‘White-knuckle tension as the two most dangerous snipers in Europe hunt each other through the hell of Stalingrad. Immensely exciting and terribly authentic’ Frederick Forsyth Stalingrad in 1942 is a city in ruins, its Russian defenders fighting to the last man to repel the invading German army. One of their most potent weapons is the crack sniper school developed by Vasily Zaitsev. Its members can pick off the enemy at long range, and their daring tactics—hiding for hours in no man’s land until a brief opportunity presents itself—mean that no German, and particularly no German officer, can ever feel safe. This part of the battle is as much psychological as anything, and to counter the continuing threat to German morale, the Nazi command bring to the city their own top marksman, Heinz Thorvald. His mission is simple: to identify, and kill, Zaitsev. Based on a true story, THE WAR OF THE RATS is a brilliantly compelling thriller which brings vividly to life probably the most harrowing battlefront of the Second World War