STALIN'S GENERAL

This is the first major biography in a generation of the Soviet general whom many believe "won World War II" perfect for readers of Antony Beevor and Max Hastings.

Marshal Georgi Zhukov is one of the legendary names in military history. In World War II, he played a decisive role in the battles (Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk) that eventually brought down the Nazi regime--and he was the first of the Allied generals to enter Berlin. After the war, Zhukov had an equally eventful career as Kruschchev's defense minister. He was sacked and banished twice, and wrongfully accused of treason. Zhukov's legend has steadily grown in the years since his death. He is now seen as perhaps the indispensible military leader of WWII, surpassing Eisenhower, Patton, Monty, and MacArthur in his military brilliance and ferocity.

Drawing on rich new sources from the recently-opened Soviet archives, Geoffrey Roberts has fashioned the definitive, first full-scale biography of this seminal 20th century figure. Previous accounts have focused on the military career and given short shrift to Zhukov's post-war career.

Roberts shows that after the war, Zhukov's life was just as dramatic and significant. He was the Defense Minister for a number of years and played a crucial role in the start of the Cold War. In the post-Stalin era, full of intrigues and backstabbing and coups, Zhukov was a central player. Though his name is less well-known than other famous generals, there is increasing consensus amongst military and historical buffs that Zhukov was the greatest general of WWII and one of the great generals of history. This book will show why.

Geoffrey Roberts is professor of history at the University College Cork, Ireland. He is a frequent contributor to British, Irish and American newspapers and to popular history journals and he has acted as a consultant for a number of TV and radio documentaries. His books include STALIN'S WARS and VICTORY AT STALINGRAD. This will be his first book for a trade audience.