Book Description
The first volume of the long awaited 2 volume photo study of the Battle of Kursk which promises something for everyone, whether serious historian, WW II enthusiast or hobbyist. This first volume covers the Southern sector of the attack culminating in the tank battle at Prokhorovka. The SS Panzer Korps, with the 1., 2. and 3.SS Panzer-Grenadier-Divisions, the Grossdeutchland Pazergrenadier Division and the 503 Heavy Tank Battalion all fought in this sector. The book includes hundreds of photos, most previously unpublished or miscaptioned in the past by less careful authors, which tell the story of this crucial German gamble in the summer of 1943. The color profiles included are to the Author's usual very high standards and the included maps succinctly describe the unit positions of both sides during various phases of the onslaught. Not just a photo album, the book includes a discussion of the operational concepts that led to the fighting, force comparisons and a! description of the objectives of the opposing forces. A detailed day-by-day description of the actions of all German units involved in the attack in this sector is also included. Finally, the authors lay to rest several misconceptions and legends surrounding this epic battle and provide irrefutable evidence that German losses were not nearly so great as Soviet and other sources have long claimed. Includes 702 photos, 48 pages of color vehicle, equipment and aircraft illustrations, 4 color maps and 3 pages of color tactical insignia.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing pictures!.......2006-10-23
At just over $60, this book provides some brilliant photos of the battle. Do not hesitate, buy this book. I will be buying volume 2 when it is released.
Wonderful Picture Book.......2006-08-03
A very interesting Picture book with never seen photos of best quality before. Ideal for modellers.
Operation Citadel.......2006-03-02
If you are a fan of these Fedorowicz photo albums then this is another one that will be of interest.This volume concentrates on the conflict in the Southern sector of the Kursk/Orel area.
The book has the usual JJF mix of crisp clear photos as well as 'in action' pictures that while of lesser quality,are of no lesser interest.The 700 photos in the book are mainly of the German forces involved,although the Russian side is represented as well. Understandably the Armored units predominate,but there are also many images of the crews and Infantry that took part in the battle.
Add to this over 90 vehicles are represented in color plates as well as a concise overview of the day to day operations.An added touch is the individual recollections of some of the combatants involved.
All in all a first rate book.
Indispensable; brings Citadel to life.......2005-06-10
This is an outstanding book. The authors have developed an excellent account of the southern half of the Kursk battle. That said, potential readers should be aware that this book is not an exhaustive text-based description of the battle. Rather, the main purpose of the book is to use an extensive collection of photographs to provide a visual account of the fighting.
A brief overview of the battle is included to orient readers to the general outline of the battle. Sprinkled through this account are some incredible first person combat narratives. These accounts vary in length from half a page to eight pages. All of them are gripping and amazing to read. One passage, told from to point of view of a tank driver of the 7./SS-Panzer Regiment 1 describes being ordered into the middle of a chaotic smoke-filled battlefield to rescue a wounded officer. In the process of the rescue attempt, the drivers tank is hit numerous times and most of the crew are killed. The diver only barely escapes death/capture himself.
The heart of the book are the photographs and they are excellent and well captioned. The quality of the photographs range from fuzzy to crystal clear. In general most are of very good quality and are crisper than the photographs found in many other world war two books. Those that are poor quality are included because they show unique events, such as a two photo sequence showing German tank fire engaging lend-lease Churchill tanks. There are lots of photographs. It took me six evenings to make it though a first pass of the book - and that was without really studying the photos, just looking at them and reading the captions.
I strongly recommend this book. The photographs are diverse enough to appeal to a causal reader, but dedicated east front and world war two enthusiasts will be overwhelmed with the quality of this work. A combination of this book and Glantz & House's "The Battle of Kursk" would make an excellent gift.
Exploding the Myth.......2005-06-05
Although largely a photo album, this book also explodes the myth surrounding the Battle of Kursk. The 1st 70 odd pages provides the main narrative to the book that looks at the overall situation on the Eastern front, the German and Soviet plans, the build up of equipment and order of battle (including tank inventory tables). Also included is a day by day blow analysis of the battle in the southern sector along with first hand accounts from tank commanders, drivers, grenadiers that vividly relive the battle. The book shows that history has perhaps taken Soviet reports at face value, but German losses were not as great as were claimed and in fact if the German attack may have succeeded if launched earlier or at least until Soviet reserves had been dealt a blow. Strangely the culminating clash of armour at Prochorowka has gone down in history as a great Soviet victory, although the Russian attack was effectively halted with the Russians losing 180 tanks with few German losses in comparison. However, further losses were incurred by the Germans when the operation was called off by Hitler, and equipment that was undergoing repair had to be abandoned once the Russians launched their counter offensive. The authors also try to stress the battle was not just a tank battle but included all arms including infantry, artillery and anti tank weaponary and the Luftwaffe and Red airforce.
