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Unless you buy them used, you won't find better prices on Fedorowicz titles. His books tend to be of very high quality (oversized, lots of photos). If you are interested in German armor, you will find none better.

As I've said before, Erickson's books probably contain a lot more material for TOAW scenarios than for CM. He does not focus on small-unit actions. But if you're simply looking for dates and places of battles, his books will likely suffice.

I believe Fedorowicz is supposed to publish Kurowski's book on Kursk some time within the next few months.

Well, you are certainly entitled to your view (which I indeed respect). But after having read five of Carell's books, I hold a contrary view. I do not find anything in his books that remotely constitute lies or propaganda. And I am unwilling to dismiss an author as "untrustworthy" based solely on his background.

Volkogonov, in his superb biography of Stalin, states that Stalin knew war with Hitler was inevitable and, furthermore, that Stalin was preparing for it. But Stalin knew that the Red Army was not ready for war in 1941 and he desparately (and blindly) hoped that he would have until at least 1942 before having to fight.

Keep in mind that Erickson's books are written almost entirely from the Soviet viewpoint (which, in one sense, is refreshing considering that so many books focus on the Germans but if you are looking for a German or dual viewpoint, then Erickson is probably not for you). Also, Erickson's books tend to be a bit dry IMHO, focusing almost exclusively on strategy and operations (and definitely containing none of those tactical-level "anecdotes" that foxbat decries). It strikes me that his works are far more relevant for a wargamer who plays TOAW than for one who plays CMBB.

If you are interested in the Anschluss, the interwar period, linguistics, the holocaust, or the German diplomatic record -- all of the issues listed in your post -- then Carell's books are of no value. That is because Carell deals with none of these issues. But if you are interested in combat on the Eastern Front (as I would think most players of CMBB would be), then Carell's books are quite valuable.

Previously you claimed Carell's books were "horribly distorted" and now you say they aren't "obviously distorted". That leaves me scratching my head. I would think that a book that avoids "highly overt political claims or obviously distorted descriptions" and instead focuses strictly on the military aspects of the war (as Carell's books do) would be PRECISELY the sort of book wargamers would be interested in... You are correct that Carell, like many, many authors of history, uses anecdotes in his descriptions and does not list his sources. But the images he paints do not make his books inaccurate. Rather, they make his books highly readable and that is the very reason why his books remain so popular among those interested in WWII ... I have Carell's book "Stalingrad" and I don't get that impression at all. I didn't find what he described as being that much different from what was described by Beevor or Craig... Any discussion of the "pre-emptive war" issue by Carell in "Hitler moves East" comprises only a miniscule part of the book. (But I would encourage you to read Dr. Hoffmann's book before making up your mind that there is "not a shred of factual evidence". Dr. Hoffmann has a PhD in history and served as a military historian in the Bundeswehr from 1960 to 1995. His book was approved by German censors for publication in Germany in 1995) ... What you are saying is that because of his background (i.e. his connection with the German military), Carell is automatically disqualifed from writing about the war -- "even if there was nothing wrong with the books." If that's the case, then shouldn't Guderian, Manstein, and Mellenthin be disqualified as well? In fact, if background is the key factor, can't it be argued that NO participant from any side during the war can be trusted? After all, how can any participant be truly unbiased?

Yes, but on the other hand, the reader can be quickly put to sleep by Professor Erickson droning on for well over a thousand pages with such lines as: "Towards the middle of February, as Govorov struck out for Narva and Pskove, the Stavka proposed to use 2nd Baltic Front in Operations aimed at Ostrov, with Popov's left flank -- two armies, a minimum of twenty divisions -- committed in the direction of Rezekne."

