a detailed table of contents and a fairly comprehensive index; something which Burt lacks.I think it's safe to describe "British Battleships of World War Two" as a rather dense technical study; while "British Battleships 1919-1945" is a beautifully illustrated tribute to these ships. Burt's only really galling omission is the HMS Vanguard; the last battleship ever launched. After spending $160 on R.A. Burt's revised and updated "British Battleship" trilogy; I now own a beautifully illustrated; detailed study of every British armored fighting ship since the HMS Devastation of 1869 - except one. RR featured an entire chapter on Vanguard; complete with a fold-out plan. Speaking of plans; many of those in RR are presented as foldouts; and all of the plans in this book have large gaps in the middle so detail doesn't get lost in the gutter. Catch-22; I suppose.In the end; you might want to vote with your wallet on this one. I've seen copies of RR going for reasonable prices on Ebay; but anyone not willing to wait months for that perfect bargain to pop up might want to buy Burt's instead. Both books have their positives and negatives. RR is a masterpiece starting to show it's age; and Burt's is beautifully illustrated and informative; but nowhere near as ambitious. Both belong in the collection of any serious warship enthusiast.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Not definitive but an outstanding reference neverthelessBy Jim DavisR A Burt wrote three books on British battleships all of which were originally released by Arms and Armour Press in the UK and by the Naval Institute Press in the US. The first was British Battleships of World War One in 1986; the second was British Battleships 1889-1904 in 1988; and last was British Battleships 1919-1939 in 1993. The present book is a revised edition of the latter book. It covers the battleships and battlecruisers which survived the wholesale scrapings which followed the signing of the 1922 Washington Treaty. The new title is something of a misnomer as it implies that the Lion class of 1939 (never built) and the later Vanguard are covered and they are not; indeed they are hardly mentioned. The new format is very welcome; the old Arms and Armour 10" x 10" square format did not really do justice to the photos or drawings.The pattern of the book is fairly simple. After some introductory chapters Burt follows each class of ship and each ship in the class until its final disposal whether in action or in the breakers yard. There is a fairly brief background; design; and development history followed by a fairly detailed technical description. Then the appearance changes of the ships are enumerated. Brief histories of each ship are given except when the ship was damaged or sunk in action. In these cases the histories become quite detailed. All is supported by tables; black and white photographs; and especially Burt's quite detailed line drawings which are numerous and quite detailed. Especially interesting are the one's detailing the battle damage reports that can be quite difficult to follow otherwise. Camouflage is also covered in depth supported by colored endpaper drawings.Interestingly; the aircraft carrier conversions of Furious; Glorious; and Courageous are also covered in precisely the same detail even after their conversions all the way through to their final fates. There is even a short chapter describing the development of the aircraft carrier in the Royal Navy.This book basically describes the "what" of these ships although it doesn't completely ignore the "why". Raven and Roberts' "British Battleships of World War Two" is superior in the "why" respect although Burt is preferable otherwise. Neither however can be considered the definitive history of the British battleship. Both books are aimed more to the "rivet counters" than the historically minded. Hopefully; Norman Friedman's attention will turn to battleships once the second book of his history of British cruisers is published.The book could have also used a glossary and a more comprehensive index. Numerous three letter abbreviations are used with abandoned and the reader is assumed to be intimately familiar with them all. This is not a book for the complete naval tyro.Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in this subject despite the high retail price. If you missed it the first time around don't miss out this time. Burt's books command high prices on the secondhand market. A revised edition of his "British Battleships of World War One" is in the works as well.
