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Sacrifice on the Steppe: The Italian Alpine Corps in the Stalingrad Campaign, 1942–1943 Kindle Edition

by Hope Hamilton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 319 ratings
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The tragic story of the Italians sent to the USSR by Mussolini—and the only division of elite mountain soldiers who didn’t completely perish.
 
When Germany’s Sixth Army advanced to Stalingrad in 1942, its long-extended flanks were mainly held by its allied armies—the Romanians, Hungarians, and Italians. But as history tells us, these flanks quickly caved in before the massive Soviet counter-offensive that commenced that November, dooming the Germans to their first catastrophe of the war. However, the historical record also makes clear that one allied unit held out to the very end, fighting to stem the tide—the Italian Alpine Corps.
 
As a result of Mussolini’s disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany, by the fall of 1942, 227,000 soldiers of the Italian Eighth Army were deployed on a 270 kilometer front along the Don River to protect the left flank of German troops intent on capturing Stalingrad. Sixty thousand of these were alpini, elite Italian mountain troops. When the Don front collapsed under Soviet hammer blows, it was the Alpine Corps that continued to hold out until it was completely isolated, then tried to fight its way out through both Russian encirclement and “General Winter,” to rejoin the rest of the Axis front. Only one of the three alpine divisions was able to emerge from the Russian encirclement with survivors. In the all-sides battle across the snowy steppe, thousands were killed and wounded and more were captured. By Summer 1946, ten thousand survivors returned to Italy from Russian POW camps.
 
Based on extensive research and interviews with survivors, this is the first full English-language account of this complex, unsettling human story. Mussolini sent thousands of poorly equipped soldiers to a country far from their homeland, on a mission to wage war with an unclear mandate against a people who were not their enemies. Raw courage and endurance blend with human suffering, desperation, and altruism in this saga of the withdrawal from the Don lines, including the demise of thousands and survival of the few.
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  1. Print length
    389 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Casemate
  5. Publication date
    June 8, 2011
  6. File size
    9376 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“With the Italian Army often the butt of cruel jokes, this book sets at least one of the records straight. Hope Hamilton’s account of the Italian Eighth Army on the Steppes of central Asia is compelling and informative. “
Books Monthly

“..the rarely told story of 227000 Italian troops fighting and dying in Russia in WII…details the Italian defense of their sector with tactical placements and actions in harrowing details of logistical failures, indefensible positions and bitter cold endurance…”
LtCol Thomas L. Roberts USMCR (Ret)

"makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the Italian involvement in the war against the USSR. Hope Hamilton's highlighting of the combatants' own experiences and memories, previously common only in Italian histories, is most welcome in this work meant for Anglophone readers"
Michigan War Studies Review

“…a useful addition to the literature on the Eastern Front, giving an interesting picture of an army normally only mentioned in foot notes”
History of War

"... powerful and affecting human story. It is well presented and can be very highly recommended."
War in History

“…draws on personal interviews, exhaustive research and the written accounts of Italians who participated in and survived Mussolini's tragic decision of Italian involvement.…includes good notes, is well indexed, and has a great bibliography …If you're looking for a good overview and an understanding of what the Italian soldiers experienced then you'll enjoy the book. I give it four stars. It is a must addition to any military historian’s library. It is a good first volume to fill a long void of an English language account of the Italian involvement on the eastern front.”
Kepler’s Military History

”… a well told story, complex and unsettling and Casemate have picked a rich subject which has been concealed and misrepresented, even in Italy.”
Military Modelcraft International

“…tragic account of the fate of the Alpini, Italy’s elite mountain troops… Historian Hamilton tells their story through interviews with survivors, extensive historical records and archival photos.”
Italian America Summer 2011

“…a ground-breaking study of Italy’s participation in the Second World War on the Russian Front… an excellent addition to any library on Italian participation in World War II...”
The NYMAS Review

"...you will see how Hitler's war machine and Mussolini's deference to it led Italian soldiers into a war that was not theirs against a country they did not want to fight...Sacrifice on the Steppe and its many remarkable anecdotes will not simply bring you in touch with your most empathetic side, it will make you thankful for every opportunity you have in life after traveling alongside a group of soldiers who had none.
Italian America

“Raw courage and endurance blend with human suffering, desperation and altruism in the epic saga of this withdrawal from the Don lines, including the demise of thousands and survival of the few.”
Recollections of WW2

About the Author

Hope is a graduate of the University of California at Berkley, with advanced degress from the University of Michigan, and currently lives in Modesto, California.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0051I1IPW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Casemate (June 8, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 8, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 9376 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 389 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 319 ratings

