The House Built on Sand

This is a classic work on the German occupation of Russia together Alexander Dallin's fine work. Reitlinger has composed a comprehensive study of the chaotic and in the end ineffective Nazi rule of Russia during World War II.

Reitlinger exposes the labyrinth that made it nearly impossible for the Germans to control the areas they occupied, areas they could have ruled with more control had they been in tune with the local population, a significant amount which welcomed them as liberators. He also examines how Russia was exploited by the Germans, for slave labor, for foodstuffs, even for manpower for the Wehrmacht. The sections on the Vlasov Army and other collaborationist movements is especially enlightening, subjects that even now forty years after this book was written have not been examined thoroughly.

The only drawback to this text is time and the authors now dated use of English jargon. Reitlinger probably did not have access to documents or evidence that later writers had the privelege of using...or in some cases not using. There are some errors, but this is a fine work and well worth reading...it provides a solid foundation to begin study of this subject.