The photo section is huge (covering over 350 pages) and great pains have been made to correctly label the photgraphs. Also included is a colour profile section of the vehicles used at Kursk and 3 operational maps.
All in all this is a fine book that questions recorded history that would please the keen historian, while the photo and profile section would keep the keen modeller equally happy. Recommended
Book Description
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 more than 1 million 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 buildup 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.
Customer Reviews:
Soviet Propaganda Images of Kursk.......2007-04-22
The title of this book is completely misleading. It should be called "Soviet Propaganda Images of Kursk." The book is chock-a-block full of images relating to Kursk, but 80% or more of the pictures are from the Soviet perspective and most of these are obvious propaganda photos of German prisoners, destroyed German tanks and other armored vehicles, dead German soldiers, captured German weapons, "heroic" Soviet soldiers, Soviet partisans, Soviet officers, Soviet T-34s aplenty, etc.
Some of the chapters appear to have no photos at all from the German perspective. Exceptions are a chapter on re-arming the Wehrmacht in preparation for the battle and a chapter on the SS spearhead operations. But this only discloses that the author could have provide a more balanced photographic perspective but purposefully chose not to do so. Oddly enough, there isn't a single photo from the German perspective in the chapter on the great tank battle near Prokhorovka, 12 July 1943.
The book's saving grace is that the Soviet photos were previously unpublished and that does help enlighten the reader about the Soviet forces, particularly the unappreciated widespread use of Soviet women in the Red Army and the underpublicized vast numbers of tanks and other vehicles the Soviets received from the Allies (by mid-1943, the USA alone had shipped over 100,000 military vehicles to the Russians), without which the outcome of this battle (and many others to come) may have changed.
The book even includes photos of the Soviets anti-tank attack dogs, which were armed with bombs and trained, Pavlovian style, to run under tanks looking for food. Unfortunately for the starving dog, as it went under the tank a trip wire exploded the bombs, killing the dog. Unfortunately for the Soviets, the dogs could not be trained to distinquish a German tank from a Russian tank and the dogs often ran back into the Russian lines exploding themselves under Russian tanks, taking out the Soviet tank and crew as well. Because of this, the Soviets eventually gave up on anti-tank dogs.
The book is divided into chapters from the build-up by both sides to the battle, the battle itself, and advances by the Soviets after the battle, when the Germans had to retreat back to their original lines and then beyond them, due in part to Hitler's decision to pull off the attack and transfer divisions to Italy to counter the Allied invasion of Sicily.
The book is well-written to the extent the reader is informed of the deployment of troops on each side during each stage of the battle, but there are only a couple of maps provided in the whole book and unless you're familiar with the battle it is hard to follow along. A map should have been included with each chapter, showing the status of the battle, troop movements, German advances, and the Soviet rings of defense, which were over 100 miles (180 km) deep and contained about 1.3 million soldiers.
The book is also somewhat misleading to the extent the reader is given the impression that the Germans are continuously suffering large losses (true) but the Russians are not (untrue). In fact, it is generally believed that in this battle the ratio of Russians killed to Germans killed was about 4:1. The ratio for Russian tank and other armor losses to German armor losses was even greater, about 5:1. The problem, of course, is that the Germans did not have the resources to replace such heavy losses, while the Russians did.
My View of Kursk .......2007-04-14
This was my first reading of the battle of Kursk. Most of my preconceptions about the battle was that it was a running series of tank battles over the Russian steppes. I was amazed that it was really about German attacks over pre-dispositioned Soviet defenses and then counterattacks. Okay, what little I knew was run over (pun intended). For most of the text I believe that the photographs were very appropriate. At the very least plausible. I bought this book because I wanted to know more about "the battle" and I gained a lot of perspective about it. The pictures are worth a thousand words and more. You don't have to be an expert to gain some of the "experience" these pictures have to tell.
Ultimately this book is about geography. Pictures are wonderful, but unless they are from satellites, they don't do much for placing you there. Maps with the PLACE NAMES and the inevitable broad arrows would be extremely wonderful and informative for this particular book. Did I enjoy it? Yes. No doubt. Did I wind up with a good idea of how the battle took place? No. I was so lost I thought I was in Los Angeles. The book is not misleading, it is about images, but in my mind it is written for geography, and a revision is needed with maps (and arrows).
