Cross of Iron

The great novel of combat on the Eastern Front in World War II, 'Cross of Iron' has become a modern classic of war fiction both as a book and a film. It is an enthralling, vividly realistic story of action on the Eastern Front where Germans and Russians are locked in a grim and relentless combat that seems to the soldiers fighting to have neither pity nor end.

In 'Cross of Iron', Stalingrad has fallen; the German troops know they are beaten and corporal Steiner's platoon is cut off far behind the Russian lines. Resourceful and cynical he somehow coaxes and goads his men through the bitter hand-to-hand fighting in forests, trenches and city streets until eventually they regain the German lines. There follows the tension of waiting for the last overwhelming Russian advance, the futile counter attacks and murderous house-to-house fighting, and the final decimation of Steiner's platoon.