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  • 3 weeks later...
On 2016-09-05 at 3:24 AM, BletchleyGeek said:

Thanks for the recommendation @Fizou I have devoured half the book over the weekend! It is truly magnificient.

Not surprised you enjoyed it. Id recommend most of the books from LHB (cant on the once I haven't read yet but sure they are gems as well). Looking forward to Marks next project, Stalingrad: Graveyard of the Panzers. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Michael Emrys,

Dancing girls. You forgot dancing girls!  Would love to have the books on Pioneer Battalion 505 and the Barrikady Factory, but I decided to splurge and bought myself the vastly more affordable revised edition of Death of the Leaping Horseman from an Amazon bookseller for $26 including shipping. Doubtless, this will introduce a desire for more which makes crystal meth seem harmless. Contrariwise, I've yet to die for want of Bellamy's still much coveted by me Red God of War, a book which was obscenely priced way back in the 1980s and is far worse now. Fortunately, I got his monumental Ultimate War in paperback for something like $12.00 in a marvelous old Tacoma bookshop. Would love to get all Zamulin's books on Kursk.

Regards,

John Kettler

 

Edited by John Kettler
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I'll toss this one out even though I haven't read it yet:

https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Victory-Indecisive-Operations-Hardcover/dp/0700622950/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8Z0NKWRSNZYBY4NV6JJH

It is Volume II of his Decisive and Indecisive Military Operations, Volume I of which Victory into Stalemate, set in the ETO, I am presently reading and am very impressed by.

Michael

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Amazon seems to be having an awesome sale on kindle history books now (or they've been hacked!).  See the books below:

Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1943-1945: Red Steamroller Kindle Edition  by Robert Forczyk $1.26

https://www.amazon.com/Tank-Warfare-Eastern-Front-1943-1945-ebook/dp/B01I4UE4ZY/ref=pd_sim_351_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HQG6HTFK67MRNEY0DHE0

T-34: The Red Army's Legendary Medium Tank (Images of War Special) Kindle Edition by Anthony Tucker-Jones  $1.26

https://www.amazon.com/T-34-Legendary-Medium-Images-Special-ebook/dp/B00UVYT7HM/ref=pd_typ_k_sp_1_4/178-8766709-7687723?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=19YABRM3SES4SZRXBQ65

German Army on the Eastern Front - The Retreat 1943-1945: Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives $1.26

https://www.amazon.com/German-Army-Eastern-Front-Photographs-ebook/dp/B01BM8TDR4/ref=pd_typ_k_sp_1_3/178-8766709-7687723?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=19YABRM3SES4SZRXBQ65

Hitler’s Heavy Panzers 1943-1945: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War) $1.26

https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Heavy-Panzers-1943-1945-Photographs-ebook/dp/B01C8BN2CQ/ref=pd_typ_k_sp_1_1/178-8766709-7687723?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=19YABRM3SES4SZRXBQ65

For $1.26 each, I went ahead and bought all of the books above (and some others on ancient warfare).  Note that there is no point in buying most of the books above (all of the "picture books") to read on a Kindle device, because they display pictures poorly; that said, I anticipate being able to view them satisfactorily with the Kindle app on my iPad.

Edited by 76mm
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I think someone has posted about this book on a different thread, but just to mention it on this thread as well:  I just finished Glantz's latest work:  The Battle for Belorussia.

https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Belorussia-Forgotten-Campaign-Hardcover/dp/0700623299/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484540144&sr=8-1&keywords=belorussia

This book is actually not about Bagration (the famous battle for Belorussia), but for the battles leading up to Bagration, conducted from Feb 1943-March 1944.  Frankly, the book is typical Glantz--an amazing amount and quality of research, but difficult (ie, boring) to read.  There are some interesting bits, particularly about Rokossovsky and Sokolovsky's sacking, but generally it is a rather dull read, although given the paucity of sources, this is likely to be the only book out on the topic, so if you're interested in the topic you don't have much choice to read it.

Unfortunately, the book is not a good choice for a source for battles for CMRT, for several reasons:  (1) it is a bit too high-level (focusing on divisional-scale), (2) it is in the dead of winter (snow!), and (3) many of the attacks involve river crossings or battles in swamps, which would be impossible or difficult, respectively to show in CMRT.

Finally, one more book, which I'm currently reading now:  Objective Ponyri

https://www.amazon.com/Objective-Ponyri-Defeat-Panzerkorps-Station/dp/0992274915/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484540522&sr=8-1&keywords=ponyri

This book is from Jason Mark's Leaping Horseman Books, and it meets his usual standards--an amazing account of the battle on the Northern Face of the Kursk salient, complete with a massive number of German aerial recon photos from the area, including during the battle (showing individual Ferdinand tracks through the steppe).

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The Panzer-Battalion "Brandenburg" 1945 and its Prehistory as I./Pz.Rgt. 26 by Wolfgang Ockert & Axel Urbanke (Luftfahrtverlag START)

This is a well written and very well researched book that covers a small sized german panzer unit. You follow the Panther battalion from its beginning as I. Abt. Pz. Rgt. 26 to its end as Panther-Abteilung "Brandenburg". Battles that are covered are Korsun, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Oder and at last the Halbe pocket. Most of the book deals with the Oder and Halbe sections as these were the main areas that the Brandenburg Battalion was deployed to. An excellent read. Full of inspirations for battles on the Seelöwe and Halbe in a RT module covering the later stages on the eastern front.

Bilingual in English and German, many nice photos and color maps.
 

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@76mm thanks for thoughts re Glantz latest. He keeps documenting the forgotten bits of the war in the east. Sometimes, reading other authors, it would seem that from the Orel bulge battles to Bagration there was the blink of an eye... but hardly relevant just yet to CM.

Enjoy as well Objective Ponyri, I will be eternally grateful to @Fizou for recommending it to me.

@Big Boss, have you read Zetterling's study of Korsun? How does compare the account of their baptism of fire in the book you mention?

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It was several years since I read that book so I don´t recall the details. I have Zetterlings Comments by Niklas Zetterling on the Soviet General Staff study on the Korsun-Shevchenkovskii operation in 1944 . Here I see some differences on I./26:s  firsts action at Tishkova on 28. Jan.

Ockert & Urbanke: 61 panthers attacked, 12 total losses in the fighting 28-29 Jan. Seven Panthers were knocked out, while five were blown up or abandoned by their crew.

Zetterling: "...additional Panther battalion, I./26 committed. This unit had 64 Panthers operational on 26 January, when it was still subordinated to the Grossdeutschland division.29 It moved to XXXXVII Panzer Corps on 27 January and most likely some Panthers suffered mechanical breakdowns during the march. Furthermore, 20 were rendered inoperable on 28 January."

Edited by Big Boss
grammar
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11 hours ago, BletchleyGeek said:

Thanks @Big Boss, looks like Zetterling sources are different. I was also wondering more about what was the judgement of that first action. Zetterling has some sharp comments to make in his account of that episode, which opens up his book on Korsun. 

In  Ockert & Urbanks book they write that the attack on 28. Jan was a disaster for the battalion. "A newly-arrived panzer battalion was practically run into the ground within a few days by a blindly authoritarian and wrongly-acting unit commander." They then quote an 8.Armee report from 30.Jan. "Panther Battalion I./26 has very little combat experience... Operational leadership still inexpert... Standstill after loss of battalion commander, sharp intervention was necessary. Things will get better after arrival of the new battalion commander (Hpt. Wallroth) from GD."

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28 minutes ago, Big Boss said:

In  Ockert & Urbanks book they write that the attack on 28. Jan was a disaster for the battalion. "A newly-arrived panzer battalion was practically run into the ground within a few days by a blindly authoritarian and wrongly-acting unit commander." They then quote an 8.Armee report from 30.Jan. "Panther Battalion I./26 has very little combat experience... Operational leadership still inexpert... Standstill after loss of battalion commander, sharp intervention was necessary. Things will get better after arrival of the new battalion commander (Hpt. Wallroth) from GD."

Cheers @Big Boss, that matches very well with Zetterling's account... an untried Bn commander taking his whole command unsupported by infantry against entrenched Red Army troops.

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On 1/16/2017 at 1:08 AM, Michael Emrys said:

I'll toss this one out even though I haven't read it yet:

https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Victory-Indecisive-Operations-Hardcover/dp/0700622950/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8Z0NKWRSNZYBY4NV6JJH

It is Volume II of his Decisive and Indecisive Military Operations, Volume I of which Victory into Stalemate, set in the ETO, I am presently reading and am very impressed by.

Michael

Ditto. I have them both, and am currently working my way through Normandy. I like it a lot.

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6 hours ago, JonS said:

Ditto. I have them both, and am currently working my way through Normandy. I like it a lot.

I won't claim that it is the bible of the summer into fall '44 campaign—I don't think such a thing exists and would need to be 10,000 pages long if it did—but it is reasonably detailed and so far well balanced. While Dick does not shrink from calling a spade a spade, he is not at pains to excoriate those generals when they make mistakes...and they all do sooner or later. I think he is very adept at putting his finger on all the critical factors and illuminating them without a lot of unnecessary verbiage. If the reader is interested in learning about the ETO during this time period, and especially if he is a beginner, it would be hard to find a better place to start.

Michael

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On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 2:04 AM, George MC said:

Jason Mark is running a 25% sale til end of January. 

I cannot rate his books highly enough. If you haven't gone to Leaping Horseman Books (Jason Mark's site), do yourself a favor: do it...with your credit card ready to go. This sale is a great opportunity. (The email I received stated it was for US sales. I'm not sure if the discount applies anywhere else.)

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1 hour ago, c3k said:

I cannot rate his books highly enough. If you haven't gone to Leaping Horseman Books (Jason Mark's site), do yourself a favor: do it...with your credit card ready to go. This sale is a great opportunity. (The email I received stated it was for US sales. I'm not sure if the discount applies anywhere else.)

There is also a UK code so applies to UK as well.

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1 hour ago, c3k said:

I cannot rate his books highly enough. If you haven't gone to Leaping Horseman Books (Jason Mark's site), do yourself a favor: do it...with your credit card ready to go. This sale is a great opportunity. (The email I received stated it was for US sales. I'm not sure if the discount applies anywhere else.)

37 minutes ago, George MC said:

There is also a UK code so applies to UK as well.

And also for the rest of Europe according to the email I got. And I couldn't agree more on the rating of the books.

Edited by Fizou
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On 16-1-2017 at 9:31 AM, Big Boss said:

The Panzer-Battalion "Brandenburg" 1945 and its Prehistory as I./Pz.Rgt. 26 by Wolfgang Ockert & Axel Urbanke (Luftfahrtverlag START)

This is a well written and very well researched book that covers a small sized german panzer unit. You follow the Panther battalion from its beginning as I. Abt. Pz. Rgt. 26 to its end as Panther-Abteilung "Brandenburg". Battles that are covered are Korsun, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Oder and at last the Halbe pocket. Most of the book deals with the Oder and Halbe sections as these were the main areas that the Brandenburg Battalion was deployed to. An excellent read. Full of inspirations for battles on the Seelöwe and Halbe in a RT module covering the later stages on the eastern front.

Bilingual in English and German, many nice photos and color maps.
 

This is indeed an outstanding book. Urbanke's book on III/JG 54 and JG 26 (both equipped with Fw 190D's) is also excellent.

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