 | The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost, by Russia Generalnyi Shtab Federation, Lester W. Grau (Translator), Michael A. Gress (Editor), Russian General Staff (Editor), Russia, Theodore C. Mataxis; Univ Pr of Kansas; (February 2002), ISBN: 070061186X This is the third volume in a trilogy on the operational aspects of the Soviet-Afghan War of 1979-1988. The first two dealt respectively with Soviet and mujahideen tactics. This one is the perspective of the Russian General Staff. It follows the Soviet tradition of recording the events and experiences of previous wars not from a historical perspective, but in a "lessons learned" context, to help improve future performance. The work lacks the shaping, ideologically based overview of its predecessors. It is, rather, a compilation of information from a broad spectrum of sources synthesized by a group of authors who mostly have been through the fighting, and the book is destined for think tank and military academic libraries. Its text, admirably translated and edited, will be nearly impossible for lay people to stay with, but it tells a story of poor intelligence compounded by inappropriate force structures, inadequate operational doctrine and no strategy to speak of. Soviet forces did not understand their opposition, especially the mujahideen's ability and willingness to sustain the fighting far beyond rational-actor parameters. Repeated failures of conventional, large-scale war techniques led the Soviets to adopt smaller, more flexible formations and nonlinear tactics with increasing success, but mujahideen-operated Stinger ground-to-air missiles provided by the U.S. helped drag out a conflict the Soviet military could not win decisively in a time frame acceptable to Soviet political authorities. In the end, Afghanistan contributed significantly, perhaps decisively, to the collective loss of confidence that brought the U.S.S.R. to self-destruction. (Feb. 5)Forecast: The hardcover is priced out of the trade market, but if the paperback makes it onto the shelves, expect some unsuspecting browsers looking for layperson's narrative to pick this one up. Otherwise, only collections concerned with the nitty-gritty history of operations planning and execution will find what they're looking for here. (Review source: Amazon.com)
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 | The Eastern Front: in Photographs 1941-1945, by John Erickson, Ljubica Erickson; Carlton Books Limited; (June 2001), ISBN: 1842222422 Published to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the opening of the biggest military campaign in history on June 22, 1941, Barbarossa in Photographs shows the brutality, horror and heroism of war on the Eastern Front as never before. This authoritative and unforgettable account of the conflict that sealed the fate of Nazi Germany and shaped the world's postwar history is written by Professor John Erickson and his wife, Ljubica. Professor Erickson is acknowledged as the world's leading authority on the Great Patriotic War, having published the two classic text histories of the period, The Road to Stalingrad and The Road to Berlin, which are still in print over 20 years after first publication. Over 300 previously unpublished photographs, recently released from the Russian archives, supplemented by images from other major sources, illustrate every phase and aspect of the Eastern Front campaigns, from the Nazis' early blitzkrieg successes, the battle for Moscow and the terrible siege of Leningrad, through the turning-point street fighting for Stalingrad, and the subsequent Soviet successes at Kursk and Operation Bagration, to the climactic fall of Berlin and the link-up between Soviet and Western armies amid the ruins of the "1000-year Reich". This is total war in its most barbaric form: nearly 30 million Soviet soldiers and citizens were killed during four years of struggle against their German invaders. (Review source: Amazon.com)
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 | Kursk: The German View, by Steven H. Newton (Translator), DaCapo Press; (March 25, 2003), ISBN: 0306811502 "Firsthand accounts of the German commanders who planned and executed the largest tank battle in history. The battle of Kursk, fought in the summer of 1943, involved six thousand German and Soviet armored vehicles, making it the biggest tank battle of all time and possibly the largest battle of any kind. Students of military history have long recognized the importance of Kursk, also known as "Operation Citadel," and there have been several serious studies of the battle. Yet, the German view of the battle has been largely ignored. After the war, U.S. Army Intelligence officers gathered German commanders' post-war reports of the battle. Due, in part, to poor translations done after the war, these important documents have been overlooked by World War II historians. Steven H. Newton has collected, translated, and edited these accounts, including reports made by the Chiefs of Staff of Army Group South and the Fourth Panzer Army, and by the Army Group Center Operations Officer. As a result, a new and unprecedented picture of German strategy and operations is made available. The translated staff reports are supplemented by Newton's commentary and original research, which challenges a number of widely accepted ideas about this pivotal battle. (Review source: Amazon.com)
| | |  | Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 (Modern War Studies), by David M. Glantz, Mary E. Glantz (Translator), Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas; (April 1999), ISBN: 070060944X From the author: "You should understand the context within which I wrote the book and my motivation in writing it and the other books. I spent 15 years attempting to counter the German view of the war, which dominated the field from 1945 through the late 1970s. With my friend John Erickson, I have sought to reveal the tremendous (if not decisive) contributions the Red Army made to the war effort. I did this by writing about the operations German sources tended to overlook, particularly after 1943. When Titans Clashed represented the culmination of that work. In the process, while the Russians labeled me as a "bourgeiose objectivist" rather than a "bourgeiose falsifier," others accused me of being a Communist sympathizer or worse. In the interest of objectivity, more recently I have devoted my efforts to the some 40 percent of the war which has been ignored for a variety of reasons by both sides, the portion of the war I refer to as the "forgotten battles." I do so out of respect for the many millions of Red Army soldiers who perished anonymously and without mention, whose sons and daughters now write to me and encourage me in my work. The study of "forgotten battles" is a work in progress. Mars was just the first, but there are many more. As a by-product of this process, the military reputations of many Soviet general officers, which were formed in the post-war years (often for political reasons) require revision. While Zhukov's reputation may diminish, others like Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky, Vatutin, and others will rise. In the meantime, I will let the archival materials speak for themselves and the chips fall where they may. Most important, I hope interest in the subject receives the attention the horrendous death toll requires. Thanks, David M. Glantz" (Review source: Amazon.com)
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 | Images of Kursk: History's Greatest Tank Battle, July 1943, by Nik Cornish, Nikolas Cornish, Brasseys, Inc.; (November 1, 2002), ISBN: 1574885766 Contains more than 300 photographs, many from Russian archives and previously unpublished. Features firsthand accounts from Russian and German soldiers and presents details on the air action. Includes biographical information about the main German and Soviet commanders. Images of Kursk is an illustrated account of a pivotal battle on the Eastern Front during World War II. At Kursk, the Germans threw 900,000 men and 2,500 tanks against 1,300,000 soldiers and 3,000 tanks of the Red Army in a savage battle of attrition. Unlike many pictorial accounts of the war on the Eastern Front, Images of Kursk draws upon both German and Russian archive material. All the photographs of the Red Army at Kursk, moreover, are previously unpublished images. The book begins with the build-up of forces before the battle and then illustrates the offensive by two German army groups against the Kursk salient. The images convey the true scale, intensity, and horror of the fighting as the Germans tried in vain to batter their way through the Soviet defensive systems. A chapter is devoted to the climactic battle at the village of Prokhorovka, in which 1,000 tanks engaged each other furiously at point-blank range. With authoritative text and extended captions, Images of Kursk is an enthralling pictorial record of the battle that shifted the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front to the Red Army for good. Written in an informative yet exciting style, it will appeal to military specialists and laymen alike. (Review source: Amazon.com)
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