The Reckoning: The Final Defeat of Army Group South, 1944

by Prit Buttar

A detailed and engrossing account of the final year of fighting in Ukraine during World War II, making use of the extensive memoirs of German and Russian soldiers involved in the fighting, as well as partisans behind the German lines, to bring the story to life.



By the end of 1944 the Red Army was poised on the very frontiers of the Third Reich. How had the once unstoppable, mighty Wehrmacht faltered so disastrously? Certainly it had suffered defeats before, in particular the vast catastrophe of Stalingrad, but it was in 1944 that the war was ultimately lost. It was no longer a case of if but rather when the Red Army would be at the gates of Berlin.

Prit Buttar retraces the ebb and flow of the various battles and campaigns fought throughout the Ukraine and Romania in 1944. January and February saw Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket. Although many of the encircled troops did escape, in part due to Soviet intelligence and command failures, the Red Army would endeavor to not make the same mistakes again. Indeed, in the coming months the Red Army would demonstrate an ability to learn and improve, reinventing itself as a war-winning machine, demonstrated clearly in its success in the Iasi-Kishinev operation.

The view of the Red Army as a huge, unskilled horde that rolled over everything in its path is just one myth that The Reckoning reassess. So too does it re-evaluate the apparent infallibility of German military commanders, the denial of any involvement in (or often even knowledge of) the heinous crimes committed in the occupied territories by German forces, and the ineffectiveness of Axis allies, such as the Romanians at Iasi, to withstand the Soviet forces. Like all myths, these contain many truths, but also a great many distortions, all of which are skillfully unpicked and analysed in this powerful retelling of 1944 on the Eastern Front.

Genres: History, World War II, Military History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Russia, Germany

496 pages, Hardcover

Published October 27, 2020

About the author

Prit Buttar studied medicine at Oxford and London before joining the British Army as a doctor. After leaving the army, he has worked as a GP, first near Bristol and now in Abingdon. He is extensively involved in medical politics, both at local and national level, and served on the GPs’ Committee of the British Medical Association. He appears from time to time on local and national TV and radio, speaking on a variety of medical issues. He contributes regularly to the medical press. He is an established expert on the Eastern Front in 20th century military history.

Reviews

[Heinz Reinhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concluding volume in Pritt Buttar's trilogy on the War in Ukraine on the Eastern Front expands upon the themes and thesis' he has already expounded upon in the first two volumes.
By 1944, although still lethal, and blessed with equipment that was in some cases a technological marvel, the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS, for all of their tactical prowess, were simply no longer up to the task of holding off the vengeful wrath of the Red Army.
By this point in the War, the Red Army, although never as adept tactically as their foes, had improved to the point where any operation stood a very good chance at success. The superior Soviet doctrine of concentric operations, albeit woefully costly in lives and lost material, was likewise wrecking the German and remaining Axis forces on the Eastern Front.
As this concluding volume points out in stark detail, although the Germans did manage to score a few notable successes, especially against overstretched and already lagging Soviet forces in Romania near Iasi-Kishinev, they were no longer capable of going toe to toe with a vastly improved, and battle tested, Red Army.
Containing considerable detail in terms of the narrative of operations, the author describes the ebb and flow of battle extremely well, interspersed with liberal amounts of first person accounts, and all analyzed thoroughly with astute observations, this entire trilogy is a must have for students of the Eastern Front, and of modern warfare in general.
Highly recommended.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buttar continues his thorough and source-heavy journey through the Eastern Front, here focusing on the final push of the Germans out of the Ukraine and the entry of the Red Army into Romania, flipping that country and Bulgaria from the Axis to the Allies.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another day, another book on the Eastern front. However, I was drawn to this book because this was picking up at the tail end of this portion of the conflict. It does not rehash Barbarossa but instead the salvage operation of a once mighty army now defeated but in total denial. The work here is dense, but I would never say boring. There are sections where it can run together a bit and where each sequential battle seems repetitive. Germans fall back, reinforcements are scarce, Hitler throws tirade over any retreat, generals are replaced, repeat, repeat. This is not the author's fault of course, and he does an admirable job spicing up the affairs with detailed accounts from many survivors. He also bring his opinion in quite a bit to give each side a fair assessment and to right past misconceptions where he deems appropriate. There is definitely much to learn here, especially from the author's perspective on many controversial topics or accepted historical assumptions. This is my first book by this author, but I enjoyed this enough and what he taught me throughout that I will certainly be looking into his back catalogue for more. Hard to recommend to any new-comers to the topic, I'd probably make this your 3rd or 4th book on Barbarossa\Eastern Front after you've set a bit more of a contextual foundation for yourself. All that aside, this a fascinating look into the death knell of the Third Reich.

[Simon P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dramatic retelling of the battle on the western front, brought to life by Prit Buttar’s expert grasp of the conflict in all its complexity and his use of source material retrieved from both sides of this vast but generally less will understood aspect of World War II.

I was sufficiently impressed by the extract I received from the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for the fair and honest review, that I will be back to purchase the full book on publication. I can't think of a cleared endorsement of the value and quality of Prit Buttar's 'The Reckoning'.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was no easy read, (which probably goes without saying?)
I found it hard to keep up and understand which units, led by who and where? The maps did not help much.
What I enjoyed most was the up to date information, that broke many of the false things I've learned through other commentators about the Russian and German armies. It seemed a very balanced commentary on this horrific war.
I loved the real-life quotes from the Generals and men at this front. This brought a real human understanding to the situations and beliefs of these men.

[Ollie Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! The conclusion of this trilogy, like both of Prit Buttar's previous works, was written so well. I continue to be amazed by his ability to significantly detail and explain the nitty gritty details of these immensely complex operations and yet still keep it accessible.

My only complaint (and it's not really even one) is that there weren't more maps because I love maps! And sometimes it was hard to follow the events with just one map as reference, especially with the constant encirclements and breakouts.

I have never found more accessible war literature. This is truly a gold standard.

[Patrick Pillow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fine work on the Eastern Front from Prit Buttar.

This final volume covers the destruction of Axis forces from the western banks of the Dnepr to the foothills of the Carpathians and the Polish border at the end of 1944.

In keeping with his way of writing, Buttar weaves in strategic and political movements with descriptive accounts provided by the officers and ordinary soldiers on both sides.

I would highly recommend anything he has written and have no hesitation to call him the premier western authority on the Eastern Front.

[Garth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very dense history of this campaign, not helped by the vast number of participants, and the frequent re-naming of units by both Nazis and the Red Army.

[Adonis Macam]

I am only halfway, but reading this book is like watching a war movie, you do not know when to stop!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not go much in depth but does use a TON of firsthand accounts.

[Spyker1982 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed description of the terrible fights on the eastern front in the final stage of ww2.

[Alan M. Shaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, a thorough and detailed description of the major battles in the Ukraine during late 1943 and all of 1944 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. As always, Buttar provides a balanced, well researched and complete description of this major theatre of World War II. I have found his books on the war in eastern Europe to be the best source of information for those of us in the West to learn about this very important part of the war. My only "complaint" is one I have voiced before about his books: the lack of maps of sufficient scope that it is possible to assess the particular battle in the larger context of the time and place. Printing out Google maps of the areas helps, but many of the names of towns have changed since the time of WWII, so it becomes more difficult.