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Deadlock Before Moscow
Franz Kurowski uses first-person accounts, and never before published documentation to present this, the turning point of the war in Russia.
One of these events, the attempt of the Red Army to cut off and destroy the panzer formations far advanced before Moscow, is little known.
In January 1942, when the 3rd, 4th, and 22nd Soviet Shock armies set out from the Army Group North area to the south and attacked Kholm, Toropets, Demidov, Vitebsk, and Belikie Luki, in order to roll over the rear area services approximately 160 kilometers behind the front and the strong point-like positions and cut off the main body of Army Group Center from its supply of weapons and soldiers, the Eastern Campaign appeared to be lost.
The renewed major offensive of the Red Army, which began in November 1942, found these troops—hopelessly opposing massed enemy formations—in a battle to the bitter end. This is especially shown in Velikie Luki, where the defensive strength of 7,500 German soldiers fought to the end paid for with their own lives. Only a handful of soldiers escaped from this inferno.
Never before has such detail on this aspect of the Russian front campaign been available in English.
One of these events, the attempt of the Red Army to cut off and destroy the panzer formations far advanced before Moscow, is little known.
In January 1942, when the 3rd, 4th, and 22nd Soviet Shock armies set out from the Army Group North area to the south and attacked Kholm, Toropets, Demidov, Vitebsk, and Belikie Luki, in order to roll over the rear area services approximately 160 kilometers behind the front and the strong point-like positions and cut off the main body of Army Group Center from its supply of weapons and soldiers, the Eastern Campaign appeared to be lost.
The renewed major offensive of the Red Army, which began in November 1942, found these troops—hopelessly opposing massed enemy formations—in a battle to the bitter end. This is especially shown in Velikie Luki, where the defensive strength of 7,500 German soldiers fought to the end paid for with their own lives. Only a handful of soldiers escaped from this inferno.
Never before has such detail on this aspect of the Russian front campaign been available in English.
412 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 3, 2023
I have struggled to write a review for this as it is somewhat controversial in my mind praising a book containing inaccuracies and difficult to read due to translation. I think I've got a path forward though, so here I go.
First off, this book is heavily reliant upon unit histories and sources purely of German nature. One sided references often are terrific for that one side and just plain awful at depicting what was going on for the other side. That is the case here. I do not think this diminished the value of this book however, and simply requires you the reader to do more homework with sources from the Soviet side to compare and contrast. Hopefully a truer picture of actual events arises from this work.
The translation issues are an entirely different matter. I would have liked to see a better effort into making the book flow better and perhaps taken the liberty to rephrase things into actual understandable English. Clarity is important, and this book has parts which are confusing and so broken as to be frustrating even for a dedicated history reader like myself. I've experienced this many times before, so I'm more used to it. New readers might get put off however, and this is possibly one of the reasons it is often reviewed poorly.
Kurowski boldly tackles these unit histories and I really appreciate it. Few would want to attempt such a complicated task, and it is because of authors like him and Glantz (covering Soviet records) that we are able to get a better picture of the Eastern Front in WW2.
4 Stars
First off, this book is heavily reliant upon unit histories and sources purely of German nature. One sided references often are terrific for that one side and just plain awful at depicting what was going on for the other side. That is the case here. I do not think this diminished the value of this book however, and simply requires you the reader to do more homework with sources from the Soviet side to compare and contrast. Hopefully a truer picture of actual events arises from this work.
The translation issues are an entirely different matter. I would have liked to see a better effort into making the book flow better and perhaps taken the liberty to rephrase things into actual understandable English. Clarity is important, and this book has parts which are confusing and so broken as to be frustrating even for a dedicated history reader like myself. I've experienced this many times before, so I'm more used to it. New readers might get put off however, and this is possibly one of the reasons it is often reviewed poorly.
Kurowski boldly tackles these unit histories and I really appreciate it. Few would want to attempt such a complicated task, and it is because of authors like him and Glantz (covering Soviet records) that we are able to get a better picture of the Eastern Front in WW2.
4 Stars
September 21, 2019
As a historian working in this time period I am indebted to Kurowski for this book, but don't go into reading it expecting a book along the lines of, say, David Glantz's 'Stalingrad' series. That's not what this book is.
The last 2/3 of the book are more or less a direct translation of three German sources, the histories of 83. Infanterie Division, 3. Gebirgs-Division and the records of Heeresgruppe Mitte. As such, Kurowski's account mirrors all of the flaws and strengths of those sources. In addition, the way the book is constructed makes it very difficult to follow the timeline of events, particularly in the section about Velikiye Luki. It's very choppy.
And yet I understand how difficult it must have been to accomplish what he did. This is easily the gold standard published before 2018 for books on this era. I'm giving it five stars as an appreciation for what he accomplished here, and in gratitude as a later historian of this period. His efforts have made my work better, and that's how it's supposed to work.
The last 2/3 of the book are more or less a direct translation of three German sources, the histories of 83. Infanterie Division, 3. Gebirgs-Division and the records of Heeresgruppe Mitte. As such, Kurowski's account mirrors all of the flaws and strengths of those sources. In addition, the way the book is constructed makes it very difficult to follow the timeline of events, particularly in the section about Velikiye Luki. It's very choppy.
And yet I understand how difficult it must have been to accomplish what he did. This is easily the gold standard published before 2018 for books on this era. I'm giving it five stars as an appreciation for what he accomplished here, and in gratitude as a later historian of this period. His efforts have made my work better, and that's how it's supposed to work.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews