Stalin's deputy supreme commander Georgy Zhukov may have been the greatest general of the second world war. He was key to the defences of Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow, while his victory at Kursk forced a German retreat that led the Red Army into Berlin (it was Zhukov's men who raised the Soviet flag over the Reichstag). At a victory parade in June 1945 he rode a white stallion through Red Square and was acclaimed as the "saviour" of the Soviet Union. Stalin worried that Zhukov was a little too popular and banished him to the provinces. In this comprehensive biography Geoffrey Roberts draws on newly available archival material and private papers to piece together Zhukov's remarkable story. Hard times produce hard men, and although Roberts hints at a gentler side to the general the existential threat of war made him ruthless. Hardly a likeable man, he was a brilliant offensive field commander, adept at deception, using false radio traffic and other ruses to help the enemy draw the wrong conclusions.