"This is a great work on a small slice of operations on the Eastern Front during the first two years of the [second world] war." — A Wargamers Needful ThingsThis book discusses a number of operations undertaken by the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps in the direction of the Black Sea in 1941 and 42. It explores the tactics used and why they were successful, based on the detailed combat reports prepared by the corps staff immediately after each battle.Die Wehr...

In July 1943, Hitler launched Operation Zitadelle, the last German offensive on the Eastern Front. It was an attempt to shorten the German lines by eliminating the Kursk salient and was designed to result in the encirclement of the Red Army. In reality, the German tanks came up against impenetrable Russian defences: minefields, artillery and anti-tank emplacements, spread through lines 250km deep and manned by Russian troops whose actions often verged on the suicidal. The ...

This WWII history critically reexamines one of the most dramatic and significant battles to follow the D-Day landings in Normandy.The destruction of the trapped German forces in the Falaise pocket in August 1944 is one of the most famous episodes of the Normandy campaign. But myths have grown up around the battle, and its impact on the course of the war is often misunderstood. In this meticulously researched study, Anthony Tucker-Jones dispels misconceptions about t...

Heinz Guderian - master of the Blitzkrieg and father of modern tank warfare - commanded the German XIX Army Corps as it rampaged across Poland in 1939.Personally leading the devastating attack which traversed the Ardennes Forest and broke through French lines, he was at the forefront of the race to the Channel coast. Only Hitler's personal command to halt prevented Guderian's tanks and troops turning Dunkirk into an Allied bloodbath.Later commanding Panzergruppe 2 in Operat...

In one of history’s most violent battles, Allied troops gathered along the shores of southern England, preparing for the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe. Facing them-from the Pas de Calais to Brittany-were German troops, dug in, waiting and preparing for the inevitable confrontation.History is often told from the perspective of the victors and oftentimes we do not hear the other side of the story. In this unique compilation, David Isby selects a series of in-depth accounts wri...

The first half of a two-part study on Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's plan to invade Soviet Russia during World War II, and what went wrong.At dawn on 10 July 1941, massed tanks and motorized infantry of German Army Group Center's Second and Third Panzer Groups crossed the Dnepr and Western Dvina Rivers, beginning what Hitler and most German officers and soldiers believed would be a triumphal march on Moscow, the Soviet capital. Less than three weeks before, on 22 Ju...

If the tanks succeed, then victory follows.General Heinz GuderianThis is the powerful record of the lightning campaign against Polandas documented by the Kriegsberichter.This book incorporates the whole of the results of extensive post war interviews carried out by the US department of the Army. The result is a vivid military history of the Polish campaign of September 1939 from the front lines. This view of the campaign from the sharp end draws upon previously unpublished images.The event...

“An impressive source book on the conflict, high on information and data.”—Journal of the Society for Army Historical ResearchSeptember 7, 1812, is by itself one of the most cataclysmic days in the history of war: 74,000 casualties at the Battle of Borodino. And this was well before the invention of weaspons of mass destruction like machine guns or breech-loading rifles.In this detailed study of one of the most fascinating military campaigns in his...

A thorough history of the Winter War, the uneven Russo-Finnish conflict that began shortly after the start of World War II.On November 30, 1939, Stalin's Red Army attacked Finland, expecting to crush the outnumbered, ill-equipped Finnish forces in a matter of days. But, in one of the most astonishing upsets in modern military history, the Finnish defenders broke the Red Army's advance, inflicting devastating casualties and destroying some of the divisions that had b...

The first book in the World Generals series chronicles the impressive rise and tragic fall of Hitler's most brilliant military tactician.Modeled on the acclaimed Great Generals series, which features the strategy and legacy of famous American generals, World Generals broadens the scope to include the world's finest military leaders. Each volume will include a foreword by Wesley K. Clark, and be co-edited by a different foreign general who will write an afterword.

In the wake of the Red Army's signal victory at Stalingrad, which began when its surprise counteroffensive encircled German Sixth Army in Stalingrad region in mid-November 1942 and ended when its forces liquidated beleaguered Sixth Army in early February 1943, the Soviet High Command (Stavka) expanded its counteroffensive into a full-fledged winter offensive which nearly collapsed German defenses in southern Russia. History has recorded the many dramatic triumphs the Red Army achieved duri...

Nicknamed 'The Desert Fox' for his cunning command of the Afrika Korps, Erwin Rommel remains one of the most popular and studied of Germany's World War II commanders.He got his first taste of combat in World War I, where his daring command earned him the Blue Max, Germany's highest decoration for bravery. He followed this up with numerous successes early in World War II in both Europe and Africa, before facing his biggest challenge – organizing the defence of Franc...