War of the Rats

A 1999 novel set in the ruins of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942, built around a duel between two snipers — the Soviet marksman Vasily Zaitsev and a German sent to the city to kill him. Robbins works the fighting at close range: cellars, sewers, factory floors, and the long patience the job required.

Context: First published 1999. Lexile 900. Filed under Fiction. One thing to carry into it: the sniper duel at the centre is a contested piece of history rather than an established one. Zaitsev was real and his account is the source of the story, but historians have found no independent evidence that his German opponent existed, and the episode is generally treated as Soviet wartime legend. The novel is a good account of what urban warfare does to the people inside it, and a poor source on whether the duel happened.

Connections

• A Library to Build Great Americans — the curriculum this came from; a 468-title reading list published in December 2025 by the Substack writer Dissident Teacher, of which Kyle is carding only the Ages 13-99+ band.
• David L. Robbins — the author.
• World War II — the setting; the battle of Stalingrad, 1942-43.
• War
• Literature