Operation Citadel: Kursk and Orel: The Greatest Tank Battle of the Second World War

by Janusz Piekałkiewicz

Uses excerpts from newspapers and war diaries to a major tank battle between German and Russian forces, and includes profiles of each side's leaders

Genres: World War II

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1987

About the author

Janusz Piekałkiewicz (1925 – 1988) was a Polish underground soldier, historian, writer, as well as a television and cinema director and producer.

He was a world-renowned author on many aspects of World War II history; over 30 of his books have been printed, most of them in German, and later translated to other languages. He also wrote from his experiences during the war and specialized in detailing operations within the secret services. A unique characteristic of many of his books is that chapters contain two parts. Firstly, he describes details and contemporary quoted sources and then, in the second part, he provides analysis and own commentaries to those events. According to critics, this results in a very objective presentation of the material. In addition to his well-known history books, he also wrote books about treasure hunting.

Reviews

[Binston Birchill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far and away the best part of this book is the first 100 pages or so, the pre-battle section. Little snippets from a variety of sources make up a good portion of the book, the ones from Volkischer Beobachter that take place during the battle, while propaganda-y, give good insight into what it was like for the common soldier. The fact that it was published before the soviet archives were opened, this missing crucial information, cannot be held against the author. So, why doesn’t it merit five stars? In a word.... Maps. There are three. Maybe four. When taking in a battle that lasts longer than a day (much longer in this case) a multitude of maps are essential, in my opinion at least. Thankfully I have five other books on the battle that I can reference as needed. All in all, a fantastic book that added detail to my mental picture of the battle. Just make sure you have maps of your own to supplement this account. (I suggest Glantz, just be prepared for a very technical account with that one).

[R.G. Ziemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had heard of the Battle of Kursk - Les Misch, my WWII veteran father-in-law, told me it was the greatest tank battle of all time - so I was happy when the First Division Museum here at Cantigny was presenting David M. Glantz, the author of a new military history of the battle. Lester and Uncle Earl, another veteran, accompanied me to the talk. We ended up disappointed -- the lively discussion anticipated turned out to be a boring and monotonous lecture illustrated by complicated and illegible maps on the overhead projector. The old timers in the audience had no patience with the speaker. Too bad-- the book sheds new light on the battle thanks to the author's access to recently-revealed Soviet sources. Glantz aims to debunk some of the myths that have suggested the Germans just might have won the battle if they'd done some things a little differently.
Well I wouldn't buy the book after hearing Glantz speak. Instead, I borrowed Lester's copy of Piekalkiewicz's book, translated from the German in 1987. It had a lot of pictures, and the maps were easy to read! The author may not have had access to Russian files, but he did present an interesting picture by quoting from Wehrmacht war diaries and other publicized reports and contrasting propaganda from the Russian command.
I learned enough from this book, I think. I hadn't realized what a turning point this was in the 2nd world war, that from the failure of Operation Citadel, the Germans would continue to fight a defensive war until the Russian army finally pushed into Berlin in 1945. One almost feels sorry for the German soldiers who hardly ever had a chance, outnumbered on the ground and in the air, their plans compromised by Allied Enigma codebreakers, even their withdrawal harried by partisans on all sides. The numbers are staggering: 500,000 casualties, 1,500 tanks, 3,000 guns, 1,500 aircraft lost. Of course, the soviet losses were no doubt much higher. They had overwhelming numbers to pour into the field of fire. It seems another classic failure of the high command -- Hitler and his cronies blundering into battle at a complete disadvantage. By September, Italy was out of the war and the eastern front a rear-guard action. Stalin knew he had won the war and dictated terms to the allies, shaping the postwar map of Europe in ways that would affect generations to come.