The Reckoning: The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944: Prit Buttar: Osprey Publishing

The Reckoning

The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944

The Reckoning

The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944

Description

Now available in paperback, this book tells the detailed and engrossing account of the fighting in Ukraine in 1944, making use of the extensive memoirs of German and Russian soldiers involved in the fighting, as well as partisans behind the German lines, to bring the story to life.

'The Reckoning is vivid history, the tragic Eastern Front brought to life through the widest range of Russian and German sources I've ever read. Bravo.' – Peter Caddick-Adams, author and broadcaster

By the end of 1944 the Red Army was poised on the very frontiers of the Third Reich. How had the once unstoppable, mighty Wehrmacht faltered so disastrously? Certainly it had suffered defeats before, in particular the vast catastrophe of Stalingrad, but it was in 1944 that the war was ultimately lost. It was no longer a case of if but rather when the Red Army would be at the gates of Berlin.

Prit Buttar retraces the ebb and flow of the various battles and campaigns fought throughout the Ukraine and Romania in 1944. January and February saw Army Group South encircled in the Korsun Pocket. Although many of the encircled troops did escape, in part due to Soviet intelligence and command failures, the Red Army would endeavor to not make the same mistakes again. Indeed, in the coming months the Red Army would demonstrate an ability to learn and improve, reinventing itself as a war-winning machine, demonstrated clearly in its success in the Iasi-Kishinev operation.

The view of the Red Army as a huge, unskilled horde that rolled over everything in its path is just one myth that The Reckoning reassess. Like all myths, they contain many truths, but also a great many distortions, all of which are skilfully unpicked and analyzed in this powerful retelling of 1944 on the Eastern Front.

List of Maps
Dramatis Personae
Preface
Introduction
1: The Protagonists
2: The Kirovograd Encirclement
3: Watutin and the Cherkassy-Korsun Encirclement
4: Another Stalingrad
5: Mud, Snow and Hill 239
6: Kamanets-Podolski: The Encirclement of First Panzer Army
7: Malinovsky's Offensive
8: The Wandering Pocket
9: The Crimean Peninsula
10: The End of the Leash
11: Preparing for Summer
12: The Lviv-Sandomierz Operation
13: The Disintegrating Axis
14: The Approaching Endgame
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published	Oct 12 2021
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	496
ISBN	9781472837929
Imprint	Osprey Publishing
Illustrations	32pp plate section in b&w
Dimensions	234 x 153 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

The Reckoning reinforces Prit Buttar's standing as a leading authority on modern warfare in Eastern Europe. If you find the scale and complexity of the Eastern Front battles daunting, pick up a copy, relax and let Prit Buttar lead the way... totally absorbing narrative.

Mike Peters, Chairman, International Guild of Battlefield Guides
A masterful account of the war in the East.

The Armourer
The Reckoning is fabulously rich in primary sources, immersing the reader in the hopes, fears, and motivations of a vast array of personnel.

Military History Matters
The panorama of the WWII Eastern Front is so huge, it's often difficult to comprehend. Dr Prit Buttar has nailed it through his judicious blend of the strategic and tactical – commanders' debates and soldiers' experiences. At times this is Sven Hassell brought vividly to life. The Reckoning is well-balanced throughout, fair to both sides, employing the widest range of Russian and German sources I've ever seen. Long overdue, I am sure it will replace all previous accounts of Army Group South.

Peter Caddick-Adams, author and broadcaster