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Hope Hamilton

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
319 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Christian Potholm
5.0 out of 5 stars Hope Hamilton, Sacrifice on the Steppe: The Italian ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2018
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Hope Hamilton, Sacrifice on the Steppe: The Italian Alpine Corps in the Stalingrad Campaign, 1942-1943 (Havertown: Casemate, 2011). The disaster of the Italian Army in Russia (ARMIR) is laid bare and made human, poignant and insightful all at once. Poorly armed, poorly trained, but bonded by their common experiences as Alpini, these brave men went off to fight a war they never wanted, with an ally who never valued them, and most of them perished in a battle that overwhelmed them and the rest of the ARMIR. In December, 1941, Mussolini’s only worry had been that they might not arrive soon enough to be in at the finish of Germany’s invasion of Russia. Amazingly, many Italians who survived did so only because of the kindness of the Russian peasants with whom then interacted and married: See the Italian film Girasoli (Sunflower). See also the marvelous novel, The Sergeant in the Snow by Italian writer, Mario Rigoni Stern, reviewed below). Some 227,000 troops went in, 85,000 never returned. The descriptions of their mid-winter disorganized retreat (100,000 men abandoned everything, including their mess kits and rifles) from the Don are truly mind-boggling and well-illustrated. Indeed, the pictures of 25 miles of retreating AMIR troops with their mules has to be seen to be believed. “By December 25, 1942, infantry divisions of the ARMIR ceased to exist” and only the two Alpini divisions continued to maintain some unit cohesion. To add insult to injury, the post-Mussolini government did little to receive them and the Italian Communist Party insisted that the Russians keep their officers until after the 1946 elections.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars War at its brutal roots
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2019
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As a retired Army officer who has seen war though not at a gruesome level, I found the book well researched, written in a readable style, compassionate yet thorough and uncompromisingly brutal in recounted detail. The story itself deals at the national level with the inept and incompetent deployment of ill-prepared and poorly equipped troops to Russia in WW II. Their history retold was credible though very disturbing. It is no wonder so many became either prisoners of the Russians and that tens of thousands to this day remain unaccounted for. The stories of heroism and survivability despite overwhelming operational and weather conditions are inspirational. The writing leaves little to the imagination. The subject matter is gory, and is so described. The subject matter throughout is heavy reading. The electronic version of the book has far too many typos, most often an extra space within a given word, is my only criticism.
3 people found this helpful
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Gilberto Villahermosa
5.0 out of 5 stars A Horrible Journey - Well Told!
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2017
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Some 227,000 Italian soldiers fought on the Eastern Front. Of these, 80,000 were captured. Only 10,000 returned home after the war. This excellent history of the Italian Alpine Corps in the Stalingrad Campaign provides unparalleled insight into the Italian armed forces fighting the Red Army - from the strategic level, down to the individual perspective. Sent to fight the Russians without modern rifles, machineguns, tanks, radios, or airplanes and with insufficient trucks, the men of the elite Alpine Corps nonetheless managed to hold their own against the Red Army until ordered by the Germans to abandon their positions and retreat in the face of the Soviet Army's winter Stalingrad counteroffensive. At that point, command and control and unit cohesion disintegrated. Most of those captured faced five years in Soviet prison camps. Of the 80,000 captured, 60,000 died within the first two years. It was only in the last year of the war that the Soviets decided to treat their prisoners with greater leniency. Still, another 10,000 died in the camps. The Italians were fortunate to be released soon after World War II ended. The Soviets were hoping to use their release as pro-Communist propaganda to tilt Italian elections toward the Communist Party. This is a wonderful history - of a terrible journey.
11 people found this helpful
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AJH
4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2015
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This was a very interesting read following a well worn path of the sufferings of the axis soldiers following the defeat at stalingrad and capture by the russians. However as the book concentrates on the italian experiences and perspective it is unusual and timely given the sacrifices involved. It discussed the unique issues that made the italians so unprepared for the defensive battles and the circumstances surrounding their deployment in the first place. My major criticisms are largely around aspects of the e book edition particularly with the lack of easily readable and accessable maps to help anchor the narrative which is a common problem with e books of this type. I also feel that a stronger editor would have been helpful in reducing some repetition within the text. However these issues did not detract significantly from my reading experience and i thought it was a very worthwhile book .
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Mayor Tommy Shanks
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book yet on the Italian Eastern Front experience
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
Historical books on the Italian contribution to the war in Russia or any front are relatively scarce. This is the best and most interesting one I’ve come across so far. Detailed study of the units involved in the Post Stalingrad debacle combined with actual first person accounts of participants and survivors. The first part of the book recounts the battles and retreats and the second part details the struggle to survive by those who had to surrender and endure the horrific privations of POWs held by the Russians. A must have for anyone interested in the complete history of WW2 on the Eastern Front. Highly recommended!
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Mark Vickerman
5.0 out of 5 stars sacrifices in vain
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2019
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The conventional view is that it was the failures of the Italians (and Romanians) to hold the flank that allowed the Soviet forces to encircle the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. A very partial truth as this book shows. Against tremendous odds and woefully equipped the Italian forces were brave and decent, compassionate towards the Russians and loyal to their officers and men. This book is a much needed corrective, well written and engaging.
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Top reviews from other countries