Foxbat posts: "Other than that it is full of holes and "anecdotal"hyperbole that is allegedly based on his experiences (uh-huh based on Signal propaganda articles more like), it gives a horribly distorted picture of the germans fighting gallantly and against the odds (overwheleming numbers of russkies everywhere)." I've read Carell's "Hitler Moves East", "Scorched Earth", "Stalingrad", "Foxes of the Desert", and "Invasion: They're Coming." None of those books purport to be based on Carell's personal experiences. Instead, he describes overall campaigns. Some Germans no doubt fought gallantly (just as some fought less-than-gallantly) and they no doubt fought "against the odds". I've never gotten the impression that Carell's descriptions were "horribly distorted"... Foxbat: "He promotes the ideas of Stalingrad as a valiant sacrifice for the greater good (a blatant lie made up by the nazi propaganda machine to whitewash the disaster)" Military historians have debated, continue to debate, and will continue to debate whether Army Group South benefited by the 6th Army remaining in place AFTER it was surrounded. But I have never read ANYONE, including Carell,who attempted to "whitewash the disaster" that occurred at Stalingrad... Foxbat: "Barbarossa as a preventative war the poor germans had to attack before uncle Joe would steamroller them, the Wehrmacht as a clean-hands organisation supposedly all crimes were committed by nasty einsatzcommandas not by the gallant knights of germany, the german warmachine as infallible only the interference of a meddling Hitler prevented the 0bersoldiers of the Wehrmacht from victory.. I could go on and on." There is a fairly recent book, "Stalin's War of Extermination" by Joachim Hoffmann (available from Amazon) which discusses in detail whether Barbarossa was a preventative war (and concludes that it was). This issue is not the focus of Carell in "Hitler Moves East" or "Scorched Earth". Again, these books deal with the military campaign itself. They do not deal with the political causes of the war nor do they deal with the issue of war crimes (either German or Soviet). None of Carell's books that I have read claim the German military was "infallible"... While Carell's books are certainly not beyond criticism (just as books by Ambrose or Shirer are not beyond criticism), I believe many peoples' views of him are clouded by his background. His books should be taken for what they are - detailed descriptions of military campaigns.

I don't know what criteria you use to consider someone a "high-ranking nazi" or a "member of the nazi-propaganda machine" but I think any rational criteria for those designations would most certainly exclude Paul Carell... I find it quite interesting that those who wish to criticize Carell always point to his BACKGROUND. They never seem able to find anything specifically incorrect in his writings. As for his "observations on the war as seen from the Russian side", his books are intended to be from the GERMAN point of view. If you're looking for the Russian point of view, you should read someone else... I've read all of Carell's books and highly recommend them for anyone interested in the German miliary in World War II.

Degrelle's is the best Eastern Front book I have ever read. His description of Tscherkassy is particularly good... The next on my list is "Like a Cliff in the Ocean", a history of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf", translated into English and recently published by Fedorowicz Publishing.

I haven't tried any of the larger battles yet, but isn't there a computer performance issue with some of them? I have a P4 2.0 Ghz with 256mb of RAM. Should that be sufficient to play the larger battles?

Just got CMBB and it APPEARS (knock on wood) that my disk installed properly. (I made sure to disable Norton Anti-Virus before doing the install)... From physically looking at my disk, there appears to be no visible flaws... My guess is that there are a batch of defective disks floating around.

It's a tough call. My wife has her opinion and I have mine.

I don't have a big problem with the computer in CMBB taking more time to "think" than it did in CMBO. (I have a P4 2.0 ghz with 256meg of ram and I've noticed that the "thinking" time is definitely longer with CMBB). I would much rather it be that than reduced or clunky graphics. CB Blackard

Can someone recommend some good, custom-made scenarios (or operations) which are playable as the Germans against the AI (perferably historical and preferably involving armor)? Thanks.

My problem appears to be fixed (knock on wood)... I tried decreasing the acceleration of my video card (it was on the second to highest notch) and that didn't work. Then I tried INcreasing it to the max. That seems to have worked. The mouse now seems to work fine in the selection screen... So apparently the problem was video card related, not mouse... Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a GeForce2 nVidia card with 64 megs of video RAM. Is there a suggested setting for acceleration or other things? I notice that the mouse cursor flickers a lot during gameplay but otherwise the graphics are great and the game plays fine (once I am past the selection screen).

I'm running Windows XP... I've tried setting the scheme to "none" and I have tried disabling the scroll button. Neither fix the problem. Again, it's only an issue in the selection screen (and, occasionally, in the editor of CMBO) -- the mouse moves slow or not at all and eventually disappears. It is not a problem during gameplay -- and the problem fixes itself in the selection screens if I minimize and return. So it's only an annoyance and doesn't prevent me from playing the game.

For both CMBB (demo) and CMBO, I have mouse problems in the opening screen (also in the editor of CMBO). For CMBO, I have to push ESC, which then minimizes the game; when I return to the game, the mouse works fine... For the CMBB demo, ESC does not work; I have to push ctrl-alt-del to minimize the game and when I return to it, the mouse works fine... I realize that the readme file says I should use a "standard Windows cursor" but exactly what is that? I'm using Microsoft Intellipoint 4.1 (after having the same issue with 4.0) with the "normal" pointer. Is there something more "standard" than that?