This book is fundamentally successful because it creates a hunger to know more.
Kursk Photos.......2007-01-18
If you are interested in WWII tank battles on the Eastern Front, this is a must have book. There are pictures here, descriptive maps and accounts not to be found elsewhere. Highly recommended reading and collecting.
Fascinating Pictures.......2006-12-17
The title of this book says what it is, pictures from the battlefiend at Kursk. We have all heard of Kursk, the biggest tank battle ever, the fact that the Germans, more or less had to attack this bulge in their lines, and the Russians knowing they were coming fortifying the area up to a depth of a hundred miles.
What has been difficult to find was pictures of what was going on there at the time. And this book provides those pictures, and in spades. I don't have a count but guess that there are 300 pictures, almost none of which had I seen in other books. These pictures show what could not really be described
a unit of Russian women soldiers marching somewhere with all of their rifle receivers covered with an obviously specially made canvas guard, to keep out the rain I suppose.
a knocked out T-34 right next to a German Mk IV, both of them showing a lot of twisted up metal that indictes the relative forces being used in the fighting.
Shot up equipment by the ton.
Soldiers, of both sides, glad to still be allive.
This book is only a couple of hundred pages long, but if each picture is worth a thousnd words, it is a huge volume. Fascinating photographs.
Well, the pictures are nice.......2004-03-18
The book gives a good introduction too Russian and German artillery and tanks. After that it simply tells you that some corps attacked another with x amount of casualties on so and so day. Without any maps, (the book only has two), this long narrative is quite useless to the reader. Furthermore most of the authors conversions from kilometers to miles and meters to yards are incorrect, I found this quite disconcerting. I still found the book an easy read though, however this is probably because I don't mind reading about one attack after another written in laundry list fashion. Without maps though the reader will never remember any of the tactical situations described in the narrative. It is for these reasons that I gave the book only two stars.
Book Description
This book is the first in a new series devoted to German armored formations of World War II.
Packed with full color images and a large amount of previously unpublished material, it is custom designed to appeal to modelers, AFV enthusiasts, and readers interested in Second World War technical history.
The book traces the battle of Kursk and the involvement of the German Panzer Units, through first hand records. Many hitherto unpublished photos, plus recently discovered memoirs from veterans combined with color profiles of AFVs, contribute to make this book a real reference bible for the enthusiast.
Didier Lodieu is a dedicated specialist on the German Army of World War II. In more than thirty years of research. he has learned how to find the most interesting photos and historical sources.
Customer Reviews:
Good Text & Photo Album of III.Pz. Korps at Kursk.......2007-07-21
This book focuses on the role of III Panzer Korps (including 198 I.D., 7.Pz.D, 19.Pz.D, 6.Pz.D, 168.I.D., S.Pz.Abt.503 & the relevant regiments within these divisions) in the battle of Kursk. The author covers the movements, intentions and fighting engagements in each of the above divisions sectors, including the stiff Soviet opposition on a day-by-day analysis over the eight days 5th July to 12th July 1943. The author also draws on the personal experiences from the men that fought there that helps recreate a feel for the battle and conditions that they went through. There are many photos throughout the book that are well researched and captioned in detail including some biographies of individuals. Many of the photos are from two German reporters who were present at the battle and have captured some superb real life images. Also included are several colour profiles of the fighting armour (both German & Russian) that participated in the battle. The author also makes some use of maps, however I found some of them not to be detailed enough to accompany the sometimes detailed text. E.g. the text may describe the fighting for a specific Hill or Village, but these are not located on the map. In conclusion the author shows the Germans were able to inflict tank losses on the Russians in III Pz Korps sector of 7:1. All in all this is a fine book and photo album and the introduction by Guy Sager (author of "The Forgotten Soldier") is a nice touch.
Book Description
Immense in scope, ferocious in nature, and epic in consequence, the Battle of Kursk witnessed (at Prokhorovka) one of the largest tank engagements in world history and led to staggering losses--including nearly 200,000 Soviet and 50,000 German casualties within the first ten days of fighting. Going well beyond all previous accounts, David Glantz and Jonathan House now offer the definitive work on arguably the greatest battle of World War II.
Drawing on both German and Soviet sources, Glantz and House separate myth from fact to show what really happened at Kursk and how it affected the outcome of the war. Their access to newly released Soviet archival material adds unprecedented detail to what is known about this legendary conflict, enabling them to reconstruct events from both perspectives and describe combat down to the tactical level.
