Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor

[L. Kafka]

I thought I might be ODed on WWII when a well read friend on history recently sent me Beevor's Stalingrad. I'm about 120 pages into it. I first read the end of the book as I was curious about Paulus in postwar; read some years ago that the Soviets let him settle in East Germany.

One thing I do appreciate about said book is the larger print. How often have you got into some book only to have the smallish print wear on your "brain housing group" during a late night read? And on top of that, the footnotes are even smaller.

Anyone out there read this Beevor book? Impressions?

Parting thought department: I wonder if Beevor is related to Lord Beaverbrook. Also, if Anthony Beevor has any daughters, I feel their pain.

[Richard Hedlund]

I've read the book, and I think that it is very good, very informative. It gives a braod view of what happened in Stalingrad, around Stalingrad, in Berlin and Moscow. He seemes very well informed about what happened, and I think that most of what he says is true.

/Richard

[k-pp]

Um, in the UK there's nothing embarrassing about the name Beevor.

It's Fanny you have to worry about, and anything with cock in it.

[D.W.]

The better question would be "who hasn't read this book?', as I think most of us are familiar with Beevor and this book.

[L. Kafka]

Attention k-pp:

Anything that has a phonetic that approximates "beaver" tends to make Yanks go "Whaaa?..."

I'm curious about the origins of Aussies referrring to Brits as "poms"? I tried to look it up, but nothing.

I was in Hong Kong in 1996 when I columnist in the South China Morning Post referred to American and British marines as "sods". At first I didn't get it. Later I discovered that it meant "sodomites". Ouch

Though a student of history I often find myself free associating about names, places, and possible humor to be found in same. From your experience, say, have you ever heard someone quip that the reason Rudolph Hess flew to Britain was because he had the "hots" for Lord Beaverbrook? A friend of mine dropped that quip once and I got a laugh out of it.

Only students of history would be so infantile, I suppose.

[Ciaran Byrne]

I'm curious about the origins of Aussies referrring to Brits as "poms"? I tried to look it up, but nothing.

ock:

It is spelt POHMS and supposedly stands for "Prisoners of Her Majestey". The thing is, it is a bit rich coming from a nation who's ancestors were a largely convicts.
A current English joke now is there are a lot of Brits moving over to Australia but the Aussies are quite strict on who they let in, especially if you have a criminal record. The joke goes:

English Bloke: "I'm thinking about moving to Australia"

Aussie Immigration Official "Have you got any criminal convictions?"

English Bloke: "Blimey, I didn't think you still needed any. I thought they stopped that ages ago"

[L. Kafka]

Since you invoke a Churchill quote, do you know what his drinking schedule was? I think I read years ago he would start the day with a champagne breakfast, have some Scotch in the afternoon, and finish the day with brandy.

I rather admire a man would could do so much for so many while knocking such a variety.

I'm a brandy man, myself. Usually French stuff like St. Remy or Raynal.

[Soldat7128]

Um, in the UK there's nothing embarrassing about the name Beevor.

It's Fanny you have to worry about, and anything with cock in it.

Is that why the Scottish(?) name Cockburn is always pronounced koe-burn?