Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front

by Keith Bonn, David Glantz, Marc J. Rikmenspoel

In terms of sheer numbers of soldiers, armored vehicles, guns, and the scale of destruction and casualties, the Eastern Front was the most active and decisive theater of war during the 20th century. For four years, the armies and air forces of the world's two most powerful and brutal dictators savaged each other over terrain that stretched from the Arctic to the Middle East. The map of Europe was changed forever by the fighting on this front, and even today, the world reverberates with the echoes of that fighting, in places like Chechenya and the Balkans. Despite the enormous importance of the fighting that occurred between Nazi Germany and her allies and the Soviet Empire, we are still uncovering vastly important and long concealed facts about the war. For almost 50 years, the world had to depend largely on captured German records for its understanding of the Eastern Front, since almost all information made available by the Soviets was propaganda or even disinformation. Over the last decade, following the fall of the Communism in Europe in general, and Russia in particular, long-sealed archives have begun to open, and the truth about the Soviet side of the war is finally being discovered. In this concise, yet highly comprehensive, volume, readers can begin to gain access to the more accurate and complete information that is now becoming available. Through the diligence and expertise of a team of highly capable and experienced military researchers and historians, including David Glantz, the widely-acknowledged foremost Soviet military historian in America, new information has been synthesized with the best of long-available data. The result is Slaughterhouse , the single most comprehensive and up to date work of its kind. Slaughterhouse includes the following —Two chapters by famed Sovietologist David "Chronology of the War on the Eastern Front" (with nine detailed maps) and "Forgotten Battles" of the Eastern Front. —The German armed forces and their Thumbnail histories of 487 army groups, armies, corps, and divisions that saw combat on the Eastern Front. —The Soviet armed Thumbnail histories of 881 directions, fronts, armies, corps, and divisions. —Biographical sketches of 57 key Axis and Soviet wartime personalities. —Highly-detailed organizational diagrams of 55 types of Axis and Red Army divisions that served on the Eastern Front. —Comprehensive, meticulously researched performance data comparisons of hundreds of Axis and Red Army weapons, including small arms, mortars, artillery, tanks, assault guns, combat aircraft, and more. 520 pages, supported by 88 photos; 9 maps; notes; and extensive 16 page bibliography.

Genres: Military Fiction, History

520 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2004

About the author

A U.S. Army Infantry officer and historical scholar, Keith Earl Bonn served in various airborne, infantry, and light infantry command and staff assignments in the continental United States and Korea, as well as a joint assignment in Central America. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point (Class of 1978), he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. Attributing his passion for the military to his heritage as the son, grandson, and great-grandson of NCOs, Bonn was the author of several books on professional military topics. After retiring from the U.S. Army (1974-1997), he founded The Aberjona Press, a small publishing company specializing in World War II historical literature, where he was editor-in-chief.

Keith Bonn died unexpectedly from a blood infection on December 8, 2005. He was survived by his wife Patricia and their two children, Victoria Grace and William Lloyd.

Mr. Bonn was a graduate of both the Airborne and Ranger schools and earned the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) while serving as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division.

Reviews

[William Olenick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Large book with lots of tables, graphs and charts. The first part of book is a timeline of events in the eastern theater. After are the order of battle for both countries and bios of major commanders. Discussion on weapon systems and capabilities are last. Lots of information is reference material.