Eastern Front book recommendations

[Buckeye]

I'm by no means an expert on the Eastern Front, so I've been doing some reading in preparation for the release of CMBB. I'd recommend the following:

1) David Glantz & Jonathan House, When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler.

2) David Glantz & Jonathan House, The Battle of Kursk.

3) Edwin Hoyt, 199 Days: The Battle for Stalingrad.

4) Dmitriy Loza (translated and edited by James Gebhardt), Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks: The World War II Memoirs of Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Loza.

I'd be interested in what other Forum members recommend. So, what're your suggestions?

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by Buckeye:

I'm by no means an expert on the Eastern Front, so I've been doing some reading in preparation for the release of CMBB. I'd recommend the following:

1) David Glantz & Jonathan House, When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler.

2) David Glantz & Jonathan House, The Battle of Kursk.

3) Edwin Hoyt, 199 Days: The Battle for Stalingrad.

4) Dmitriy Loza (translated and edited by James Gebhardt), Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks: The World War II Memoirs of Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Loza.

I'd be interested in what other Forum members recommend. So, what're your suggestions?

Not to appear ungrateful, but why do you recommend these? I don't disagree, just think the post is kind of sterile.

[Xenophile]

There's another thread, but to repeat:

Russia's War, Richard Overy

The Forgotten Soldier, Guy Sajer

Stalingrad, Antony Beevor

The road to Berlin, Antony Beevor

Barbarossa, Alan Clark

Panzer Battles, Mellenthin

Panzer leader, Guderian

These will tell you more about the strategy, course and politics of the Nazi-Soviet struggle rather than exclusively giving advice on tactical level combat, but they are all excellent reads nonetheless and will give anyone a broad view of the conflict and why it ended as it did.

To continue my current campaign of enlightenment, get anything by John Keegan if you want to develop a deeper understanding of what war, especially in the 20th Century, is really like.

[freaky ol'man w/very long wings]

Great! Books would be always a good recomendation, I had read some titles myself.

Marshal Vasily Chuikov's;

"The Beginning of the Road: the battle for Stalingrad."

"The End of the Third Reich." Memoirs.

Theodor Plievier's trilogy.

"Moscow".

"Stalingrad".

"Berlin". This are three fiction novels

Tarkovski"s movie "MY name is Ivan".

I also saw a video once by the title "Come and See", a movie about Partians and "scorched earth" stories, very moving.

If you please look in the posts of the last few weeks you will find my postings with other titles.

Right now I'm reading Glantz's "Zhukov's Gretest Defeat", along with twelve other books on the subject. Konev, Manstein, Guderian, La Mazziere, Leon Degrelle, Cursio Malaparte, Zhukov...

I also would recomend John Erickson's "Roads..." and Albert Seaton.

I will also point out to a book edited by Hannes Heer & Klauss Naumann "War of Extermination: The German Military in World War II 1941-1944." It gives account of the responsability of the whole Wehrmacht with war crimes.

In my experience as a reader, this helps not to be one-sided. Thank you.

[BFCElvis]

"In Dealy Combat" is one I am in the middle of. Seems like a good first person account of the Eastern Front from a Germans viewpoint.

[Little_Black_Devil]

I recently finished Robert J. Kershaw's "War Without Garlands: Operation Barbarossa 1941/42".

It is simillar to Gottlob Herbert Biddermann's "In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front", which was mentioned above. Its not someone's memoirs, but does recount the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa through a series of eye-witness accounts. The book's general discussion is heavily augmented by these accounts. I don't think the book intends to be so much a definitive source on Operation Barbarossa, as it is trying to make the war more personal.

To give you an example, here is an excerpt;

pp.68/69

"An unpleasent surprise for the supremely confident Panzer troops was the quality of some of the Soviet equipments they soon faced.

On the Second Day of the Campaign, in the 6th Panzer Division sector, 12 German supply trucks were knocked out, one after the other, by a solitary unidentified Soviet heavy tank. The vehicle sat astride the road south of the River Dubysa near Rossieny. Further beyond, two German combat teams had already established bridgeheads on the other side of the river. They were about to be engaged in the first major tank battle of the eastern campaign. Their urgent resupply requirements had already been destroyed. Rutted muddy approaches and a nearby forest infested with bands of stay-behind Russian infantry negated any option to bypass. The Russian tank had to be eliminated. A battery of medium 50mm German anti-tank guns was sent forward to force the route.

The guns were skilfully manhandled by their crews through close terrain up to within 600m of their intended target. Three red-hot tracer-based sheks spat out at 823m/sec, smacking into the tank with rapid and resounding 'plunks' one after the other. At first there was cheering but the crews became concerned as these and another five rounds spun majestically into the air as they ricocheted off the armour of the unknown tank type. Its turret came to life and remorselesly traversed in their direction. Within minutes the entire battery was silenced by a lethal succession of 76mm HE shecks that tore into them. Casualties were heavy.

Meanwhile a well cammoflaged 88mm Flak gun carefully crept forward, slowly towed by its half-track tractor, winding its way among cover provided by the 12 burnt-out German trucks strewn about the road. It got to within 900m of the Soviet tank before a further 76mm round spat out, spinning the gun into a roadside ditch. The crew, caught in the act of manhandling the trails into position, were mown down by a swathe of coaxial machine gun fire. Every sheck fired by the Russian tank appeared to be a strike. Nothing moved until nightfall when, under the cover of darkness, it was safe enought to recover the dead and wounded and salvage some of the knocked out equipments.

An inconclusive raid was mounted that night by assault engineers who managed to attatch two demolition charges onto this still, as yet, unidentified tank type. Both charges exploded, but retaliatory turret fire confirmed the tank was still in action. Three attacks had failed. Dive-bomber support was requested but not available. A fourth attack plan was developed involving a further 88mm Flak gun, supported this time by light Panzers which were to feint and provide covering fire in a co-ordinated daylight operation.

Panzers, utilizing tree cover, skirmished forward and began to engage the solitary tank from three directions. This confused the Russian tank which, in attempting to duel with these fast-moving and fleeting targets, was struck in the rear by the newly positioned 88mm Flak gun. Three rounds bore into the hull at over 1,000m/sec. The turret traversed rearward and stopped. There was no sign of an explosion or fire so a further four rounds smashed remorselesly into the apparently helpless target. Spent ricochets spun white-hot to the ground followed by the metallic signatures of direct impacts. Unexpectedly the Soviet gun barrel abruptly jerked skyward. With the engagement over at last, the nearest German troops moved forward to inspect their victim.

Excited and chattering they clambered aboard the armoured colossus. They had never seen such a tank before. Suddenly the turret began to rotate again and the soldiers frantically scattered. Two engineers had the presence of mind to drop two stick grenades into the interior of the tank, through one of the holes pierced by the shot at the base of the turret. Muffled explosions followed and the turret hatch clattered open with an exhalation of smoke. Peering inside the assualt engineers could just make out the mutilated remains of the crew. This single tank had blocked forward replenishment to the 6th Panzer Division vanguard for 48 hours. Only two 88mm shecks actually penetrated the armour; five others had gouged deep dents. Eight carbonised blue marks were the only indication of 50mm gun impacts. There was no trace at all of the supporting Panzer strikes, many of which had clearly been seen to hit.

The nature of the enemy armoured threat had irretrievably altered. General Halder wrote in his diary that night: 'New heavy enemy tank!...a new feature in the sectors of Army Group South and Army Group North is the new heavy Russian tanks, reportedly to be armed with 8cm guns and, according to another but untrustworthy observation from Army Group North, even 15cm guns'

This was the KV-1 (Klim Voroshilov) which mounted a 76.2mm gun. Its sister variant the KV-2, although more unwieldly, did have a 15cm gun[actually its 15.2cm]...."

The whole book is pretty much like that, one astounding story after another, I really enjoyed it. If this peaked your interest, then you'd definitely enjoy the other 254 pages of the book.

[ July 25, 2002, 12:07 AM: Message edited by: Little_Black_Devil ]

[arax3]

Suggest: "Hitler Moves Ease," by Paul Carrel and "Lost Battles" by von Manstein.

