An excerpt from The Story of the Second World War by historian Henry Steele Commager about the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
This two-part segment is part of a larger book written by historian Henry Steele Commager, a prolific writer of forty books and 700 published essays during his seventy-year career. This excerpt focuses first on the effective, brutal destruction of all resources that could not be defended by the Soviets, and then profiles the incredible resilience of the people of Leningrad who withstood a 900-day siege by Nazi occupying forces. Commager’s book is unique as a work of history because it was written by a witness to the war immediately after its conclusion.