The Rzhev Slaughterhouse: The Red Army's Forgotten 15-month Campaign against Army Group Center, 1942-1943

by Svetlana Gerasimova, Stuart Britton

Genres: History, World War II, Military Fiction

640 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2013

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a decent overview of what might be the longest non-siege campaign of World War II. It is a translation of Russian, so at times the prose is awkward, but it mostly works. I really liked the discussion of the battle in memory, monuments to the fighting, and the cemeteries that were built.

[Petr Lazecky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars mainly because I strongly believe that it is very important to write such books. It required a courage to publish it, especially in Russia. Not because of the "political reasons" but because of the sensitivity of the subject and shared WWII historical consciousness of the Russian society due to horrific events and enormous sacrifices that have happened there.

The book is important because it contributes to the erosion of the WWII myths and propagandist falsifications of the military history presented so long by communist regime and post-communist mindsets still present in official circles. For example, popular narrative "military mastermind" G. Zhukov as savior and brilliant military tactician who look at the map and immediately new the solution, repeated over and over in every WWII documentary, is nicely challenged here by the pure facts. G. Zhukov is really not mastermind behind Stalingrad offensive, nor linked to it in any way other then propaganda, simply because he was all the time occupied elsewhere producing results which are far from results of military genius but rather military dilettante - repeatedly. This was actually repeated multiple times during WWII by this "genius" commander.

We are still waiting for popular documentary movies that would reflect true abilities of soviet military leaders, those that were truly capable and those that were not but whose cult has been entrenched in our minds by propaganda till these days.

[Sandra Brezina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed, yet interesting

Despite the fact that the book gets bogged down in intricate details, it is very interesting and informative about this battle that few of us in Western nations have ever heard of. Thank You, Svetlana!

[Mick Maye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating battle

I understand the academic dilemma of whether it is a separate battle or not, but the fact remains that a lot of men on both sides fought for a,significant period. This book fills in a void in my understanding of the Russian front.

[Mr Jonathan S Chestney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book but not always the easiest read

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rzhev

The Red Army activity in this area without doubt relieved the pressure on the forces at Stalingrad and this became the turning point in the War in the East.

[Gustaf Runius · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning experience to read. I have read a lot about the eastern front but this book really managed to put the operations during 1942-1943 in an entirely new perspective. Detailed but still manageable, shifting between the various operations on the central front and the implications on the total front this is a must read for anyone Interested in WW2 in general and the eastern front in particular.

This book together with Enduring the Whirlwind: The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941-1943 (about logistics, unit strengths and replacement allocation) will put the divisive year of 1942 in a new light.