[Lindan]

Also an excellent read on operational scale is:

"Operation Mars: Zhukovs greatest Disaster"

by Glantz & House

Mars was the sister operation to Uranus (Stalingrad)with the goal to remove army group center as a threat to Moscow.

Movie: "Dogs! Do you want to live forever? (Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben?)

It's a b/w movie from the 60's about Stalingrad. You can get it on DVD. (LOL, single-channel-mono sound)

[L.Tankersley]

I just finished Alan Clark's Barbarossa on vacation last week and liked it quite a bit. Nice overview of the high-level thinking that was going on, and some fascinating transcripts of discussions between Hitler and various generals/marshalls.

[Andrew H.]

Originally posted by Little_Black_Devil:

I recently finished Robert J. Kershaw's "War Without Garlands: Operation Barbarossa 1941/42".

This was the KV-1 (Klim Voroshilov) which mounted a 76.2mm gun. Its sister variant the KV-2, although more unwieldly, did have a 15cm gun[actually its 15.2cm]...."

The whole book is pretty much like that, one astounding story after another, I really enjoyed it. If this peaked your interest, then you'd definitely enjoy the other 254 pages of the book.

[Das Reich]

Panzer Commander: Hans von Luck

[Scott B]

Buckeye's list is good.

I think that the best general histories are the following works:

Erickson, John. The Road to Stalingrad and The Road to Berlin.

Glantz, David and House, Jonathan. When Titans Clashed.

Ziemke, Earl. Moscow to Stalingrad and Stalingrad to Berlin.

From there I think one can start working out to different campaigns or memoirs. I prefer Glantz's earlier work - I think From the Don to the Dnepr is just plain better history than Zhukov's Greatest Defeat. The quality of the information that David Glantz uncovers is excellent, and that alone gives his work unique value, but in some instances I don't agree with his analysis - unfortunately on the Eastern Front there really isn't much to work with in English.

I don't usually recommend Hitler Moves East - it's just not very good history, although entertaining (and likely very useful for CMBB scenario designers). If read with a critical eye and an appreciation of the nature of the writer, it's probably the least worst book by Carell, though.

I have not read Beevor's newer book on Berlin because I didn't like his Stalingrad book. I found it alternately boring and depressing - Beevor concentrates on the squalor and awful conditions for the troops in the battle. That's okay, but it's barely military history - he doesn't do any heavy lifting and in the end contributes very little. I have to admit my own bias here, because if you haven't read many memoirs or personal accounts of the battle then Beevor's book might be interesting to you. I'm interested in a hardheaded analysis operational art, strategy, foreign policy, and that sort of thing, and for that, look elsewhere.

The most important thing, I think, in reading about the Eastern Front is trying to have a balanced approach. It's so difficult to maintain objectivity when impacted by so many primary sources written by people who had very, very strong biases about the conflict.

Scott

[Andreas]

Originally posted by Andrew Hedges:

There's a little more context in Zaloga, although I know you only typed out an excerpt. While these guys were cut off, other units of 6th Pz went beyond the KV (on other roads) and engaged in a battle that destroyed 180 Soviet tanks. It was after this battle was won that a detachment of 35(t)s could be send down to deal with this lone KV-2.

The full, and original account is contained in Tsouras, P. (ed) 2002 'Panzers on the Eastern Front', publisher Greenhill. This is a collection of smaller actions that was written up by General Raus, in 1941 an Oberst in 6.PD for the US Army historical division after the war. He was commanding KG Raus of 6.PD in the border battles. In his account, he identifies the tank as a KV-1, and gives it an 80mm gun (a small mistake to make if it was a KV-1, rather more off if it was a KV-2).

Recommended book BTW. The horse lovers will drool at the description of a camel charge on German positions. Those wacky Turkmenians.

[Panzer Leader]

Andreas, I just cracked that book open last night! Having finished "Steel Inferno", I was finally able to get to the book I had been saving for last.

I'm only through the introduction, but I can tell that this will be an excellent work. Raus, whom I'd never heard of before (except for that remark by Guderian) seems to be a quite capable leader.

