Good books about Barbarossa / the war in the east?

[RSColonel_131st]

Now here's an easy one for all the grogs out there...what books (or DVD's) would you recommend that cover the eastern front from a german POV?

Maybe something that can inspire ideas for CMBB, about tactics, weapons, vehicles...and the men that fought there.

Coming from Ilyushin 2 I've got the aerial part pretty much covered, but I'm still very clueless when it comes to german groundwarfare between 1941 and 1945.

I've got plenty of material about Stalingrad, though. That seems to overshadow most of the other battles in todays literature/cinemas.

Also, if you can, please include a source where I could get them from.

Thanks!

RS

[Foxbat]

Manstein or Guderians memoirs are good starting points, as long as you occasionaly remind yourself that they had good reason to cast a blind eye on soviet succes.. and even more reason to make their defeats look like they were caused by Adolf while hogging the glory for their own vitories

If you want more of a down in the dirt look panzer aces, von Lucke's memoirs or similar riff-raff is great stuff but the same as above applies (doubly in fact as the tactical battle was often the domain of the germans while operationally and strategically they were getting their ass kicked at that time).

There was also a trio of books called Moscow, Stalingrad and Berlin that is written as historical fiction that I always found really, really gripping as a teenager. I'll have to ask my dad if he still has the books, or knows who the auther was [let's hope it wasn't some guy called Schmidt ).

[Flesh]

Well, if you're in the market for a book that gives you a good idea what it was like to be a German soldier on the Eastern Front, I would suggest "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. IMHO it seems to really capture the horror, the despair and the frustration felt by those involved. It's also an incredibly moving book. A "must read" in fact...

I would also recommend a Russian film called "Come and See", which covers the partisan war. Again, it is both horrific and moving.

[AndrewTF]

Gottlob Biedermann's In Deadly Combat is a good memoir of a German soldier's experiences on the Eastern Front and subsequent imprisonment.

I also just finished The Volga Rises in Europe, by Italian novelist/journalist/director/intellectual Curzio Malaparte, who served as both an officer in the Alpini and the only front-line war correspondent in the Ukrainian front. He was eventually kicked out personally by Goebbels for writing realistically and sympathatically about the Russians. He later manages to get himself sent to Finland, and the second half of the book chronicles his experiences in the Finnish trenches near Leningrad on the Karelian front. A good read.

[Foxbat]

Originally also posted by Foxbat:

There was also a trio of books called Moscow, Stalingrad and Berlin that is written as historical fiction that I always found really, really gripping as a teenager. I'll have to ask my dad if he still has the books, or knows who the auther was [let's hope it wasn't some guy called Schmidt ].

It wasn't Schmidt but Theodor Plievier, a commie rather than a Nazi. You'd never goes from the books though, probably because life in eastern germany shortly after the war soured him on Stalinism somewhat.

A short review of his Stalingrad book (in german): Stalingrad (theodor plievier)

"Dieses buch ist das hoffnungsloseste buch, was ich jemals gelesen habe und was stalingrad ins warme heimische wohnzimmer bringt, welches beim lesen ebenfalls grau und klirrend kalt wirkt und nur vom sterben erfüllt scheint."

"This book is the most devoid of hope of any book I have ever read, and it brings Stalingrad right into your warm and cosy living room, which during reading seems dreary, cold and filled only with the death and the dying" [non-literally translated by Foxbat]

Or to quote Nick Cave:

And I wish that I was made of stone

So that I would not have to see

A beauty impossible to define

A beauty impossible to believe

A beauty impossible to endure..

[ December 28, 2002, 10:01 PM: Message edited by: Foxbat ]

[miller41]

I have to agree that In Deadly Combat is a great book for eastern front reading. I also recomment "A war without Garlands" by R. Kershaw, it deals with Russian front up to early 42.

[Foxbat]

"A war without Garands" - An american's guide to the eastern front, by J Doe.

Well it is a good idea anyway.

[RCHRD]

The best one I've seen lately is 'Death of the Leaping Horseman'. 24th Pz Div (Ex 1st Kav) Day by day from Aug 13th or so to Nov 19, 1942. Daily actions, casualties, awards, maps, copies of plans and orders, photographs, memoirs. There is a link on another thread, available online only.

[Apache]

There have been quite a few threads on this topic. "When Titans Clashed" is often recommended. Sorry, can't recall author.

[BRO, JD]

Originally posted by Flesh:

Well, if you're in the market for a book that gives you a good idea what it was like to be a German soldier on the Eastern Front, I would suggest "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. IMHO it seems to really capture the horror, the despair and the frustration felt by those involved. It's also an incredibly moving book. A "must read" in fact...

