Just an incredible account of one of the most brutal battles of all time. Beevor does a great job of going over both the military and human aspects of this monumental event in prose that is gripping and easy to follow. A rudimentary knowledge of basic military terminology helps with this book, but the layman can still manage to follow well enough. His descriptions of the horrors that soldiers on both sides suffered through were striking. It is almost unbelievable to the modern person that people could survive such terrifying conditions. To me, this book was less about Hitler, Stalin, and their general staffs directing their militaries, but the soldiers themselves. It's not just a historical military account -- it's a tragedy. Highly recommended for anyone with a casual interest in WW2 or military history.