recommendations on a primary text for Soviet Union during WWII

[Michael Denner]

Dear Colleagues,

 

This might be better directed to H-NET-R, but I thought I'd try here
first, since responses there can get a little overwhelming. 

 

For a class I'm teaching on comparative totalitarianisms (German and
Soviet), I'm trying to locate a primary text that is 1) an "insider"
view on the conduct of the war; 2) available in English; 3) not more
than fifty or so pages (I can excerpt). 

 

My colleague (a Germanist), has chosen excerpts from Albert Speer's
"Inside the Third Reich." If you know the text, what's interesting about
it is that it displays a German government that is deeply divided and
even disorganized, instead of a unified, disciplined and "vertical"
Reich. (Let's leave aside debates on its accuracy.) 

 

Anyone know of such a text for the Soviet Union during WWII? One that
discusses the "politics" of how the war was conducted, a first-hand
account? We're reading a number of secondary sources (Pipes, Stites,
Hobsbawm) to help the students contextualize the period. But I like to
provide a primary text that students can use as a reference point. 

 

Thanks,

mad

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
   Dr. Michael A. Denner
   Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
   Director, University Honors Program

   
   Contact Information:
      Russian Studies Program
      Stetson University
      Campus Box 8361
      DeLand, FL 32720-3756
      386.822.7381 (department)
      386.822.7265 (direct line)
      386.822.7380 (fax)

      www.stetson.edu/~mdenner

 


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