"Forgotten Soldier" is an unforgettable book, but many scholars out there don't believe that "Guy Sajer" was actually an Eastern Front veteran. This book is probably, at best, quasi-autobiographical.

"When Titans Clashed" is by David Glantz, the current preeminent western historian of the Eastern Front.

[Aragorn2002]

Hell's Gate by Douglas E. Nash

Last Victory in Russia by George M. Nipe

Decision in the Ukraine by George M. Nipe

The inevitable Paul Carrell

Platz der Leibstandarte by George M. Nipe

God, Honor, Fatherland by Remy Spezzano

To start with...

[UberFunBunny]

I would also recommend a Russian film called "Come and See", which covers the partisan war. Again, it is both horrific and moving.

I too would recommend this film. It is a film Spielberg could never have made.

It isn't Russian however, but Belarusian.

[Hortlund]

My reccomendation:

Start with Paul Carell, Hitlers war on Russia. That book gives an excellent view of the first year of the war from the German side. If covers Barbarossa to Stalingrad. Carell manages to mix the perspectives of individual soldiers with that of the field marshals, making the book an extremely interesting read. Also, Carell was (if I remember correctly) a German war correspondent or something, he was working for Signal magazine, the German propaganda paper, so he met several of the persons in his books.

His book will give you a great overview, combined with detailed personal accounts. His style of writing makes it very "personal", it is very very good.

After that one, move on to the "classics" Guderians Panzer leader, Mansteins lost victories for a more detailed view of the German perspective.

Then, time for the individual soldiers perspective, Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer.

[ December 29, 2002, 06:17 AM: Message edited by: Leutnant Hortlund ]

[ichadwick]

Paul Carrell: Hitler Moves East 1941-43 and Scorched Earth 1943-44. There was a third volume published much later in English, called Operation Barabarossa in Photographs. The hardcover versions have a lot of photos and maps not found in the paperback editions.

All are well-written, with lots of small-unit detail, but Carrell is an apologist for the German military and he carefully skirts the political and social events of the era. While I wouldn't call him overtly pro-Nazi, he is careful to avoid any critical comments of the Nazis in his works.

Carell also wrote a book called Stalingrad - The Defeat of The German 6th Army. Carrell was, if my memory serves correctly, actually Capt. Paul Karl Schmidt, a member of Hitler's press corp, and he changed his name after the war. He wrote several other war-related books.

Willi Heinrich wrote two novels about the Ostfront: Cross of Iron and Crack of Doom. Heinrich served on the front in the infantry for four years, so his books have a sense of on-the-front realism, although again very pro-German.

The best Soviet military memoirs were not published until after Khrushchev took power. Most of the wartime marshalls and generals published their memoirs and some are still in print. They are generally one-sided but worth reading for their insight into Soviet doctrine. Start with Georgi Zhukov's Marshal Zhukov's Greatest Battles.

Khrushchev Remembers is a good autobiography with information about the war, albeit suspect because he was one of Stalin's main supporters. But he does give a good picture of the war from the Soviet perspective.

It's hard to find Russian novels about the period because Stalin repressed much writing or oversaw the content during his lifetime and even afterwards, the Soviets were slow to publish anything that might not put the state in a good light. There was only one official publisher until at least the 1980s - its English language arm was Progress Books. They only published state-approved works, which is why Solzhenitsyn had to smuggle his writing outside to Europe.

Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate, which covers the battle of Stalingrad from a Russian soldier's perspective, is interesting, although dense.

The official mutli-volume Soviet history of the Great Patriotic War is really dense with detail, but not always factual because a lot of files were not released until after Glasnost. Not sure if it's still in print (I believe it was from Progress)

Try When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler by David Glantz, which used the later secret files for its study. Glantz is an excellent researcher and has about 35-40 books on the Ostfront to his name!

You can find a listing of some related books here: DBookmahn's and here: Close Combat Burning Books

Chris Evans Books Russian History Books and Hall European History.com

And, of course, Chapters (in Canada), Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Ian

[RSColonel_131st]

Impressive listings, thanks all.

I'm off to check amazon.de and other stores in europe...time to turn my christmas money in some worthwhile reading.

[landser]

Bidermann's In Deadly Combat is a good read. I found his account of defending a rail station in Makensia in December of '41 with his "Doorknocker" very gripping. His crew destroyed 3 Russian tanks, which Bidermann describes as "heavy armor", though he does not say what type of tank it was. The first tank was knocked out at 40 meters! A second tank was destroyed with a single shot through the turret, and he mentions the use of the "special" red-tipped rounds for heavy armor. After the combat, the author and another man inspect this tank and in the process of dismantling the optics he sees that the sights were directly on the position of his PaK. It was simply a matter of who fired first that determind who lived and who died. Bidermann's round penetrated the turret below the ammunition rack, killing the Soviet gunner. Lucky for them, the Germans were a bit faster.

