War of the Rats
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
War of the Rats
| Full title | War of the Rats: A Novel |
|---|---|
| Author | David L. Robbins |
| Published | 1999 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | A 1999 novel of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942, built around a duel between the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev and a German sent to kill him, worked at close range — cellars, sewers, factory floors and the long patience the job required. |
War of the Rats
Where I heard about it
- Dissident Teacher — on A Library to Build Great Americans, a 468-title curriculum published on Substack in December 2025, listed under Fiction in the Ages 13-99+ band (Lexile 900).
About this edition
The duel at the centre is contested history. 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
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.