Stalin's Other War: Soviet Grand Strategy,1939-1941

On June 22, 1941, just less than two years after signing the Nazi-Soviet Agreements, Adolf Hitler's German army invaded the Soviet Union. The attack hardly came as a surprise to Josef Stalin; in fact, history has long held that Stalin spent the two intervening years building up his defenses against a Nazi attack. With the gradual declassifying of former Soviet documents, though, historians are learning more and more about Stalin's grand plan during the years 1939-1941. Longtime Soviet expert Albert L. Weeks has studied the newly-released information and come to a different conclusion about the Soviet Union's pre-war buildup—it was not precaution against German invasion at all. In fact, Weeks argues, the evidence now suggests Soviet mobilization was aimed at an eventual invasion of Nazi Germany. The Soviets were quietly biding their time between 1939 and 1941, allowing the capitalist powers to destroy one another, all the while preparing for their own Westward march. Stalin, Weeks shows, wasn't waiting for a Nazi attack—Hitler simply beat him to the punch.

Longtime Soviet expert Albert L. Weeks has studied the newly-released information and come to a new conclusion about the Soviet Union's pre-war buildup_it was not precaution against German invasion at all. In fact, Weeks argues, the evidence now suggests Soviet mobilization was aimed at an eventual invasion of Nazi Germany.

Booknews

Those interested in the inner workings of Soviet military planning during WWII will be the audience for this new book by Weeks (a journalist). Using archives made available since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Weeks examines documents that indicate, in his view, that Stalin was planning to invade Germany in the years before Hitler invaded Russia. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Albert L. Weeks has been an expert on Soviet Russia for more than fifty years. Weeks has served as a journalist, policy analyst, and professor, and is credited with coining the name "Sputnik" while working for Newsweek in 1957. Stalin's Other War is his eighth book.