DOC The Battle of Moscow 1941–1942: The Red Army’s Defensive Operations and Counter-offensive Along the Moscow Strategic Direction by Richard W. Harrison in History

Review

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful. An extensive operational study.By Dave SchranckEven if you have read the two creditable books that have recently been published on the Moscow campaign; you should still consider getting this new book translated by Richard Harrison for it has material that the earlier books don't have. The study written by the Soviet General Staff and overseen by Marshall Shaposhnikov primarily covers the three month period of November; December and January 1942; the first months includes insights of Soviet resistance during the German advance while the last month shows much greater details of the Soviets as they initiated their own counter offensive that eventually saw the Germans pushed back to the general line that included Rzhev.The book is highly Soviet centric and nationalistic in nature and is no different than the other Soviet studies that were popularized by David Glantz some years ago. Without condoning the errors included in the original book but also not correcting the miscues; the translation by Mr Harrison is a strict interpertation of the original study but at least he highlights the key but probably not all the exaggerations that have found its way into the study .The book begins with a brief situational summary of the war in October when the Germans launched Operation Typhoon. Its shows the general plan of the Germans and the counter measures that were put in place by Zhukov. Army Group Center had about the same number of men as Western Front but had a clear superority of tanks and artillery that gave von Bock confidence that even with winter approaching his exhausted forces could still take Moscow. The Germans were unaware of the size of the reserves moving up to man the multiple defense lines in front of Moscow when it was decided to extend the advance past November. The Soviets saw the attack as primarily a two prong attack that would envelop Moscow from the north and south. While the central German advance; the more direct Vyazma-Mozhaisk-Moscow route is covered; special attention and analysis is given to the panzer groups attacking toward Kalinin in the north as well as the attack toward Tula in the south.With such a large battlefield to describe and with so many military units deployed among so many towns and cities let alone defending along rivers and canals; reading this battle can sometimes be challenging. Following this story is made a little easier with the inclusion of battle plans before the actual individual battle coverage as well as post analysis.Since this study was meant as a training aid for future battles; the analysis was extensive and battle coverage also included partisan actions; logistic concerns; commissar motivation and air force coordination. The tactical importance of holding certain towns; roads and rivers was especially interesting. Two minor points to mention though not criticism for it was outside of the author's purview. There is not much in-depth discussion of individual officers. The most attention was given to Belov; Zhukov and Stalin plus a handful of other Soviets officers on an even smaller scale. For the Germans Hoth; Guderian; von Bock and Hitler were discussed. FM von Kluge with his promblematical command decisions of late November and early December was glaringly absent. The other aspect that was lacking sufficient attention was the effect the freezing temperatures and deep snow had on the two armies; particularly the German side. Not fully prepared for winter fighting; these conditions had an extreme impact on the men; tanks and other weapons of the German armies.The dozen bw maps; most are full page; are good and will be helpful. The maps show the key areas of fighting and highlight the text. An Order of Battle and a useful Index are included.Despite the Soviet bias; I still enjoyed this book; learning some new aspects of the campaign and freely recommend it to all enthusiasts. If you're new to the Moscow campaign Col Seaton's or Mr Zetterling's books on the campaign might be an easier place to begin your study and if you like the campaign definitely get this book to round out your campaign research.5 of 18 people found the following review helpful. A History of the First Two Years of the Germany's War on the New Soviet StateBy Brian Wayne WellsThis is a 500-page history on the first two years of the battles of the German "Army Group Center" as the Germans attempted to conquer the capital of the new Soviet government--Moscow.