Book Description
The gripping history of the ferocious turning point of World War Two, when Hitler’s armies were halted on the Eastern Front
At the moment of crisis in late 1941 on the Eastern Front, with the forces of Hitler massing on the outskirts of Moscow, the miraculous occurred: Moscow was saved. Yet this feat of endurance was a prelude to a long and arduous retreat in which Soviet troops, inspired by deep beliefs in the sacred Motherland, pushed back German forces steeled by the vision of the Ubermensch—the iron-willed fighter. Supported by tanks and ski battalions, Soviet troops engaged in this desperate struggle in the harshest Russian weather.
Michael Jones draws upon a wealth of new eyewitness testimonies from both sides of the conflict to vividly chronicle this pivotal chapter in the Second World War as he takes us from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on the morning of June 22 through the counteroffensive that carried into the spring of 1942. From the German soldier finding his comrades frozen into blocks of ice to the Russian lieutenant crying with rage at the senseless destruction of his unit, the author shows us the faces of war when the Wehrmacht was repelled and the titanic and cruel struggle of two world powers forged the fate of Europe.
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From Publishers Weekly
Jones's earlier Leningrad and Stalingrad established this British military historian's skill in conveying the human dimensions of the Russo-German War. His new narrative addresses the German sweep through Russia in the summer of 1941, its defeat at the gates of Moscow by a rejuvenated Red Army, and the massive Soviet counterattack that pushed the Wehrmacht to the edge of destruction. Jones makes a convincing case that the Fuehrer's "stand fast" order in December 1941 entailed unnecessary losses. Retreat, he argues, did not inevitably mean collapse. The point remains debatable. But there is no question of Jones's success presenting, in their own words, the growing conviction of the Germans doing the fighting that Barbarossa had been a compound mistake. "Does no one realize what it is like here?" asked one bewildered corps commander. Across the battle line, six months of atrocities demonstrated to the Russian people that whatever was wrong with the U.S.S.R., the Germans were not the solution. "I vowed to kill as many of them as possible," wrote one Soviet junior officer. His words are an epigram for an apocalyptic war, perceptively evoked here. 8 pages of b&w photos; 3 maps. (Dec.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
A military historian with particular expertise on the eastern front of WWII offers this grimly absorbing account of one of the battles that shaped the whole campaign: the German retreat from Moscow in December 1941. Already overextended and undersupplied, the Germans were in no position to resist a massive Soviet counterattack. The next two months were the stuff of nightmares for the soldiers on both sides, whose letters and memoirs have been exhaustively used to paint a horrifying picture of starvation, cold weather, nonexistent medical care, and a complete lack of compassion for opponents (two million Russian POWs died during this period). The Germans suffered an additional defeat, because Hitler believed that his No retreat! order saved his army from rout and from its defeatist generals. His assumption of the supreme command, fully equipped with vast arrogance and little skill, was another large stone that eventually helped build the tomb of the Third Reich. Sound and readable. --Roland Green
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| Most Helpful Customer Reviews 42 of 43 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Account, Great Narrative, By Aussie Reader ""Rick"" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews This review is from: Retreat (Hardcover) This latest book from Michael Jones covers the German offensive in 1941 to take Moscow, Operation Typhoon, and the subsequent Soviet counter-offensive, Hitler's first retreat. The author uses numerous first-hand accounts throughout the book, taken from German and Russian soldiers and Russian civilians. The book is easy to read and offers a nice overview of this period but nothing too technical or in-depth, more of a general or popular historical narrative. There are a number of black & white photographs within the book that had been taken by the soldiers involved in this conflict. Some of the first-hand accounts are quite graphic and quite a few I had not previously read before. Here are a few examples: "Osadchinsky and his comrades reached a German forward position. `Before us was a scene of utter carnage,' he continued. `There were bodies of our soldiers, entangled in the barbed wire, and those of the enemy, littering the trenches, bayoneted or ripped apart by grenades.' Osadchinsky had fought the Germans with a burning hatred in his heart, and had shown their soldiers no mercy. But now, to his surprise, he felt a grudging respect for them. `They have followed the orders of their high command,' he thought, `and fought and died where they stood. What iron discipline! But what is the point of such senseless sacrifice? These men have shown real heroism - but I doubt whether their heroic deeds will ever be known or appreciated'." From a German soldier: "There was the stink of frostbite, as men used the same bandage - pus-encrusted and stiff with scabs and rotted flesh - again and again. Some had long rags of blackened flesh hanging from their feet. It was snipped off. The bones were exposed, but with their feet wrapped in cloths and sacking, the men had to go on standing sentry duty and fighting......Everyone had diarrhoea, and one soldier was so enfeebled that he collapsed on the way to the doctor and froze to death. Older men developed rheumatism, and often screamed with pain. But we couldn't let anyone go." Three maps are supplied within the text of a basic nature, but enough for the reader to have a general idea of the major locations mentioned and the major offensive movements. Overall this is a good and enjoyable (if you can say such a thing about a horrific conflict of this nature) book to read and offers a decent general narrative account for anyone who has not previously read about this period of history. 