Der Alte Fritz Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Having read my way through a lot of books on Kursk I am now moving forward to 1944. Can anyone suggest good books to read. I do not mind grand strategy but like it tempered with descriptions of local units and battles. Suggestions please. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Niepold, Battle for White Russia (known as Mittlere Ostfront 1944 in German). For straightforward accounts on the German side, Hintze's two books (no idea about the title in English), but only if you manage to ignore the 'The German Landser was so well-loved by the population in Russia' bull**** in the introduction. From the Soviet side, Glantz edited translation of the STAVKA study 'Belorussia 1944'. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted September 22, 2006 Author Share Posted September 22, 2006 Found Niepold but it is £50! I have read the Glantz book as I was one of the team that published it. Tried very hard to get a better jacket and illustration but there was no money. One my first day, I was shown an earlier one in the series and pointed out that the illustraion caption was wrong and SU-85s do not have hand rails around the back only SU-76s do. Have been looking at amazon this afternoon and found the following: Soviet Blitzkrieg: The Battle for White Russia, 1944 (Hardcover) by Walter Scott Dunn Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East by Earl F. Ziemke Bagration 1944 - Steve Zaloga Hitlers Greatest Defeat - Paul Adair Any of these good? Also is it worth getting Zalogas Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles - is it still up to date? thanks and cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Zaloga on Bagration is a very good start, the other I don't know. Dunn is good. Don't bother too much with Adair. Ziemke is a must-read. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigduke6 Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Rokkossovsky's memoirs are in English and helpful, as are I believe Chuikov's and Konev's. (Although Konev wasn't in Bagratian per se, his operations south of there were part of the same offensive.) Don't bother with Zhukov, waste of time. Ditto Andreas' recommendation on Glantz's STAVKA study. For less cost and coverage outside the campaign, Glantz's When Titan's Clashed has the basics in an neat efficient package. And of course Erickson's Road To Berlin is pretty much inevitable, although now it is (somewhat) dated. If you want the smaller stuff then Bessonov's Tank Rider is a pretty fair account of, well, a tank rider. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted September 22, 2006 Author Share Posted September 22, 2006 Great , we are getting somewhere. I feel a little amazon Bagration splurge coming on.... Have read "When Titans Clash" and have just finished "Tank Rider" which was excellent. Need a good book on Soviet armoured vehicles as well and can get the old Zaloga "Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles" - a bit pricey - a bit dated? Anything better come along since then? Was looking at Fleicher "Russian Tanks" as an alternative maybe. Was considering Glantz's Colossus series especially "Colossus Reborn". Any good? thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Der Alte Fritz, It's old, but time and again I've found John Milsom's RUSSIAN TANKS 1900-1970 to be very helpful. It's not just tanks, either, seeing as how it covers SUs, armored cars and halftracks, too. It covers the history, the developmental aspects, and the operational employment. The story of Russian armor is rich, complex and fascinating. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Hi DAF! If you liked "Tank Rider" you'll like this http://www.amazon.com/T-34-Action-Artem-Drabkin/dp/184415243X Excellent read and has some great info about how T34 crews were trained and operated. Also some snippets of early war info. It is a rivetting read. Top recommend It's great to see more info about the Soviet armed forces in WWII making it out into the big wide world. Cheers fur noo George 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalgiris 1410 Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Orrigionally posted by Der Alte Fritz Hitlers Greatest Defeat - Paul Adair. Orrigionally posted by Andreas Don't bother too much with Adair.I thought that that book was quite a good cheap book, although I must admit that I haven't read the others for a good comparative based recomendation. I will say that it lacks a lot of detail, but it was IMHO good for an overall account of the destruction of AGC, mostly from the German perspective. He did explain the basic Soviet strategic deception plan very well. I should look into some of the others I guess, especially any that cover in greater detail the lower scale of the fighting. That would be interesting. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted September 23, 2006 Author Share Posted September 23, 2006 John Thanks for the tip, I think I will get this instead of Zaloga as I need info on things other than tanks, and my favorite vehicle is the SU-85 - had a Tamiya model as a child! George Looks good. Have added it to the list. Roll on Christmas! Have you seen : Russian Tanks of World War II: Stalin's Armoured Might (Hardcover) by Tim Bean, Will Fowler Is this any good, as it gets a rave review at amazon. cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Hi DAF Glad the link was off use. Re Russian Tanks of World War II I have not read it I'm afraid. Sounds like a good read. In that vein I have read this http://www.amazon.com/Red-Army-Tank-Commanders-Aviation/dp/0887405819 some useful background info. Not so sure about the veracity of some of the accounts but it is useful for putting a character to the names, and has some useful operational info. I'll check out your suggestion Cheers fur noo George 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Zalgiris 1410 - if cheap & cheerful introduction is what you are looking for I recommend Zaloga. If he had not written his book, I'd go with your line of thinking on Adair. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHumanMage Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 By Battlefronts book when it comes to tanks http://www.battlefront.com/index.htm http://www.battlefront.com/products/books/nafziger/sovietarmorintro.html Click books then - SOVIET ARMORED TACTICS IN WORLD WAR WW II [ September 24, 2006, 06:06 AM: Message edited by: TheHumanMage ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 Originally posted by Der Alte Fritz: Found Niepold but it is £50!But it's worth it. He covers to July 4th. For later dates, you need to buy Hintze. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted September 24, 2006 Author Share Posted September 24, 2006 Yes I know. Sorry to be cost driven at present but I have just bought a new kitchen and a complete make over of the living room, so cheap and cheerful is our motto at the moment! I will put it on my Christmas list. Any views on Colossus Reborn? Or on these Nafziger books - seem to repeat what is in the 1944 Combat Regulations? cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 I'll put in a plug for Dunn. While derivative from the Soviet staff study, it is still a thorough account that taught me things I did not know from other sources. As for high prices, use a library first, and only buy something if you are convinced you will continually want it as a ready reference etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Colossus Reborn won't cover Bagration, it ends in 1943. If you mean the Sharp books, they are good, but again not teaching you anything about Bagration. Dunn is good (although he has been taken to task over his Kursk book), but may well be pricey. I know my copy was. For cheap initial go with Zaloga. Follow it with Hinze. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted September 26, 2006 Author Share Posted September 26, 2006 I had an initial look on Amazon but got a better price on many of the books at www.abebooks.com or .co.uk so have bought from there. If you do not know it ABE is a clearing house for second hand book dealers. For instance Ziemke was £29.50 on Amazon and £11 on ABE. So I have ordered that and Milsom for the tank info again £29.19 on Amazon and £11 on ABE. Dunn was £20 on boh Amazon and ABE. Cannot find Hintze in english only german. cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 That's because I cunningly misspelled his name - it is Rolf Hinze. http://books.stonebooks.com/cgi-bin/foxweb.exe/base/author?hinze_rolf Abebooks is usually much cheaper than Amazon, always check there first. As you suspect, it is a clearing house for second-hand dealers. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 BTW - I have written a few book reviews covering some of the titles, which you will be able to find at the link below: http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5641 All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tar Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 Here is a reference I located: William M. Connor. Analysis of deep attack operations: Operation Bagration, Belorussia, 22 June - 29 August 1944 Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas March 1987. Available online at: http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/connor.pdf 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 tar, On point and online for free. Doesn't get much better than that! If it's anywhere nearly as good as the August Storm study from the same group, it ought to be most useful. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Another good one is the study on the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation. http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/gebhardt/gebhardt.asp All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 On the same site there are two further good articles one on German defence techniques and the other on defensive tactics used by the Russian at Kursk. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted October 5, 2006 Author Share Posted October 5, 2006 Started to read both Ziemke and Milsom. Are there any suggestions for other good Eastern Front books - any period not just '44. cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.