Viktor Suvorov

Viktor Suvorov's book "The Chief Culprit" profoundly challenges the standard textbook narrative of the Second World War. This book has forever altered my interpretation of how WWII truly unfolded.

The central thesis of the book can be divided into three arguments:

1. Stalin's grand aim, even years before the war ever began, was to conquer all of Europe.

2. Stalin manipulated Hitler into invading Poland knowing that it would drag France and Britain into a major war against Germany, weakening them all.

3. In the summer of 1941, Stalin had initiated the most massive military mobilization in history, and was within weeks or even days of launching a sudden strike against Germany (and a seizure of the Romanian oil fields, Germany's only source of oil). However, Hitler had deduced Stalin's aim by the end of 1940 and decided to preemptively strike.

The translation isn't great, and I suspect that even in Russian elegant prose is not Suvorov's strength. The first quarter of the book was a bit of a slog, as I remained skeptical of Suvorov's central thesis and did not feel that he was presenting any "smoking gun" evidence to support his argument.

By the mid-point of the book however, the gravity of Suvorov's documentary evidence reaches a critical mass and the book becomes a page turner. This book shatters the Western consensus narrative of the Second World War, and when the evidence presented for Suvorov's thesis reaches the point of being simply overwhelming, the value and relevance of this book is clarified.

One of the most important history books I've ever read. A must read for anyone who values truth over consensus narrative. "The Chief Culprit" will reorient your entire perspective on the war.… (mais)