The author makes excellent use of Russian-language sources ... Though more sympathetic to the Soviet viewpoint than most, Mr. Hellbeck does not conceal the brutality of the regime and its agents ... There are also some serious problems with this book ... Mr. Hellbeck also exaggerates the Soviet Union’s substantial role in Hitler’s defeat ... The author largely misses the Anglo-American roots of Hitler’s determination to attack the Soviet Union.… The result is a very lopsided view of why World War II was fought, how it was fought and who won.
Arresting and deeply researched ... Hellbeck makes much of the virtues of Marxist internationalism—perhaps a little too much ... Hellbeck’s thesis is interesting but overstated ... Hellbeck’s account underscores how Hitler’s conflation of Jews and Bolsheviks linked antisemitism to his wider vision of global domination.
An essential contribution to the modern literature of what Russians still call the Great Patriotic War ... One highlight of Hellbeck’s narrative is his extended portrait of Soviet journalist Ilya Ehrenburg.
