Russia's engagement with Germany on the Eastern Front during World War II was ferocious, unprecedented and bloody, costing millions of civilian and military lives. In this challenging new book, Lee Baker distinguishes myth from reality and deflates the idea that this war, while gargantuan in scale, was in essence a war like any other.

Outlines events on the Eastern Front of World War II from the 1941 German the invasion of the Soviet Union to Stalin's declaration of war with Japan in 1945

Based largely upon unpublished sources, Omer Bartov's study looks closely at the background of the German army on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. He describes the physical hardship, the discipline and morale at the front, and analyses the social, educational and political background of the junior officers who formed the backbone of the German army. Only with these factors in mind - together with the knowledge of the extent of National Socialist indoctrination - can we begin to explain the criminal activities of the German army in Russia and the extent of involvement of the army in the execution of Hitler's brutal policies.

Based largely upon unpublished sources, Omer Bartov's study looks closely at the background of the German army on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. He describes the physical hardship, the discipline and morale at the front, and analyses the social, educational and political background of the junior officers who formed the backbone of the German army. Only with these factors in mind - together with the knowledge of the extent of National Socialist indoctrination - can we begin to explain the criminal activities of the German army in Russia and the extent of involvement of the army in the execution of Hitler's brutal policies.

Returning to his old unit, the grenade launcher, in May 1944, he experienced the heavy defensive battles in Romania as a platoon commander and from August 1944 in East Prussia and Lithuania. After being transferred by ship from Memel to Königsberg in late 1944, he took part in the battles for Ostprussen in the winter of 1944/1945. Constantly exposed to the attacks of Russian bombers and fighter planes and severely wounded by shrapnel on the leg, he manages, with the help of a Russian volunteer and a horse-drawn vehicle from Balga to Rosenberg, from there by ship transport via Pillau to ?winouj?cie and by train to Schwerin. Fleeing the impending Russian imprisonment to the west, he falls into American captivity on 3 May 1945 and is released in July 1945 in the home. Memories of a corporal and platoon commander in the grenade launcher 1943-1945

A "breathtakingly magisterial" account of World War II by America's preeminent military historian (Wall Street Journal) World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya. The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. Drawing on 3,000 years of military history, bestselling author Victor Davis Hanson argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising. The Axis powers were well prepared to win limited border conflicts, but once they blundered into global war, they had no hope of victory. An authoritative new history of astonishing breadth, The Second World Wars offers a stunning reinterpretation of history's deadliest conflict.

The Second World War ended the Nazi attempt to establish Germany as the dominant power in Europe and the world; and Japan's aim of controlling South East Asia and the Pacific. It also resulted in the creation of two super-powers and led to the Cold War. A. W. Purdue provides one of the most concise yet comprehensive accounts of the entire course of World War Two, covering both the European and the Asian Pacific conflicts. Thoroughly revised and updated in the light of the latest scholarship, this second edition of an established text: - Challenges accepted views and reassesses the war, rejecting the simplistic concept of a 'war against fascism' - Discusses the historiography and critically analyses key themes and issues, as well as examining current debates - Considers changes in popular attitudes to the Second World War Ideal for students and general readers alike, this is an essential introduction to the causes, nature and significance of World War Two from the perspective of the twenty-first century.

“This English translation of the original Russian work is thought provoking, challenging the ‘official’ version of what happened” during World War II (Firetrench). The memory of the Second World War on the Eastern Front—still referred to in modern Russia as the Great Patriotic War—is an essential element of Russian identity and history, as alive today as it was in Stalin’s time. It is represented as a defining episode, a positive historical myth that sustains the Russian national idea and unites the majority of Russian citizens. As a result, as Boris Sokolov shows in this powerful and thought-provoking study, the heroic and tragic side of the war is highlighted while the dark side—the incompetent, negligent and even criminal way the war was run—is overlooked. Although almost eighty years have passed since the defeat of Nazi Germany, he demonstrates that many of the fabrications put forward during the war and immediately afterwards persist into the present day. In a sequence of incisive chapters he uncovers the truth about famous wartime episodes that have been consistently misrepresented. His bold reinterpretation should go some way towards dispelling the enduring myths about the Great Patriotic War. It is necessary reading for anyone who is keen to understand how it continues to be distorted in Russia today.

The First World War has often been understood in terms of the combat experiences of soldiers on the Western Front; those combatants who served in the other theatres of the war have been neglected. Using personal testimonies, official documentation and detailed research from a diverse range of archives, The British Imperial Army in the Middle East explores the combat experiences of these soldiers. The army that fought the Ottoman Empire was a multinational and multi-ethnic force, drawing personnel from across Britain's empire, including Australia, New Zealand, and India. By taking a transnational and imperial perspective on the First World War, this book ensures that the campaigns in Egypt and Palestine are considered in the wider context of an empire mobilised to fight a total and global war.