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will quantrill
5.0 out of 5 stars Molto interessante
Reviewed in Italy on October 24, 2020
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Vi è un errore di traduzione sulla copertina quando ci si riferisce alla temperatura di meno 20/30 gradi celsius il traduttore (Peter Edward Levy) scambia in gradi celsius coi gradi fahrenheit.
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Desmond J. Keenan
5.0 out of 5 stars The extraordinary story of Italian soldiers in Russia in World War II
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2019
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British and American readers generally have some awareness of the actions of the Italian army in North Africa and Italy. But few are aware that Mussolini sent 200,000 Italian soldiers to fight along with the Germans in Russia..Mussolini was expecting a swift German victory and wanted many troops on the ground when the Russians surrendered and claims for new territory could be made in the share-out of the spoils of war. He was not particularly concerned about the quality of the troops or their equipment, only their numbers. Hitler allowed him to send troops, though the German Army did not want them. But they were useful in holding parts of the front line unlikely to be attacked. He later compelled the Hungarians and Rumanians to send forces to hold the line, which was a great mistake for it was through these that the Red Army broke through.

The Italian army at the time was composed of units of vastly different quality. The armoured divisions, and the mountain or alpine troops got the best equipment and training. The infantry got the least. This book is about the elite alpine troops, but the rest of the Italian forces got caught up in the general disaster that followed the encirclement of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad.

The alpine, or mountain troops, were from various mountainous regions of Italy, and not only the alpine regions. The rank and file were mostly peasants, though the officers were more highly educated. They were trained and equipped to fight in mountainous regions like the Caucuses, but were sent instead to flat country along the River Don where their specialist equipment and training was useless. When the Red Army broke through, Hitler ordered the Alpini to hold their line along the River Don. This allowed them to be encircled.

The large part of the book described how many units of the Alpini fought their way out of the pocket. The bulk of the Red Army was pursing the Germans, so the Italians were surrounded by mobile troops and partisans. The Germans were more concerned at saving their own, and gave little help to the Italians, still in their summer uniforms trying to fight their way westwards in the bitter Russian winter.

One aspect of the book is the remarkable way the ordinary Russian peasants helped the fleeing Italians. The Russian and Italian people had no quarrel with each other. Another is the way the elite alpini stuck together and helped each other, and the way their officers stood by them. The infantry divisions just disintegrated. (At least according to the author, an Alpino himself).

The other aspect of the book is the appalling way the Russians treated the Italian prisoners of war. They were often placed in railway box cars, for months at a time as they were shunted around Russia. At each stop the corpses of those who died were just thrown out. In one car they kept their frozen corpses, propped up. for the Russians issued food, a thin soup, according to the numbers present.

Very few of the 200,000 troops that Mussolini sent to Russia ever came back.

Altogether a remarkable book
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L. Aßmann
5.0 out of 5 stars Dieses Buch war lange fällig
Reviewed in Germany on January 17, 2019
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Für jemanden der an den Sonntagnachmittagen in den 80ern mit lyrischen Beschreibungen & Anektoden darüber, daß ja eingentlich die Italiener schuld am Desaster in Stalingrad waren, ist dieses Buch eine Erlösung.
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Tim Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars My friend's father was an Alpino in Russia and now I know of the horrors he endured
Reviewed in Australia on May 1, 2020
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I read this marvellous book by Hamilton and found it more awful than I possibly thought human beings could withstand.

The first part of the invasions of Poland and then of Russia were dealt with quickly and could be summarised as a typical war narrative; however, the following chapters recounting the Alpini retreat from their recrossing of the river Don and their eventual retreat back to Germany was horrendous. The author describes in terrible detail the days that these poor under-equipped soldiers must tolerate as they dragged themselves through snow up to their knees in minus 40 degree weather in the depth of winter.

Some finally reached railheads and were able to return to the West; however, to do so, they must tolerate being in railcars that demanded they stand for days with little water and fewer food provisions.
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Vieux Fidéle
3.0 out of 5 stars Sacrifice n'est pas un vain mot
Reviewed in France on November 4, 2011
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Sujet jamais traité, plus de l'histoire tradi que de l'histoire militaire. Mais bonne description de l'incapacité militaire de l'Italie de Mussolini malgré le potentiel du grand courage individuel de beaucoup d'italiens.
Quel gachis humain pour l'Europe que cette 2eme guerre mondiale voulue par la finance mondiale comme si la première n'avait pas suffit.
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