Beevor takes both historical and personal approaches in his account of the Battle of Stalingrad. Throughout his historical analysis, he continually adds stories from soldiers, from both the Russian and the German sides, to augment the utter brutality of the battle.Beevor begins the book with an analytical analysis of both the Nazi and Soviet military power, the politics existing between the two nations, and the reasoning behind Hitler's decision to execute Operation: Barbarossa. He then launches into a detailed account of the actual battle and the German surrender in early 1943.A couple of small points weigh down the book, however:1.) Beevor needed to include greater analysis of the personalities of both General Paulus and Yeremenko.2.) Needs an expanded conclusion.Still, one of the better Stalingrad accounts.