47 of 51 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A look at the Moscow-Counteroffensive, By This review is from: Retreat (Hardcover) When writing on the German advance toward Moscow, too often it appears authors/historians take it for granted that the Germans achieved as much as they did. The campaign of 1941 was far from a walk in the park, even counting all the success the Wehrmacht enjoyed. What has yet to be shown and emphasized is the state of the Wehrmacht in those critical weeks and months leading up to and through operation Typhoon. Further, the ensuing Soviet counter-offensive is known in a general sense to have been a defeat for the Wehrmacht, but the reality of what the Soviets accomplished and, more so, had the ability to accomplish, has long been omitted from the historical record. While this book does not present an operational, or strategic, picture as well as it presents the tactical view of the soldiers and lower level officers, it nonetheless serves as an exceptionally well documented narrative of the lead up to the Moscow counter-offensive and the counter-offensive itself. Reading what soldiers and civilians were thinking, seeing, and doing does much to create a rich contextual portrait, for both sides, of what these men and women were able to overcome, or at times succumbed to, in those winter months of 1941/1942. Jones makes interesting observations as to how both German soldiers and officers began to believe in their own propaganda. Having been driven into their heads that "Blitzkrieg" was a winnable strategy, and seeing for themselves the achievements of their armed forces during the past two years, the evidence of a false sense of superiority is readily evident in the diaries and documents the author quotes from. Within a matter of months the reader can see the change in the Werhmacht's attitude. No longer are they seeing themselves in Moscow within a few days time, or picturing a Soviet defeat within a matter of weeks; now they are simply struggling to survive and continuously question the now ridiculous notion that the war is soon coming to an end, and in Germany, according to the newspapers, has already come to an end. Poignant are Jones's observations of how the Soviet and German high command viewed the situation on the ground. As Stalin gave way to his commander's and their decisions, putting Zhukov in charge of Moscow's defense, Hitler, to the contrary, roused and exhorted his commanders to push toward Moscow. While many field commanders were aware of the condition their forces were in, to those in Berlin/Moscow, unrealistic orders were regularly issued and all too often obeyed. By the end of the counter-offensive we see a switch again, with Model being given room to operate by Hitler and Stalin now exhorting his generals to continue offensive operations when Red Army troops were spent and well past their supply lines. Thus one of the main strength's of this narrative is the ease with which the reader can track the changing mentalities on both sides. The taste of defeat on the lips of Soviet soldiers and commanders as the are forced to an agonizing duty of retreat after retreat (for all intents and purposes, if the title of this text was simply "The Retreat" it would serve the dual purpose of applying to both the Red Army and the Wehrmacht) to the dramatic shift as Soviet forces begin to make their stand on the outskirts of Moscow in November and early December, slowly grinding down the German Blitzkrieg machine. On the other side, we see the enthusiastic German soldier marching toward another assured, it seems, victory in the East. Soon this mood of triumphalism turns to depression and exhaustion as the Soviet countryside continues to swallow German units into its expanses and spit out new Red Army formations to oppose a tiring Wehrmacht. This is followed by the initial shock of a Soviet counter-offensive and surprise on side of the Soviets at their initial success. The eventual German deterioration is epitomized by General Heinrici, "Now the Grim Reaper mercilessly raises his sickle over our battle lines. Each day he cuts down more and more of our men. Soon it will all be over." (246) And, as fate would have it, on the same day Stalin gave orders to take the 1st Shock Army off the line and transferred it to the army reserve. Simultaneously, with Model being put in charge of the 9th Army, two Soviet armies found themselves encircled. While initial German achievements gave them a false sense of superiority, the Soviets were experiencing something quite similar. As they witnessed German forces retreating along the entire front, they were urged on by Stalin and their generals to an ever increasing speed, all the while forgetting to give them adequate preparation, support, and