RobVarak Posted June 1, 2000 Share Posted June 1, 2000 One of my local book dealers just got a copy of von Manstein's book (Lost Victory? ). I ran a search, but it didn't turn up too much. Has anyone read this? If so, what are your thoughts on it? ------------------ Rob Varak Editor Site on Sound: The Web's Premier Site For Musical Discussion www.siteonsound.com [This message has been edited by RobVarak (edited 06-01-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest grunto Posted June 1, 2000 Share Posted June 1, 2000 check out http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-9034843-4319922 carell has much to say about manstein in hitler moves east and scorched earth... several cm2 scenarios could be gleaned from this... some cm1 material is to be found in, invasion! they're coming... have you heard of east front books? They could probably find you loads of material on manstein. carell seems to think manstein was the bee's knees (slang for greatest) of military commanders andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Bailey Posted June 1, 2000 Share Posted June 1, 2000 Lost Victories. I own and have read it. Required book if you are into operational issues facing German military commanders as tide of war turned in Southern Russia/Ukraine. At times, overly critical of Hitler, but a clear consideration of the see-saw battles that over-time simply wore the German Wehrmacht out. Excellent account of the relief attempt of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad, the counterstroke at Krarkov to save an Army Group, and the battles along the Dnieper. Not much good if you are into tactical stuff - its worthless if you are looking to improve your CM prowl... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted June 1, 2000 Share Posted June 1, 2000 Same with von Luck's "Panzer Commander". Excellent reading and operational stuff, but not much nuts-and-bolts help with CM-level tactics. I do recommend it highly, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumbo Posted June 2, 2000 Share Posted June 2, 2000 "Lost victories" value comes from the authorship. First hand accounts are always the most valuable (even when biased). Manstein is no dummy and a fine student of military history so his accounts are very well put together. The one thing missing is he gives no evaluation of his opponents skills which combined with the aweful, absent or politically intimidated writings of the russian generals leaves us with only a partial picture of the east front. This varies from the "Russians won by numbers" sillyness to the equally daft "Fascist invaders thrown back by the superior ideology of communism". Do not expect the book to be easy going if you are not already familiar with the operations in question, Manstein is presenting his analyses not a blow by blow account. If you are familiar with the campaigns in question though "Lost Victories" is required reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rommel22 Posted June 2, 2000 Share Posted June 2, 2000 If you want to improve your CM prowl. Read "Erwin Rommel's infantry attacks". there is nothig on tanks but you can just adopt the tactics he talks about. It's awesome, and works for me. A good operational book about the whole war 1939-45 is "Panzer Battles" by Von Mellethin (not exactly sure how to spell, I let some one borrow it). Very good book. It covers poland, France, Africa (only 41 to late 42), Russia 42(starts with Stalingrad)till 44, and 44-45 Ardenes until 45. Von Melethin went through all this. Very good book. Recomended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GriffinCheng+ Posted June 2, 2000 Share Posted June 2, 2000 The book is : "Panzer Battles : A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War" by F. W. Von Mellinthin GriffinCheng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobVarak Posted June 2, 2000 Author Share Posted June 2, 2000 Let me second "Rommel's" recommendation of Rommel's Infantry Attacks. Actually, I think the latest U.S. version is simply called "Attacks". Either way it's one of the most interesting books on small unit tactics I've ever seen. Rommel (The Original, of course ) has a wonderful knack for clearly conveying complex situations with easy to grasp language. von Mellenthin's book is also great, but more for the operational and strategic level discussions. I figured that's whay I'd get from von Manstein as well. Thanks for all the replies. ------------------ Rob Varak Editor Site on Sound: The Web's Premier Site For Musical Discussion www.siteonsound.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts