Book cover of Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the War

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A SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

'With his customary literary flair and capacity to master and mobilize very many and varied sources, Jonathan Dimbleby gives us the best single-volume account of the Barbarossa campaign to date' Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny

'Like a fast-moving juggernaut of horror,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Barbarossa as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Somewhat cavalierly, I chose to read this exhaustive account of war on the Eastern Front while on a transatlantic cruise.

The author, Jonathan Dimbleby, achieves what I find to be the most satisfying approach to complex historical events like Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. He synthesizes a vast amount of archival and secondary detail and generates a fast-moving narrative that’s neither too broad nor too granular.

The first half of Barbarossa, focused on the two countries’ tortured diplomatic history between the wars, is especially engrossing. Full disclosure: By the book’s end, I knew with certainty this…

If you love Barbarossa...

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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