Vel skrifuð og rannsökuð frásögn af uppreisn Pólverja í Varsjá undir lok síðari heimsstyrjaldarinnar. Richie gerir vel í að greina frá mistökum þeirra við að hefja uppreisnina líkt og þeir gerðu og hvernig þeir urðu leiksoppar stórveldanna þegar Stalín ákvað að tryggja endalok þeirra og Vesturveldin tóku ákvörðun hans þegjandi. Lýsingarnar af framferði þýska herliðsins eru vægast sagt hrollvekjandi en fróðlegt er að sjá hvernig stigbreyting varð á ofbeldinu. Fyrst var útrýming það eina sem Hitler og Himmler tóku í mál og allir voru myrtir á staðnum en þegar uppreisnin drógst á langinn þá tókst pólsku uppreisnarmönnunum að knýja fram betri meðferð því Þjóðverjum lá á að sigrast á þeim.
Mikilvæg lesning öllum sem vilja fræðast um einn af hryllilegustu lokaþáttum stríðsins. ( )

The numbers beggar belief. Of a prewar population of 1.3 million, 150,000 civilians and 18,000 underground soldier killed, and this is excluding 400,000 Jews who were sent to their deaths from 1939-43.

The remainder were forced from their homes into concentration camps and forced labour camps as Warsaw was demolished brick by brick on Hitler's orders, leaving a few thousand hiding amongst the ruins awaiting the Soviets.

Alexandra Ritchie weaves together the gripping and horrific story of one of the greatest tragedies of World War 2 and the opening shots of the Cold War that resulted in the almost complete destruction of one of Europe's great cities.

The Warsaw Uprising was also the site of largest single battlefield massacre of World War 2 and the details of this massacre and the treatment of the civilian population are most harrowing.

However, please do persevere with this book as it is an excellent record of the Uprising coming up to its 70th anniversary as well as the duplicity of Stalin and the politics of necessity.
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Warsaw 1944 – The Fateful Uprising
Alexandra Ritchie
London, William Collins, 2013
738 pp ISBN 978 0 00 718041 7 (hbk)

The Warsaw Uprising is an event in history that still evokes controversy today. The title of this book is blunt and straightforward and gives an indication on the content, which on occasions is equally straightforward and harrowing. In my opinion, this is due to the quality and depth of the research and the manner in which the author has written the book.

The author has consulted sources in Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom, so has accessed a wide range of material. She holds a doctorate so has a proven academic pedigree that again is apparent within the content of the book. The author takes the reader through the background to the eventual tragedy that was the Warsaw Uprising, making the link between the manner in which German forces (and those operating under their control) treated the peoples of Belorussia and the manner in which the uprising was put down.

The author covers all the key events of the Uprising and provides a perspective not covered in many other texts that the Nazi leadership hoped that international tensions over the Warsaw Uprising would fracture the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. The book moves between the events on the ground, including the massacres and destruction of the city, to the geopolitical issues that the Uprising brought to the fore between the Allies and within the Polish nation itself.

There are several photographs, some of which are graphic, and seven maps. Personally, I found some of the maps disappointing as I like to place locations into context, for example, I would like to have seen a better map of Warsaw as it was in 1939 and August 1944 to gain a sense of the size and nature of the city, and maps to show how the Home Army (AK) was fragmented across the city as the fighting developed.

However, in conclusion, this is a very valuable work on this subject. In places, I found it harrowing, and it took me some time to read it as a result, but it does come across as a balanced and accurate account of the true horrors of war. I found the strategic and tactical issues well covered, and it provided me with an additional perspective on this important and tragic historical event. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of Poland or the history of the Second World War in general. ( )