The Battle of Kursk takes readers behind Soviet lines for the first time to reveal what the Red Army knew about the plans for Hitler's offensive (Operation Citadel), relive tank warfare and hand-to-hand combat, and tell how the tide of battle turned. Its vivid portrayals of fighting in all critical sectors places the famous tank battle in its proper context. Prokhorovka here is not a well-organized set piece but a confused series of engagements and hasty attacks, with each side committing its forces piecemeal.
Glantz and House's fresh interpretations demolish many of the myths that suggest Hitler might have triumphed if Operation Citadel had been conducted differently. Theirs is the first account to provide accurate figures of combat strengths and losses, and it includes 32 maps that clarify troop and tank movements.
Shrouded in obscurity and speculation for more than half a century, the Battle of Kursk finally gets its due in this dramatic retelling of the confrontation that marked the turning point of the war on the Eastern front and brought Hitler's blitzkrieg to a crashing halt.
This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.
Customer Reviews:
Great, detailed account.......2006-11-21
This book MUST be owned by any serious military history reader of WWII. The detail, and the maps are unparalleled. The maps are especially impressive, and allow you to follow the account of the battle totally. I look forward to more such books by the author. Just a word of caution, this is not a book about the "human interest" side of the battle; nor is it intended for the casual reader.
Glantz finest work to date.......2006-05-15
Well first of all book is huuge it's 485 pages. Not 300. Amazon really has to make a correction on previous review by Mr. Top 500.
Mr. Glantz is a top rated western historian on eastern front for one simple reason he has connection to people who's got access to russian archives (No westerner has a direct access to russian archives yet). "The Battle of Kursk" is a serious analytical work and surely can't be missed by anyone who is interested in the battle that changed the tide of the World War II.
Rough riding but informative, 2.5 stars........2006-03-01
I agree with another poster who said this book is a bombardment of facts and figures without much readability. If you are looking for facts and figures, check it out; if you are looking for something resembling a story or something more than barely adequate structure to impart wads of information, this probably isn't your bag.
Kursk ..... finally explained.......2005-09-15
Col. Glantz and Mr. House have finally defined the Battle of Kursk in a thoughtful, engaging and methodical approach. More accessible than George Nipe's very good work on Kursk, this is probably the best book on the definitive battle of the Russian Front. A serious, well-researched study.
A terrific read. .......2005-08-08
This book, like almost all of Col. Glantz's terrific books, is far better at covering the Soviet/Russian side than the German side. Yet this, like all others of his, is meticulously-researched, clear as crystal and highly-readable. He makes a good case that the Soviets did remarkably well, and were highly-effective, AND that the Nazi Germans lost the battle because of huge mistakes that any strategist worth his pay simply shouldn't have made. But of course when you are talking about Hitler, you are not talking about an experienced, well-schooled strategist, but an amateur! (Not that Stalin was any better). This is a gripping, fascinating book of unbeatable quality.
Book Description
These are the first two volumes in an exquisite new series of collector-quality photo books by RZM Publishing. Embracing an aesthetic seen only in high-end art photography books, RZM presents over 28 rolls of newly discovered combat film shot by six Waffen-SS Kriegsberichters (War Correspondents) during the renowned East Front battle of Kursk, July 1943.
In addition to being an invaluable visual reference for all students of military history, this poignant six volume series focuses on the pure human experience of the front-line infantryman, a subject too often eclipsed by the grandeur of the political and military landscape of the Second World War.
Printed on deluxe European semi-matte art paper for unparalleled photographic reproduction, each page literally "pulls" you into the images, making you feel as though you are a part of the action. This documentary style series presents the photographs in the actual sequence in which they were taken, creating a visual diary unlike anything previously published on the subject.
Waffen-SS "Kursk" Vol.1 and Vol. 2Both volumes contain extraordinary images of the men and armored vehicles of the 1st SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" and the 3rd SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Totenkopf," in action and at rest.
Customer Reviews:
The Waffen-SS at Work and Play.......2007-05-20
Volume 1 of this series contains photos taken by three photo-journalists with the Waffen-SS Propaganda Company. Two of these wartime photographers ("Kriegsberichte") were assigned to the 1st SS Division, Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. The other was on assignment with the 3rd SS Division, Totenkopf. Thus, this first volume basically contains photos pertaining only to those two divisions. (The same is likely to be true of the other five volumes because of the six photographers who took the photos displayed in all six volumes, three were assigned to the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Division and the other three were assigned to the Totenkopf Division. As the war ended, an order came down to destroy all photos and negatives in the Waffen-SS propaganda archives. These six volumes are comprised of photos painstakingly reproduced from some contact sheets, depicting 28 rolls of film of action in and around the Kursk tank battle, that somehow survived.)
