Like his rival Zhukov, Konev was a man of iron will, but he did not hail from such a disadvantaged background, and he was unique among Soviet high commanders in having begun his military career as a political officer.

Konev was a Russian who had begun his military career as a commissar, and he was a strong brutal character of great energy but limited education, unable to exp…

Konev was a mental robot, saying only what had been written for him, as though his tongue moved only when wound by a key in the Kremlin.

Konev was a tall, gruff, vigorous man with a shrewd twinkle in his blue eyes. He was 48 years old, a year younger than Zhukov, and in some respects his career …