This book examines in unprecedented detail the advance of Germany's Army Group Center through central Russia, toward Moscow, in the summer of 1941, followed by brief accounts of the Battle of Moscow and subsequent winter battles into early 1942. Based on hundreds of veterans’ accounts, archival documents, and exhaustive study of the pertinent primary and secondary literature, the book offers new insights into Operation Barbarossa, Adolf Hitler’s attack on Soviet Russia in June 1941. While the book meticulously explores the experiences of the German soldier in Russia, in the cauldron battles along the Minsk-Smolensk-Moscow axis, it places their experiences squarely within the strategic and operational context of the Barbarossa campaign. Controversial subjects, such as the culpability of the German eastern armies in war crimes against the Russian people, are also examined in detail. This book is the most detailed account to date of virtually all aspects of the German soldiers’ experiences in Russia in 1941.

Barbarossa Unleashed: The German Blitzkrieg through Central Russia to the Gates of Moscow • June-December 1941

History

Luther, Craig W.H.

Military

Schiffer Military History

Sunday, June 22, 1941: three million German soldiers invaded the Soviet Union as part of Hitler’s long-planned Operation Barbarossa, which aimed to destroy the Soviet Union, secure its land as lebensraum for the Third Reich, and enslave its Slavic population. From launching points in newly acquired Poland, in three prongs—North, Central, South—German forces stormed western Russia, virtually from the Baltic to the Black Sea. By late fall, the invasion had foundered against Russian weather, terrain, and resistance, and by December, it had failed at the gates of Moscow, but early on, as the Germans sliced through Russian territory and soldiers with impunity, capturing hundreds of thousands, it seemed as though Russia would fall. In the spirit of Martin Middlebrook’s classic First Day on the Somme, Craig Luther narrates the events of June 22, 1941, a day when German military might was at its peak and seemed as though it would easily conquer the Soviet Union, a day the common soldiers would remember for its tension and the frogs bellowing in the Polish marshlands. It was a day when the German blitzkrieg decimated Soviet command and control within hours and seemed like nothing would stop it from taking Moscow. Luther narrates June 22—one of the pivotal days of World War II—from high command down to the tanks and soldiers at the sharp end, covering strategy as well as tactics and the vivid personal stories of the men who crossed the border into the Soviet Union that fateful day, which is the Eastern Front in microcosm, representing the years of industrial-scale warfare that followed and the unremitting hostility of Germans and Soviets.

The First Day on the Eastern Front: Germany Invades the Soviet Union, June 22, 1941

Europe

Stackpole Books

1987 R. James Bender Publishing. First Edition. Pictorial boards clean and bright. Minor bumps on bottom spine and four corners., No other signs of shelf wear.Very tight binding. No marks, notes, underlines or highlighting. Proceeds benefit Oro Valley AZ Public Library

Blood and Honor : The History of the 12th SS "Hitler Youth" 1943-45

R.James Bender Publishing

Our Soldiers' Stories: Kern County Goes to War-From the Beaches of Normandy to the Deserts of Iraq

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Mighty Bright

This is a special book. It is a special book because anyone who reads this anthology of soldiers stories across three generations of war will be profoundly moved by the courage, compassion, and selflessness of our men and women in uniform. As the title indicates, the stories in this volume span three generations of war of Kern County, California, veterans; yet their stories are universal, even timeless. They fought Hitler's Wehrmacht in France and Germany; shot down kamikazes off Okinawa in the Pacific theater; survived arctic cold and overwhelming odds at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea; served bravely in the the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam (and as nurses in military hospitals); and, in more recent years, fought bitterly against the barbarism of al Qaeda terrorists in an inhospitable and alien Iraq. Anyone interested in the human face of war-the suffering, the sacrifice, the unwavering sense of duty-will find this book a most rewarding read. 
""Passing on stories of military service is as old as the Bible and Homer. Craig Luther, an experienced and respected military historian, continues this tradition with this collection of two dozen stories told by Kern County, California veterans. All share a common thread of service that binds all veterans, yet each narrative is unique as the people telling them. The reader will be touched, saddened, and at times amused, but will put the volume down with a sense of profound respect, and gratitude. This book is a valuable addition to local history, as well as to military history in general. I highly recommend it." Jonathan P. Roth, Professor of History, San Jose State University.

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