Volume 1 contains 89 photos in all. About a third or more are reproduced in amazing clarity. The rest are of average to above average quality. The pictures ranges from depictions of the SSLAH attending an outdoor concert to the troops being emplaced or moving out to battle.
Many of the photos are simply stunning. There are photos, for example, of Nebelwerfer rockets being fired and streaking across the sky and a machine gun emplacement showing the machine gun crew wearing their camouflage masks. In many photos you can actually read the cuffbands and clearly see the SS runes and death's head symbol on the soldier's uniforms.
There are a few drawbacks to the book.
First, the publisher crows that the photos in the book are of "unparalled photographic reproduction" and are on high-quality paper to improve the reproduction. Yet this does not appear to be the case. The photos on the front and back covers of the book are also in the book itself, but in both instances the cover photos are much, much sharper and clearer than the same photos in the book.
Second, about one out of seven photos bridges the pages (i.e., runs across two pages) in the book so that you do not get a clear picture of everything in the photo. (There is no excuse for this since the photos only extend an inch or two onto the second page and the publisher could have just made the book a little bigger.)
Third, the captions for each photo are quite sparse, just a short sentence. The back of the book contains additional background information on each picture, if you want to keep flipping back and forth.
Overall, given its rarity well worth the money if you don't mind its flaws and can get it at a substantial discount off the cover price.
Good Series.......2007-02-21
I purchased all 6 books in the series, the photos are all in black and white none of which I had seen before, quality is good with a basic caption under each photo and a more detail information regarding the photo and what stage of the battle is at the rear.
kursk.......2005-07-07
A really impressive collection of photos.Detailed,clear and an excellelent format. The majority of the pictures i hadnt seen before.A must have series for any waffen-ss enthusiast.
The best thing about the books is the price.You get every cents worth and a little bit more. Go and get them.
Interesting but not worth the price!.......2004-11-29
After seeing the clarity of the photos online at the publishers site I was very impressed. When I purchased Volume 1 I was very disappointed in the quality of the photos in the book. I emailed the company and was informed they were disappointed as well and Volume 2 would be a great improvement.
Well guess what! Volume 2 and the remaining volumes photo quality is poor and not as clear as those on the companies RZM Web Site. I admire the concept but what were they thinking! Perhaps printing on a higher quality paper might have helped.
Do not waste your money is my recommendation.
A bit pricey but well worth it........2004-10-24
I bought this book based on the reviews and was not disappointed. The fact that most of the photographic history of the Waffen SS on the eastern front has been lost makes this series of books a great find indeed. The quality is certainly top notch.The only thing that bugged me was the fact that the captions at the photos were very basic. You have to go to the end of the book to read a more detailed description. I understand that this was necessary to preserve the format of the book but it took some getting used to. Overall, i was very impressed with the amount of research and attention to detail the author showed and will most likely end up buying the whole series; albeit over a period of time my budget can allow!
Book Description
This sixth volume follows soldiers of the 1st SS LAH and 2nd SS Das Reich Panzer Division in combat during the Battle of Kursk, July 1943.
Printed on deluxe European semi-matte art paper for unparalleled photographic reproduction, each page literally "pulls" you into the images, making you feel as though you are a part of the action. This documentary style series presents the photographs in the actual sequence in which they were taken, creating a visual diary unlike anything previously published on the subject.
Customer Reviews:
Waffen SS at Kursk.......2007-07-09
These books are an excellent series. Some great in action photos and a great many of individual shots of Waffen SS soldiers and Soviet prisoners taken during the battle. These are not the usual heroic shots but of normal men and they are very haunting. To see SS men and Soviets as real soldiers and real men and not the stereotypical view we are used to seeing was as I said a very haunting experience. There are some who may find that very boring as they want photos of panzers racing across fields of burning tanks maybe disappointed. Still there are some great shots of armour, half tracks and artillery are included for those who are looking for a kit to build. If you're a serious historian who is looking for something a little deeper than shots of tanks then buys these books and look into the eyes of these men who fought the battle and are all now gone from the earth. Highly recommended.
Good Series.......2007-02-15
I purchased all 6 books in the series, at the time of writing this I had received Vol 3 to 6, the photos are all in black and white none of which I had seen before quality is good with a basic caption under each photo and a more detail information regarding the photo and what stage of the battle is at the rear.
another great edition to the series.......2007-01-19
anyone who is interested in the kursk battle should get all 5 books. they are worth it.
