Michael K. Jones wrote a not bad book called STALINGRAD: How the Red Army Triumphed, which has the unique perspective of not having been written from the point of view of the Germans.
I'd also recommend the title from the Ballantine Books series.
I could have sworn we covered this topic just before Christmas, actually. Anyway, the BB title has good, clean maps and is a perfectly functional primer. The Osprey title on the battle, in their CAMPAIGNS series, is not as good as their other titles and struck me as rather poor to be honest.
Edit - yes, we discussed it here:
http://forums.gamesquad.com/showthread.php?95918-Island-of-Fire...the-Battle-for-the-Barrikady.......Jason-D-Mark&p=1322255&viewfull=1#post1322255
There is a good summary of the battle by Tarrant also, which also has okay maps in it.
Two books that might appeal to you, Jan, are fictionalized accounts of the battle. STALINGRAD by Theodore Plievier and THE FORSAKEN ARMY by Heinrich Gerlach. While fictional, they get at the "emotional" truth of the battle, from the German perspective, and I think would appeal to your sensibilities, knowing what we know about your artistic and sensitive side. They're easily found on the second-hand pocketbook market.
You'll find this fascinating as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Plievier
Stalingrad has been regarded as the most important work of literature to emerge from the eastern front during World War II. Its pitiless descriptions of battle and the failures of the German military leadership indicts Hitler's megalomania and illustrates the senselessness of war.
I have copies of both and while they are indeed fiction, they are still broad in scope and deal with the battle in the city proper in 'historical' terms in addition to being character studies.
Link to Gerlach on amazon - it is well reviewed there:
http://www.amazon.com/Forsaken-Army-Stalingrad-Military-Paperbacks/dp/0304362786/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295654956&sr=8-1
and apparently still in print in English.