For those who have this book -- there is a picture two pages after page 144 (the photo pages are not numbered)-- that shows a German officer riding on horseback past a huge multi-gunned Russian tank abandoned during the Russian retreat in July of '41. What type of tank is this? Could all of those cannon be in action at once? How many men crewed this vehicle? Any links so I can learn more? It looks like a fortress on tracks. Thanks!

[Foxbat]

Originally posted by landser:

[..]a huge multi-gunned Russian tank abandoned during the Russian retreat in July of '41. What type of tank is this?

A T-35 heavy tank.

Could all of those cannon be in action at once?

Technically yes, but only if the tank is surrounded [see link for a picture of the fields of fire of the turrets], besides 2 of the small turrets are MG turrets.

How many men crewed this vehicle? Any links so I can learn more?

8 men, and a link: The Russian Battlefield, T-35

It looks like a fortress on tracks. Thanks!

It was about as mobile as a fortress too

[landser]

Good show! Thanks, that's the beast. Despite it's deficiencies, I'd still hate to roll up on one in a PSW or something. If it still had Russians inside, that is.

[Foxbat]

Originally posted by landser:

Good show! Thanks, that's the beast. Despite it's deficiencies, I'd still hate to roll up on one in a PSW or something. If it still had Russians inside, that is.

It does look somewhat impressive, but it really is just a very big BT that can't shoot it's gun at you if you approach it from the right-front.. a PSW should be panzer enough to kill it

[momishuli]

You could try "Volokolamsk Shosse" by Alexander Alexandrovich Beck, 1965, for a Soviet perspective (has propaganda elements but not extensive). It covers the Battle for Moscow at company/battalion level. Title might also be Volokolamsk Highway. Gives vivid description of the life and discipline of a Soviet infantry unit (360th Rifle Division, later became 8th Guards Rifle Division) during 1941.

[cbb]

Originally posted by Foxbat:

[QBIt wasn't Schmidt but Theodor Plievier, a commie rather than a Nazi. You'd never goes from the books though, probably because life in eastern germany shortly after the war soured him on Stalinism somewhat.

[/QB]

I believe Plievier was in the USSR when he wrote "Stalingrad" -- thus you will find nothing negative in that book regarding the Red Army. Soon thereafter he became disillusioned with Comrade Stalin's "worker's paradise" and fled to the west where he wrote "Moscow" and "Berlin". "Moscow" is written mostly from the Russian viewpoint and the author enjoys more freedom to cast the Red Army and the USSR in a negative light. "Berlin" is my least favorite of the three. It focuses less on military aspects. I found the story line a bit hard to follow.

[Rickovich]

For a good read with many accounts gleaned from the participants and mostly centering around the Kursk campaign,may I suggest Martin Caiden's "The Tigers are Burning".If for no other reason then it's my signature .

[SgtMuhammed]

If you can get them the army put out a series of books on the German tactics on the Eastern Front. They were intended to help NATO commanders fight the Warsaw Pact. They have titles like "German Defense Tactics Against Russian Breakthroughs," and "Military Improvisations During The Russian Campaign." They have some decent maps and are pretty informative.

[John Kettler]

Here's a link to all kinds of goodies for all sides in the epic clash, plus numerous other areas of conflict.

http://www.motorbooks.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/mbi.woa/wa/sendToPage?community=Military%20History

Also, got IMAGES OF KURSK: HISTORY'S GREATEST TANK

JULY 1943, Nik Cornish, Brassey's 2002 for Christmas (via B&N gift card). A most impressive book, albeit with a few errors in the photos.

Go to the local B&N WW II section and take a look at all the other goodies there. Many cool works! Several are in much the same format as my Kursk book, with one covering Russian tanks. If you've money to burn (~$35.00 US), try Raus's PANZERS AT WAR (ed. Peter Tsouras) . Raus commanded 6 Panzer Div. and writes in detail of his Ost Front experiences. The war art section is great, too.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Flesh]

Originally posted by BRO, JD:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Flesh:

Well, if you're in the market for a book that gives you a good idea what it was like to be a German soldier on the Eastern Front, I would suggest "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. IMHO it seems to really capture the horror, the despair and the frustration felt by those involved. It's also an incredibly moving book. A "must read" in fact...

"Forgotten Soldier" is an unforgettable book, but many scholars out there don't believe that "Guy Sajer" was actually an Eastern Front veteran. This book is probably, at best, quasi-autobiographical.

"When Titans Clashed" is by David Glantz, the current preeminent western historian of the Eastern Front.</font>