Book Description
Volume 3 of an exquisite series of collector-quality photo books by RZM Publishing. Embracing an aesthetic seen only in high-end art photography books, RZM presents over 28 rolls of newly discovered combat film shot by six Waffen-SS Kriegsberichters (War Correspondents) during the renowned East Front battle of Kursk, July 1943. In addition to being an invaluable visual reference for all students of military history, this poignant six volume series focuses on the pure human experience of the front-line infantryman, a subject too often eclipsed by the grandeur of the political and military landscape of the Second World War.
Printed on deluxe European semi-matte art paper for unparalleled photographic reproduction, each page literally "pulls" you into the images, making you feel as though you are a part of the action. This documentary style series presents the photographs in the actual sequence in which they were taken, creating a visual diary unlike anything previously published on the subject. Volume 3 contains extraordinary images of the men and armored vehicles of the 1st SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" and the 3rd SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Totenkopf," in action and at rest.
Book Description
The battle at Kursk in 1943 is often referred to as the greatest tank battle in the history of warfare. This volume makes extensive use of German archival documents as well as various Russian books and articles. It attempts to answer such questions as what forces were actually engaged; how were they equipped; what were their capabilities; and what was the cost of the battle. The book also addresses methodological issues, applicable not only to this battle, but to other battles in World War II.
Customer Reviews:
Re-evaluation of history's greatest armour battle.......2005-02-05
What the author try to tell in this book is that it was the heavy German losses at Kursk that turned the tide in the east against the Germans - it was the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Soviets and there ability to absorb losses both in men and materiel due to supply of manpower and western allied material help that turned the tide. Despite the forward warning of the German attack and a meticulous planning by the Stavka the Germans made good headway and suffered light losses compared to the Soviets. Instead, it was the Soviet couterattacks at other sectors of the front that forced the Germans to break of the offensive. The Germans simply did not posses the manpower necessary to attack on one sector and defend against massive Soviet attacks on another.
There is a companion volume, unfortunately in Swedish only still, that deals exhaustively with their re-evaluation of the battle on the basis of the statistics. Their conclusion is that the German more flexible organisation and command system was far superior to the Soviet system, but with the numbers turning against them it did not help.
Excellent data, little context.......2004-07-14
As its title implies, this book is primarily a collection and presentation of data - hard numbers - about the battle of Kursk. Zetterling and Frankson do an impressive job of compiling orders of battle, unit strengths (particularly on all sorts of armored vehicles, and not just tanks), casualties, air sorties, equipment losses, ammunition expenditures, and the like. Unit structures for both the Germans and Soviets are presented in detail. An entire chapter is devoted to airpower and its effects on the battle. With the all the data, the authors present a relatively brief chronology and overview of the battle, limited to a re-telling of the facts. This drives home the point the authors are trying to make: we can better understand how the Battle of Kursk went through data on the forces involved and what happened to those forces.
This book is incredibly useful to those wishing to reconstruct opposing forces, for those who study combat via empirical methodology, and for those looking to test other authors' assertions and conclusions of the battle. By itself, however, the book is not particularly valuable. Zetterling and Frankson choose to mostly let the numbers speak for themselves. As such the book is devoid of analysis of German and Soviet planning, decision making, leadership, or tactics. These, of course, are the factors that drive the generation of the statistics presented by the authors. Casualties, ammunition expenditures, equipment losses, etc. are the direct result of planning, decision making, leadership, and tactics. Furthermore, historians search for the meaning and implications of these statistics. They ask and try to answer the question of "so what"? Numbers rarely speak for themselves. Thus, Zetterling and Frankson's book is quite valuable, but not as a stand-alone, and only as a companion to other material (e.g. Glantz and House). Wargamers will also find the book useful, as detailed tables of organization and equipment along with very thorough orders of battle are plentiful.
Excellent statistical analysis.......2001-12-18
I found this to be an excellent compilation of hard data on the July,1943 Battle of Kursk. Huge amounts of data is presented in a manner that makes it easy(relatively speaking)to understand the largest tank battle of WW2. The author begins by presenting a concise background that allows the reader to understand the overall strategic situation on the Eastern Front in the spring of 1943. He then presents an astonishing amount of material that shows in great detail the manner in which the opposing forces were organized,the structure of the units involved (both Soviet and German),the types of tanks and assault guns employed by both armies,a chapter on the impact of both combatants air forces on the battle ,and a chronology of the battle,including a seperate chapter on the armored clash at Prokhorovka.The final three chapters of the book are devoted to the costs and consequences of the battle and an analysis of the battle. Each of these chapters is extensively footnoted. Finally,there are 16 appendices covering just about every conceivable facet of Operation Zitadelle including what may be the most detailed order of battle ever presented on this battle. There are also a large number of tables and figures that further illuminate the size and composition of the opposing forces. I am very impressed by this book and can heartily recommend it.
