Made the plunge - New to Ostfront - Suggested Reading? Maps?

[Chad Harrison]

Hey all

Well, this WitPer has made the plunge. I cant be held responsible for financial decisions I make after midnight [:D]

Anywho, I am completely, 100%, without a doubt ignorant about the Ostfront. No, seriously, its bad. I can talk all day about the Pacific or the West Front and have dozens upon dozens of books covering the two conflicts, but I am at a loss for the East. I know about the main battles, but have never picked up a single book on the subject. Typical American right? [:D]

So . . . what are some good overview books on the Ostfront? Good detail, unbiased opinions and a good overview of the conflict. Prefer recent publications so I dont have to pay $300 for the book.

Also, are there are few campaigns/battles that I should get a little more acquainted with that will help give this Pacific/Westerner a feel for what fighting on the Ostfront was like? Stalingrad? Barbossa? Berlin? Again, looking for books that have great detail and have tid-bits from all levels - strategic, operational and individual experiences.

Also, was snooping around for some maps of the major campaigns. I came accross some US made maps that look very similar to ones from the Green Books. Can someone identify where this map came from?

Example of Campaign Map - from where?

The reason I am asking is I can not find them all - they appear to be sequential but I am missing quite a few. Does anyone know a site that has all these collected? Hyperwar? Otherwise, anyone know where I can get some good, high res campaign maps for the Ostfront?

Thanks in advance everyone - honestly, this is my first time in the East and I am a bit overwhelmed. And I havnt even opened the game yet [X(]

Chad

[bcgames]

David Glantz, When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler
Earl F. Ziemke, Moscow to Stalingrad: Decision in the East

[CarnageINC]

Welcome aboard CH, tho I can't suggest any good books, if your into maps I can suggest the "Atlas of World War II" by David Jordan and Andrew Wiest.

[SgtKachalin]

Glantz is the best writer today in English on the NAZI/Soviet war. "When Titan's Clashed" recommended above is the best all-in-one source.

The Earl Ziemke books ("Moscow to Stalingrad" and "Stalingrad to Berlin") are a staple, written for the US Army in the 1960s. Another two volume standard is John Erickson's "The Road to Stalingrad" and "The Road to Berlin", written in the 1970s. Both are outdated; since the fall of the USSR so much more info has come out. That said they are still useful, and give a good look at the subject. At over 1,000 pages total for each they should. [:)]

Something that may give a good intro and be right on the mark for starting WitE is a small volume by Glantz "Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941". It covers the war from June to December, 1941, and is only a couple hundred pages long, has decent maps (for Glantz that's saying something... such a great historian but with some absolutely atrocious maps in some of his books!), pictures and a good narrative of the action in those first months. It's only around ten bucks (book-club edition), and best of all covers exactly what you'll probably be cutting your teeth on - the invasion - when learning the game.

Welcome to the Russian front! [8D]

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: Chad Harrison

Hey all

Well, this WitPer has made the plunge. I cant be held responsible for financial decisions I make after midnight [:D]

Anywho, I am completely, 100%, without a doubt ignorant about the Ostfront. No, seriously, its bad. I can talk all day about the Pacific or the West Front and have dozens upon dozens of books covering the two conflicts, but I am at a loss for the East. I know about the main battles, but have never picked up a single book on the subject. Typical American right? [:D]

So . . . what are some good overview books on the Ostfront? Good detail, unbiased opinions and a good overview of the conflict. Prefer recent publications so I dont have to pay $300 for the book.

Also, are there are few campaigns/battles that I should get a little more acquainted with that will help give this Pacific/Westerner a feel for what fighting on the Ostfront was like? Stalingrad? Barbossa? Berlin? Again, looking for books that have great detail and have tid-bits from all levels - strategic, operational and individual experiences.

Also, was snooping around for some maps of the major campaigns. I came accross some US made maps that look very similar to ones from the Green Books. Can someone identify where this map came from?

Example of Campaign Map - from where?

The reason I am asking is I can not find them all - they appear to be sequential but I am missing quite a few. Does anyone know a site that has all these collected? Hyperwar? Otherwise, anyone know where I can get some good, high res campaign maps for the Ostfront?

Thanks in advance everyone - honestly, this is my first time in the East and I am a bit overwhelmed. And I havnt even opened the game yet [X(]

Chad

Chad, just look at the manual - we all (developers and testers) posted all our reference books there (including their ISBN's)!

It is here "26.5. APPENDIX E: RECOMMENDED READING"!


Leo "Apollo11"

[amatteucci]

ORIGINAL: Sgt Barker

Glantz is the best writer today in English on the NAZI/Soviet war. "When Titan's Clashed" recommended above is the best all-in-one source.

I agree. "When Titans Clashed" is the best all-in-one source available in English about the Eastern Front. It's also the best introductory reading for a military history biff that has no specific previous knowledge of the German-Soviet War.

Something that may give a good intro and be right on the mark for starting WitE is a small volume by Glantz "Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941". It covers the war from June to December, 1941, and is only a couple hundred pages long, has decent maps (for Glantz that's saying something... such a great historian but with some absolutely atrocious maps in some of his books!), pictures and a good narrative of the action in those first months. It's only around ten bucks (book-club edition), and best of all covers exactly what you'll probably be cutting your teeth on - the invasion - when learning the game.

Seconded. Gantz's "Barbarossa" is well written, agile, and focused on what you'll be confronting with at start.
The maps are also very useful and clear.

[hgilmer3]

Here's a link to a map in the forums that you can use for planning and such.

tm.asp?m=2643336

[bdtj1815]

This site has an incredible selection of original German Operational Maps: http://www.gutenberg-e.org/esk01/eskmap.html , can be a bit difficult to read but a very good source.

This another incredible site with an enormous amount of information, maps oobs etc, from the Russian side: http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/

The Rumanians in WW2: http://www.worldwar2.ro/

Stalingrad: http://www.stalingrad-info.com/

Kursk: http://www.stalingrad-info.com/

These are just a few of the many sites I have found over the years, there really is a lot of information out there!

[Klydon]

I agree with the book selection above for the most part.

If you are after a bit of a quicker read with maps and such, Wiki is not a bad quick source and they also have links to some of the bigger campaigns/battles of the war in the East like the Battle of Kursk, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa

I would caution that while some of the books out there sound like good reading (Panzer Battles by F.W. V Mellenthin or V Manstien's Lost Victories), they have been shown to have a pretty distorted view from a historical perspective. They are none the less a good read if you take it from the German viewpoint and don't treat what they say happen in the battles as the truth. (V Mellenthin is really bad when it comes to relating to matters in the East from what really happen there).

As far as specific campaigns go, Fall Balu (Operation Blue; the German summer offensive in 1942) is a good one to look at as it leads to the battle of Stalingrad, which is considered by many to be the turning point in the war in the East. Operation Citadel (Kursk) is another benchmark battle. From the Russian side, Operation Bagration (destruction of army group center). Operation Typhoon is the final German offensive against Moscow at the end of 1941.

Good luck!

[Bradd]

One of my favorites is the Collapse of Army Group Centre by Paul Adair. But like someone else said before. The appendix at the end contains many outstanding books. And as a general rule of thumb. You can never go wrong with a book by Glantz.