[Runyan99]

If this thread goes on long enough, we will eventually list every piece of historiography covering the East Front in the last fifty years, good and bad.

On the other hand, I greatly enjoy book discussion, so I will throw in my 2 cents.

I agree that Robert J. Kershaw's "War Without Garlands: Operation Barbarossa 1941/42" is an excellent book. It contains an unusual mix of "big picture" analysis, along with stories and letters written from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground.

"In Deadly Combat" by Bidermann is one of the best first person accounts from a regular guy in one of the anonymous German infantry divisions.

It goes without saying that everything by Glantz is thorough and top-notch.

Something interesting I just picked up is "Thunder on the Dnepr" by Bryan Fugate and Lev Dvoretsky. It is unusual because it convincingly argues that the Soviets (Zhukov and Timoshenko in particular) planned and executed a three echelon-deep "defense in depth" strategy in 1941, based upon super-secret wargames conducted in January and February 1941. It argues that Stavka knew the German attack was coming well before June 22, and designed a strategy to defeat the attack in the depths of Russia, the result of which were the heavy Soviet counterattacks around Smolensk and Moscow in 1941. It is great because it refutes the accepted myths regarding Barbarossa (i.e. the Russians were suprised by the German attack, and only the poor weather stopped the German advance).

"Fighting for the Soviet Motherland" by Dmitriy Loza is also special because it was written by a Russian tank officer. It covers several different topics in seperate chapters.

[Runyan99]

I thought of a couple more books to cover.

Andreas has already mentioned "Panzers on the Eastern Front" by Raus. It was only recently published. I have read about half of it and it seems worthwhile.

Any of the unit histories published by J.J. Fedorowicz are pretty good. I personally have one volume of the "Das Reich" unit history, although they also have published histories for "Leibstandarte" and "Grossdeutschland".

[ July 25, 2002, 05:32 PM: Message edited by: Runyan99 ]

[Andrew H.]

Originally posted by Andreas:

The full, and original account is contained in Tsouras, P. (ed) 2002 'Panzers on the Eastern Front', publisher Greenhill. This is a collection of smaller actions that was written up by General Raus, in 1941 an Oberst in 6.PD for the US Army historical division after the war. He was commanding KG Raus of 6.PD in the border battles. In his account, he identifies the tank as a KV-1, and gives it an 80mm gun (a small mistake to make if it was a KV-1, rather more off if it was a KV-2).

Normally, I would assume that Tsouras's information was more accurate than Zaloga's...but Zaloga has two photographs of what is supposed to be the KV-2 at Rasyeinia after it's capture (including a photo showing Axis military photographers taking a picture of the KV-2). I suppose it's always possible that the pictures were of some other KV-2, of course, although one photo purports to show the track damage caused by the engineers' demo charge.

One other thing that makes me think that it was a KV-2 and not a KV-1 is the effect that the 88 had on it. A KV-1 has more armor than a T-34, so it should shrug off 50mm and 37mm shells, but I *think* that 88s will penetrate a KV-1 at all reasonable combat ranges, but not necessarily a KV-2. (I could be mistaken on this last point, though; it's been a while since I've done much with the eastern front).

[Andreas]

Andrew, I have been wondering about the effect of the 88 myself. Interesting question to ponder.

If the picture shows another KV-2, it would probably be from the Rossienie (Rassinai) tank battle that 6th Panzer fought. Detailed in Glantz "Initial Period".

[Urban Shocker]

All of the following were found at:

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/catalog/WWII-Pubs.htm

(Shocker's note: I read the "Small Unit Actions" book and found it full of small scale maps and german unit types involved in combats. It is a bit skimpy on the Russians But I think this book would be great for developing CMBB scenarios. I have not looked at the others.)

German Studies

The following CMH historical studies were previously published as DA Pamphlets. Except as noted, these studies were prepared by senior German commanders based on their personal experience.

MILITARY IMPROVISATIONS DURING THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN (DA Pam 20-201, 1951; CMH ed. 1986; 110 pp.). CMH Pub 104-1, paper, GPO S/N 008-029-00142-0, $5.50.

The massive effort against the Soviet Union forced the German Army and Luftwaffe into tactical and logistical improvisations that would become permanent features of the war in the East.

COMBAT IN RUSSIAN FORESTS AND SWAMPS (DA Pam 20-231, 1951; CMH ed. 1986; 39 pp.). CMH Pub 104-2, paper, GPO S/N 008-029-00143-8, $2.50.

The numerous dense woodlands and swamps that covered the western portions of European Russia presented severe problems for the German invaders and occupation forces.

*NIGHT COMBAT (DA Pam 20-236, 1953; CMH ed. 1986; 49 pp.). CMH Pub 104-3, paper.

Combat operations and movements at night became increasingly prevalent as the war in the East dragged on. Initially untrained for such combat, the German Army developed night combat tactics and techniques out of necessity.

TERRAIN FACTORS IN THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN (DA Pam 200-290, 1951; CMH ed. 1986; 60 pp.). CMH Pub 104-5, paper, GPO S/N 008-029-00144-6, $3.75.

The numerous rivers, swamps, and forests and the endless steppe lands of the Soviet Union confronted the Germans with extensive tactical and logistical problems unanticipated by planners and largely left unsolved during the campaign.

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON COMBAT IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA (DA Pam 20-291, 1952; CMH ed. 1986; 80 pp.). CMH Pub 104-6, paper, GPO S/N 008-029-00145-4, $5.00.

Climatic conditions of European Russia varied from bitterly cold, long winters to dry, hot summers, interrupted by wet, rainy springs and falls that virtually halted all ground movement. The German Army was ill prepared or ill equipped for Russian winters and paid a huge price for its negligence.

GERMAN DEFENSE TACTICS AGAINST RUSSIAN BREAK-THROUGHS (DA Pam 20-233, 1951; CMH ed. 1988; 80 pp.). CMH Pub 104-14, paper, GPO S/N 008-029-00183-7, $10.00.

The Germans had to develop tactics to counter Soviet breakthrough operations. The Germans, especially in the war's early years, were often successful in sealing off and destroying Soviet penetrations.

*OPERATIONS OF ENCIRCLED FORCES: GERMAN EXPERIENCES IN RUSSIA (DA Pam 20-234, 1952; CMH ed. 1988; 74 pp.). CMH Pub 104-15, paper.

The Soviet-German war was marked by numerous encirclements, first of Soviet units and, as the war continued, of German units as large as entire armies, such as the 6th Army at Stalingrad. Fighting encircled became a frequent occurrence for German commanders, and their experiences at Klin, Cherkassy, and Kamenets-Podolskiy are related here as well as an analysis of the critical role of air support when fighting encircled.

THE SOVIET PARTISAN MOVEMENT, 1941-1944 (DA PAM 20-244, 1956; CMH ed. 1989; 217 pp.). CMH Pub 104-19, paper, GPO S/N 008-029-00193-4, $17.00.

The great German offensive of the summer of 1941 left large portions of the western Soviet Union in German hands. Scattered partisan bands soon began operations against the German occupiers, quickly growing into a major military force. Prepared by Edgar M. Howell, this study analyzes the Soviet use of partisans both for political purposes and in

strategic operations.

*SMALL UNIT ACTIONS DURING THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA (DA Pam 20-269, 1953; CMH ed. 1987; 289 pp.). CMH Pub 104-22, paper.

Case studies of German infantry, armor, and engineer units from company to battalion level in offensive and defensive actions that also include small unit operations in the Arctic, forests, river crossings, and antipartisan warfare.

*WARFARE IN THE FAR NORTH (DA Pam 20-292, 1951; CMH ed. 1987; 24 pp.). CMH Pub 104-24, paper.

From June 1941 through September 1944, German forces fought the Soviets in the Arctic and sub-Arctic as allies of the Finns. This work compares German, Finnish, and Soviet tactics, equipment, and organization and discusses the unique terrain features.

To get the small scales that are required you need to look for these military publications rather than the division to army scale descriptions found in the books listed the above posts (e.g., Glantz).

