Out on 05 February 2026
Book cover for World Enemy No. 1

World Enemy No. 1

Synopsis

Details

05 February 2026
560 pages
9781529038927
Imprint: Picador

Reviews

A history of World War II closely focused on its true epicenter: the Russian front . . . An essential contribution to the modern literature of what Russians still call the Great Patriotic War
It takes courage, as well as tremendous talent and dedication, to tell this story with so much empathy, eloquence, and insight. World Enemy No. 1 is a magnificent memorial to both the victims and the victors
In World Enemy No. 1, Jochen Hellbeck, a pioneering historian of Stalinism, has turned his attention to the German-Soviet genesis of the Holocaust. The book breaks new ground by shifting the focus from some primordial German hatred of Jews to the fierce political competition between Hitler’s fascism and Soviet Communism, which Hitler re-coded as ‘Jewish Bolshevism'
In this passionate, original history, Jochen Hellbeck explores how Adolf Hitler fused his twin obsessions against Jews and Communists into a global battle to the death. A vivid, sometimes terrifying account of the Nazi crusade on the Eastern front - a war like no other