Mr. Joe Gawne's review.......2001-06-08
I guess the book that Mr. Gwane reviewed is "Normandy 1944", another book written by Niklas Z. and published by J.J. Fedorowicz in 2000.
I like both "Kursk 1943" and "Normandy 1944". This is the first time I can read data generated from systematically statistic analyses on the strength and losses of involved forces in WWII. The result of the statistics, rather than personal opinions or recollections, tells the truth of these campaigns. These books clarified many long-standing errors and misconceptions, though readers should still keep in mind that the authors could make mistake or use unreliable reference too. Highly recommended.
Correcting Jon Gawne's Review.......2001-03-28
I feel I have to make some serious correction about Mr. Gawne's review. This book has NOTHING TO DO with the German Army in Normandy. Rather, it is a statistical analysis of the battle between the German and Soviet armies in the region of Kursk (Western Russia) in the summer of 1943.
Product Description
Comprehensive coverage of the last significant German offensive on the Eastern Front of World war II. Superbly illustrated with action photographs, featuring some rare and unpublished photographs from German and Soviet collections. Detailed maps of each stage of the battle, showing the disposition of the sides at key moments during the offensive.
Book Description
One nation taking a desperate gamble of war.
Another fighting for survival.
Two armies locked in a bloody cataclysm that will decide history. . .
David L. Robbins has won widespread acclaim for his powerful and splendidly researched novels of World War II. Now he casts his brilliant vision on one of the most terrifying--and most crucial--battles of the war: the Battle of Kursk, Hitler’s desperate gamble to defeat Russia, in the final German offensive on the eastern front.
Last Citadel
Spring 1943. In the west, Germany strengthens its choke hold on France. To the south, an Allied invasion looms imminent. But the greatest threat to Hitler’s dream of a Thousand Year Reich lies east, where his forces are pitted in a death match with a Russian enemy willing to pay any price to defend the motherland. Hitler rolls the dice, hurling his best SS forces and his fearsome new weapon, the Mark VI Tiger tank, in a last-ditch summer offensive, code-named Citadel.
The Red Army around Kursk is a sprawling array of infantry, armor, fighter planes, and bombers. Among them is an intrepid group of women flying antiquated biplanes; they swoop over the Germans in the dark, earning their nickname, “Night Witches.” On the ground, Private Dimitri Berko gallops his tank, the Red Army’s lithe little T-34, like a Cossack steed. In the turret above Dimitri rides his son, Valya, a Communist sergeant who issues his father orders while the war widens the gulf between them. In the skies, Dimitri’s daughter, Katya, flies with the Night Witches, until she joins a ferocious band of partisans in the forests around Kursk. Like Russia itself, the Berko family is suffering the fury and devastation of history’s most titanic tank battle while fighting to preserve what is sacred–their land, their lives, and each other–as Hitler flings against them his most potent armed force.
Inexorable and devastating, a company of Mark VI Tiger tanks is commanded by one extraordinary SS officer, a Spaniard known as la Daga, the Dagger. He’d suffered a terrible wound at the hands of the Russians: now he has returned with a cold fury to exact his revenge. And above it all, one quiet man makes his own plan to bring Citadel crashing down and reshape the fate of the world.
A remarkable story of men and arms, loyalty and betrayal,
Last Citadel propels us into the claustrophobic confines of a tank in combat, into the tension of guerrilla tactics, and across the smoking charnel of one of history’s greatest battlefields. Panoramic, authentic, and unforgettable, it reverberates long after the last cannon sounds.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent, character-driven writing.......2007-05-28
It is the rich characters that drive this novel. Robbins masterfully puts us in the middle of events allowing us to see through the eyes of cast. Well done!
Great fun based in reality.......2005-06-01
I really enjoyed reading Last Citadel. It's pretty fast-paced with really no boring parts. I'm no military-history expert so I cannot say if all details are accurate or not, but it sure seems so when you read it. The story centers around four characters, a Soviet tank driver and his pilot daughter, a Spanish officer serving in the German SS, and a german intelligence officer. The story is cleverly weaved around them, and at the end it all comes together. Although I enjoy reading military history books, this was the first time I've really come across the Kursk battle, and it was a really enjoyable experience (as horrible as the battle was...).
