Operation Barbarossa: The German Invasion of Soviet Russia

by Robert Kirchubel

In the first 6 months of Hitler's World War II Nazi invasion, over 5 million of Stalin's Russian troops were killed, wounded, or captured defending their Motherland.

Germany's surprise assault on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Operation Barbarossa, aimed at nothing less than the destruction of the Soviet Union. Adolf Hitler saw this as the last vital step in the establishing of 'Lebensraum' for the German people in the East.
Three German Army Groups, supported by numerous European allies, poured across the Soviet border crushing all before them in a lightning campaign that threatened to eliminate all Soviet resistance and secure an easy victory. However, the vast resources and size of Soviet Russia caused the German armoured spearheads to slow and the advance finally ground to a halt within sight of Moscow itself, and with it Hitler's dreams of a quick victory.
This book combines Osprey's three Campaign titles on the Barbarossa campaign, along with new material specifically created, in order to tell the story of one of definitive campaigns of World War II.

Genres: Military History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Yar Haluk]

The title of this book should be "Operation Barbarossa - The Invasion of the Soviet Union" since it was not only Russia that was attacked but also the soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The author makes the same mistake that many historians make, namely that "Russia" is the term used to describe the soviet union. Russia was a soviet republic, like Ukraine and Belarus, that was part of the soviet union.

[Lee]

Lots of pictures and maps, and a good criticism of German high command muddles, as well as looks into Soviet command, too.

[Rob]

Dry but informative military history

Lots of details and unusually, it gets better as you go on. Buy a good map because you will need it