Anthony Beevor published by RAO

Hi D13th Mytzu,

There is definitely something in what you write. For 45 years Western writers operated in something of a documentary vacuum as far as Romanian primary sources for 1941-44 were concerned. Thus German memoirs, both positive and negative, were their primary source and went largely unchallenged by a Romanian perspective.

Cheers,

Sid.

The problem is that some of the books about WW2 written before 1989 are now considered classic, ultimate reference sources about the war. I've had a hard time convincing people on other forums that these books are innacurate and biased about the performance of the Romanian army.

Unfortunately the excellent book written by Mark Axworthy didn't make other Western authors revise their perspective on the Romanian army. "Third Axis, Fourth Ally" should definetly be reprinted.

TV documentaries about Eastern front have the same flaws as some of the books. Whenever they present a German-Romanian victory (the Crimean campaign for example), the Romanian contribution is completely ignored. But when they talk about a German-Romanian defeat then only Romanians are to blame.

Unfortunatelly so true I always watch TV documentaries about WW2 (and not only) on Discovery Channels. From all I ahev seen, only 1 time a british historian (and teacher at a prestigious university) mentioned the injustice made by history when blaming romanians for the Stalingrad defeat, he was the only one to state the conditions under which romanian troops had to fight and also that they behaved very well under the circumstancies. However I only saw that documentary once.. dunno why they did not show it anymore, it is a shame.

There are too many WW2 documentaries on Discovery anyway. No day passes without Hitler's ghost being paraded on Discovery. Its programs are weaker and weaker.

take care

p.s. Happy New Year to everyone!

Mytzu,

What is the name of the British historian you mentioned?

Thanks.

Unfortunatelly I can only remember his face and the fact that he is also teaching at a prestigeous british university. Will try to get his name next time I see him ni a Discovery ww2 documentary.

Hi D-13th Mytzu,

It may be Professor John Ericson of the University of Edinburgh. He is often used as an expert "talking head" in better documentaries about the Eastern Front.

Cheers,

Sid.

Sid I again ask you to please call me Mytzu D13-th is just a squadron tag.
I don't know if it is him - I searched the web but I could not find a photo of the one you mentioned. Next time I see him I will write down his name. If this helps in any way - he seems to be a tall fellow (about 1.8) with grey hair, long face, quite slim.

From a 1998 documentary:

Yup, that's him alright - thanks Dani !

You're welcome Mytzu!
Like Sid said I was convinced that his name is spelled Ericson instead of Erickson.
Luckily I have some documentaries.

That's what I suspected.

It only reinforces the high opinion and admiration I have for him as an excellent WWII historian.

Thanks Mytzu, Sid, and Dani.

The reason why Beevor's account of the Romanian actions is more balanced seems to be that he used Axworthy's book as a source. But there are still some myths and dubious facts about the Romanian Army in "Stalingrad".

He's head and shouilders above the pack of usual dry-as-dust military historians.
His Berlin

sorry..(hit wrong key)

His Berlin book is equally well written,imo

http://www.antonybeevor.com/Berlin/berlinmenu.htm

Of course,he's not in the same league as John Keegan, imo, but he's a contender.

btw, what DO u Brits eat, anyway that sprouts this highly readable erudition amongst your pen pushers? lol.
cheers.