supplies. Thus a perfect storm for the Germans was avoided, instead, the Red Army began to suffer a series of defeats anew. Defeats which eventually set the stage for the catastrophe at Kharkov before German operation Blau took the Sixth Army to the gates of Stalingrad. Understandably, there are a few weaknesses within this book. A lack of maps makes tracking unit movements very hard, unless you have an atlas handy. Jones discusses the German campaigns against France and Poland as utilizing Blitzkrieg. Personally, I am in agreement with authors like Karl-heinz Frieser, who believe that the only real Blitzkrieg used by the Wehrmacht was against the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. Quite a bit of emphasis is placed on "Siberian divisions" saving the day outside Moscow, in reality those divisions were ordered to the west in September and October, long before Moscow was in danger. Lastly, I noticed one specific editing mistake, Stepan Mikoyan is spelled as "Stephan" throughout the text. Aside from the aforementioned, this book was hard to put down, another excellent addition to Eastern Front literature by Michael Jones. 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars An admirable heartfelt story of human tragedy and triumph., By This review is from: Retreat (Hardcover) There are two main aspects to this story. The secondary issue is the general operational overview of Operation Typhoon and the subsequent Russian counter offensive. The primary aspect are the hundreds of anecdotal experiences of soldiers, officers and a few civilians who try to overcome their fears and stay alive during a war that was on a scale that hopefully mankind will never have to experience again. Though rating the book five stars, from my perspective, the book could have been better by building a more coherent or complete picture of the operational aspects of the campaign. (without going into infinitesimal detail) With greater coverage of the operation the reader could not only benefit from the many first hand experiences that were presented but also get a greater appreciation of the true scale of Operation Typhoon. There was so much that was left out but this aspect wasn't the author's main concern. He wanted to portray the human condition and did this very well and hence the five star rating. (If more of the operational side of Operation Typhoon is desired, the excellent books by Robert Forczyk, David Glantz, Albert Seaton, or Robert Kershaw are available.) Even still, the author does a great job of blending the two aspects into an engaging yet informative story of the first year of the war. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr Jones accumulated the hundreds of personal experiences first then built the operational aspects of battle around the personal. The book's introduction describes Napoleon's failed attempt to capture Moscow and his disastrous retreat from the capital nearly 130 years earlier. The author, throughout the book, will also describe the influence this French defeat will have on Hitler and to a smaller extent on Stalin. After the introduction, the main story begins in October 1941 with the launching of Operation Typhoon and the significant defeats of Russian armies at Bryansk and Vyazma, and continues with the push to Moscow, the subsequent counterattack in December and will conclude with in the spring of 1942 with the relief of the Demyansk pocket and the destruction of the 2nd Shock Army at Lyuban. Much of the action and personal comments involve the northern flank of AGC in the Kalinin, Klin, Volokolamsk, Moscow Canal sector. Guderian on the southern flank also receives some coverage but not nearly as much. The key German officers discussed are Hoepner, Reinhardt, Kluge, Guderian, Halder, Hitler and a few other generals. The story is clearly German centric; the primary source documents, diary entries and interviews are from the German side. The author delivers the thoughts and feelings of the men in the trenches: the jubilization and pride of victory like with the German victories of October and early November or the Russian victories in December. You'll read about the growing doubt and apprehension in late November and early December with the German advance is halted and the fear and humiliation of the Wehrmacht in later December when the Russians launched a surprised offensive that couldn't be stopped. You will also see the emotions of both sides to be quite similar. The Russians would be fearful when losing but would be over confident when winning, just like the Germans. The decisions from above made from these emotional perspectives attenuated the results on the battlefield. You will also read how the sub zero temperatures impact the German attempt to defend themselves and the number of panzers, trucks and guns were lost during their retreat. You will also see how the lack of foresight and empathy by the OKH will make it worse for the soldiers. There are also a few maps and photos, a scholarly Notes section, Bibliography and an Index. This story opens a door into the horrors experienced in war and will show you how luck can save a person's life or put you in a position that will take your life. It will show how some survived the whole war without injury and how some went into battle for the first time and lost their life. There is much to think about in this book and its highly recommended to all who are interested in WWII. Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review |
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