Kursk: The Greatest Tank Battle 1943

by Kathryn Barbier, M. K. Barbier

Release Date: March, 2002

Edition: Paperback

Price:

More Info

Zitadelle

This is a large format book, but isn't too thick. Lots of pics, but it looks like nothing is happening in most of them. Occasionally some smoke in the distance. Kursk was the largest tank battle in history, was a fiasco because Hitler delayed it for months, giving Zhukov time to prepare the defenses, and had it never been begun by the Germans, or done on the original schedule, would have delayed the end of WWII. Like the battle of Kharkov, which was a classic (if little discussed) ruse by the supposedly depleted German army just months after the defeat at Stalingrad, a large Soviet force would have been destroyed by the pincer action that was so effective for the Wehrmacht.

Tanks for a brilliant book, M K Barbier

A great book on Kursk in particular and on Barbarossa in general. The captions are extremely well written and provide a lot of new insight on Soviet strategy and the surprising poverty of German tactics. The photos, many of which I don't think have been previously published in an English-language book, are incredible. Specialists and general readers alike will enjoy this book.