Biggest battle of all time

War: The recent opening of Russian archives contributes to a superb study of the Battle of Moscow

Field Marshal Montgomery made a memorable statement in the House of Lords on May 30th, 1963. The first rule on the first page of the Book of War was, he told the House: "Do not march on Moscow". The old soldier stressed his point further. "Various people have tried it, Napoleon and Hitler, and it is no good. That is the first rule."

There has been a tendency in popular modern history, however, towards over simplification of the reasons why Monty's rule was such a valid one in 1941. Rodric Braithwaite has avoided this trap.

The digital TV channel Discovery Civilisation, in stark contrast to its own title, devotes a great deal of its programming to war, which is, after all, civilisation's antithesis. On the Battle of Moscow it blandly states on its website: "Just 21 miles from the Russian capital the Soviet winter had beaten the German army".

This statement does an injustice not only to the defenders of Moscow but to the German attackers as well. On the German side, there was far more to it than an army being stuck in the vicious winter of 1941. On the Soviet side, to suggest that it was simply the weather that beat the Germans is ludicrous and insulting.

Moscow was the biggest battle in history. Seven million soldiers fought for the Russian capital across an area the size of France. On the Soviet side, 926,000 soldiers died - more than the total second World War casualties of the UK and the US combined. It was also a major turning point since it was at the gates of Moscow that the triumphant progress of the Wehrmacht was halted for the first time.

A frequent picture also painted in the west has been of a fight to the death between the supporters of two evil regimes with German soldiers bent on proving their racial supremacy and Soviets fanatically loyal to Stalinism. Braithwaite's research has shown clearly that many Russian soldiers were either opposed to, or antagonised by, the regime. This did not stop them from fighting with tremendous courage and determination out of patriotism and a deep commitment to their ancient motherland.

Stalin recognised this commitment himself. He granted greater freedoms to the Russian Orthodox Church, which in turn called for support for the struggle. The Moscow intelligentsia, that section of the population traditionally most suspicious of the regime, rallied to the colours.

The violinist David Oistrakh and the pianist Emil Gilels joined the Eighth (Krasnaya Presnya) Volunteer Division that was to be almost annihilated at Vyazma by the Third and Fourth Panzer Groups. Battalions of writers, scientists, historians, academics and others joined them. Genuine volunteers oversubscribed an Air Force regiment composed entirely of women from mechanics up to the commanding officer, Marina Raskova.

Patriotism, Orthodox Christianity, the intense bond between a people and its land were just some of the qualities that helped turn the invaders back. The senior commanders who channelled this energy were brilliant soldiers. They were also ruthlessly committed to victory.

Marshals Georgi Zhukov, a peasant from the Kaluga region south of Moscow, and Konstantin Rokossovski, a sophisticated Pole from Warsaw, were the great Red Army commanders. Sparks flew between them but they carried the day.

BRAITHWAITE COVERS ZHUKOV'S ruthlessness with his soldiers and the unbridled admiration and loyalty they had for him. By the Marshal's daughters, whom I knew in my Moscow days, he was remembered simply as a kind and loving father.

Braithwaite knows Moscow and its people well. He served there as British ambassador from 1988 to 1992 and in a junior position from 1963 to 1966. His ambassadorial posting overlapped with the first of my two terms in the city as The Irish Times's correspondent, and some of the survivors interviewed in his book were people I also knew.

The thoroughness of his research is illustrated by the 58 pages that list his sources and acknowledgements. This is no superficial study of an important event in the second World War; it is a superb work on the biggest battle the world has known. It brings the human side to life through its interviews with over 70 people who were deeply involved either individually or through family connections.

He took full advantage of Glasnost, researching his work at a time when archives previously firmly closed to Russians and foreigners alike, had been opened for the first time since 1945.

The most striking new material concerns the "Great Panic"of October 16th, 1941, when Moscow was overcome with terror as the Germans approached. This section alone, with its combination of archive material and interviews with survivors, makes the book worth buying.

Séamus Martin is a former International Editor and Moscow Correspondent of The Irish Times

Moscow 1941: A City and its People at War By Rodric Braithwaite Profile Books, 446pp. £20