[ July 25, 2002, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: Urban Shocker ]

[Urban Shocker]

Another book I've read is "Panzertaktik." It is pricey and I got it through interlibrary loan but it was fascinating and does have a lot of stuff on tactics for small groups of tanks. It would also somewhat helpful for setting up CMBB scenarios.

http://www.angelraybooks.com/books/jjfpub/0019jj.htm

[Andreas]

Originally posted by Urban Shocker:

To get the small scales that are required you need to look for these military publications rather than the division to army scale descriptions found in the books listed the above posts (e.g., Glantz).

Required for what? I design a lot of my CMBB scenarios based on what I read in Glantz etc. There are enough descriptions of smaller actions in there that make them very worthwhile reading. If you want to understand how the war was fought, you need to read at a larger scale anyway.

A good source on the divisional level (actions described reach down to BN level) are the three volumes by Werner Haupt "The Wehrmacht in Russia", dealing with each of the big Army Groups in turn, and published by Schiffer. I own AG North, and it is very useful. I also own two of his picture books that were published alongside the German original editions.

A lot of the CMH stuff has been put into another book by Tsouras, P. "Fighting in Hell" (wins a price as most ludicrous title). Greenhill has also published "Spearhead for the Blitzkrieg", a CMH study by a Luftwaffe general on air support operations.

Another recommendation is Christopher Duffy, "Red Storm on the Reich", dealing with the operations in Poland and Germany up to the Berlin Operation. Great book.

Of course, if you speak German, Bob is your uncle, and you should make your way over to Ebay Germany now. There is also a good source of information in books published by the East German military publishing house, with memoirs by Soviet officers of all ranks. Few of these have been translated into English.

[Little_Black_Devil]

Well - regardless of whether the tank in "War Without Garlands" was either a KV-1 or KV-2, it still proved a tough nut to crack by this account. Within the context of CMBB, until I have access to later model 75mm guns, I imagine I'll likely hold my breath every time I see a KV crop up on the battlefield.

Scares me a little to imagine what one of either of those tanks is going to do to my precious panzers. :eek:

I just recieved my copy of "Panzers on the Eastern Front: General Erhard Raus and his Panzer Divisions in Russia", edited by Peter G. Tsouras. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, as I've got M.K.Barbier's "Kursk: The Greatest Tank Battle 1943" on the go. From what I've read above, it sounds like I'll enjoy it.

From what I've read out of "Kursk: The Greatest Tank Battle", I'd have to say that it is a fairly deceptive book. It has the appearence of being one of those books, full of lots of pictures with little substance. Fortunately, you indeed can't always judge a book by its cover, as this one is in my opinion quite well done. Its is not equal to David Glantz's level of detail, but is still well written, full of enough details to adequately tell the story, and it does have some rather cool pictures complemented by interesting if not informative captions too.

Military Book Club - curse or blessing?

I guess that all depends on whether or not 9'er Domestic (the wife) sees how many books I've been ordering lately.

[blabla]

I recommend Panzer Leader. I am currently reading it right now and i have just started the Russian Campaign. BTW, this is my first post, i am a fourteen year ole fella and Combat Mission was pretty awesome, but i dont have time to play it. BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLABLA

[Panzer Leader]

Originally posted by blabla:

I recommend Panzer Leader. I am currently reading it right now and i have just started the Russian Campaign. BTW, this is my first post, i am a fourteen year ole fella and Combat Mission was pretty awesome, but i dont have time to play it. BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLA BLABLA

Excellent choice, lad!

[Buckeye]

Well, thanks to all of you for your suggestions--er, except Doorpost, of course. He ought to look in the mirror if he's going to make accusations about one's sterility.

I like Glantz's works because they seem much more balanced than many others, probably because of the access he had to Russian archives. His work isn't limited to the German side of things. Of course, many other books were written before any access could be gotten.

I do wish there were more tactical-level and first-person accounts from the Russian side. Some of the suggestions here should help in that regard.

Thanks again, guys. Anyone else have some good ideas?

(Oh, and about that other post...didn't see it...yeah, I know, "Do a search! )