Mediocre Military/Historical Fiction.......2005-05-08
I've never read any of Robbins other books, but I'd heard good things about The War of the Rats, so I thought I'd give this a go. I knew very little about the Battle of Kursk and my knowledge of the Eastern Front in general is somewhat shaky (although I did read and enjoy Guy Sajer's memoir The Forgotten Soldier). By the end of this book, it struck me that it's very much like a lot of historical and military fiction: decent at getting across the salient facts, decent at putting the reader in the middle of the action, woeful at pacing, characterization, drama, and woodenly written.
The story revolves around the pivotal battle in July 1943 for the Soviet city of Kursk. Around two million soldiers were arrayed against each other, along with the largest collection of tanks ever seen. A German offensive, code named "Citadel", was an attempt by Hitler to create a breakthrough in Russia before he would be forced to reallocate troops and tanks to deal with the impending American invasion of Italy. The protagonists are a Spanish SS Panzer officer and a Russian family, two of whom serve in the same T-34 tank. The Spaniard is the son of a famous Barcelonan bullfighter and is part of the "Blue Division" sent by Franco to fight with the Germans. A sniper shot outside Leningrad took him out of action for almost a year and turned him into a pale, shriveled shell of what he used to be. Now he's back, escorting a final shipment of Tiger tanks to the front lines, and looking for revenge, honor, and glory to sustain the rest of his years. If this isn't cheesy enough, we have on the opposite side, the Berko family. Of Cossack linage, the cartoonish father is a tank driver for his son, a serious and distant Communist, while the daughter is a fearless member of an all-female night bomber unit. Supporting cardboard-thin characters include a gung-ho SS tank commander, a series of Ukrainian partisans, a noble Russian pilot, and a German intelligence officer spying for the Russians.
On the German side, the story mostly consists of Vega safeguarding the transport of a final shipment of Tiger tanks to the front and eventually being assigned to command one of them in the battle. On the Russian side, we have the two Berko men in their latest T-34, dealing with two new recruits and preparing for the battle. Their daughter/sister, meanwhile, is engaged on nightly bombing runs. However, when her male pilot friend gets shot down, she naturally tries to rescue him, resulting in her getting absorbed into a partisan unit with a traitor in its midst. Naturally, by the end, Vega and the Berkos will meet on the field of battle and dance their inevitable dance. Many of the story elements are poorly handled and are utterly lacking in drama or tension, such as the woman's love interest, the subplot about the traitor, and most especially the German officer spy. In contrast, the actual tactical and technical details come across rather well. Robbins does a very clear job of explaining the relative strengths and weaknesses of every tank. Similarly, he does a very good job of recreating the noise, smells, and confusion of simply driving a tank. The battle scenes are very capably handled, and one gets a reasonable impression of what it might have been like. The problem is that none of the characters are compelling or convincing, and therefore it's impossible to care very much about what happens to them.
This is military and historical fiction at its most mediocre, it's not awful, just not good. It's the kind of book I might have liked a lot when I was 16 or 17, but seems awfully thin as an adult. To be fair to Robbins, I'm not really sure how you could really make a massive tank battle that compelling to begin with. If one really is really interested in the battle, I'd suggest skipping this and checking out a decent web resource called "Battle of Kursk On the Web" that has tons of links.
I loved it!.......2005-04-05
When this book first came out I was leery of buying it. After a few months I picked it up and just completed it and I must say I am impressed. The author interweaves the stories of the main characters together to form a mosiac of one of the greatest tank battles of World War II. This is a "grunt's eye view" of the war (though a fictional one). While reading I could just picture the German Tigers coming at me and belching their smoke rings after firing a shell. I could imagine myself inside of a T-34 as it is trying to maneuver against German tanks. I could feel the wind in my hair as I flew with the Night Witches on their bombing run. I could feel the pulse of the bull as I rode with the Spainsh SS officer. This book enveloped me and placed me in it and because of that this book gets 5 stars. This book does what others are supposed to do, but often fail, it takes you away and places you in it. You can't go wrong buying and reading this book.
great book but not technically accurate.......2005-03-06
I loved the book. The writing is captivating and the plot isn't formulaic. A lot of the technical and historic details were not correct however (and I'm allowing for fictional characters of course). The russian tank forces were much more varied than just a horde of t-34's, for example. Half way through the book, the author gets mixed up and starts referring to the t-34's cannon as a 75mm one. Turrets with 2 separate hatches were in production by 1943, and so on. However, unless you're extremely picky or are reading the book just for the technical detail, this is still a great piece of writing.
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The Battle for Kharkov, Winter 1942/1943
Combat History of the 654th Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung
Tigers in Combat, Vol. 1
The Combat History of German Heavy Anti-Tank Unit 653 in World War II
Waffen-SS KURSK 1943 Volume 1 (Archive Series)
