Reading List on Operation Barbarossa and the Eastern Front

[onlysane1]

I'd like this thread to be dedicated to recommended books, films, and other media that aught to be viewed by those of us who have an interest in the Eastern Front of WWII.

My recommendation is the book Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936–1949 by Siegfried Knappe. Knappe was an artillery officer, and later a staff officer, who participated in many different fronts of the war, including Operation Barbarossa, and his descriptions of things like surviving in the Russian winter give a vivid picture of what life was like on the Eastern Front, and elsewhere. I won't go into much more detail due to spoilers (as much as you can truly "spoil" an autobiography), but it is an excellent read for the grognards.

[ShaggyHiK]

If you want to understand the Eastern Front, then be sure to read the CIS researchers Alexei Isaev - for a general understanding, although he analyzed individual operations in great detail, Valery Zamulin is the best specialist in the Kursk and Prokhorov battles. , Igor Sdvizhkov - specialist of Operation Blau, Oleg Kisilev - investigates the Soviet-Finnish conflict in 1940, Miroslav Morozov - specialist of the USSR Navy. Including his knowledge closed almost all the blank spots of the war in the Baltic for 41-45 years.
And these are just those who are in my ear right now.

Now a huge work has been published about the death of the second shock army. "Gone Into Immortality. In Memory of the 2nd Shock Army"
Best work I've seen so far. Moreover, I live only 70-150 km from the place of the unfolding events.

[Zovs]

A bit dated but good and now free:

https://history.army.mil/html/books/030 ... index.html

https://history.army.mil/html/books/030 ... index.html

[kahta]

ORIGINAL: Zovs

A bit dated but good and now free:

https://history.army.mil/html/books/030 ... index.html

https://history.army.mil/html/books/030 ... index.html

These are some of the best ones I have read on the subject, especially for the cost.

[IslandInland]

I read this book recently and enjoyed it.

Death on the Don: The Destruction of Germany's Allies on the Eastern Front, 1941-44

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Don-Trigg/dp/0750979461

[Iam5not8]

You could also refer to some "direct" materials, of course with a very critical readings, as any self-biography, or materials written at the time of the events

August Von Kageneck - Panzer Lieutnant (or something like this) -
Franz Halder - Private diaries (those can be easily found on Web either in German or translated to English). To start a GC41 as GER and read the week you are playing is quite interesting. Of course, as Chief of Staff, he was not involved in the detailed operations, but very interesting to read what Halder report in his diaries for that time (then of course, be critic).
Lidell Hart - The German Generals Talk (interviews performed just after the war - a critical reading is mandatory versus Hart and the Geman Generals, but that remains a very interesting material)
HANDBOOK ON GERMAN MILITARY FORCES, WAR DEPARTMENT • 15 MARCH 1945 - WAR DEPARTMENT TECHNICAL MANUAL TM-E 30-451
Handbook on USSR Military Forces WAR DEPARTMENT • Technical Manual, TM 30-340, 1 March 1946

[IslandInland]

Brooks, Mel - Springtime For Hitler (And Germany).

Primary source.

[RFalvo69]

“The Road to Stalingrad” and “The Road to Berlin” by John Erickson, while dated and a bit dry in style, are still two great works about the Soviet side of the war. It is not by chance that 95% of the Eastern Front games and scenarios have “The Road to…” in the title.

[king171717]

I highly recommended David Stahel books that cover 1941.

Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009).
Kiev 1941. Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012).
Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization (ed., with Alex J. Kay and Jeff Rutherford) (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2012).
Operation Typhoon. Hitler's March on Moscow (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013).
The Battle for Moscow (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015).
Joining Hitler's Crusade: European Nations and the Invasion of the Soviet Union (ed.) (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017).
Mass Violence in Nazi-Occupied Europe (ed., with Alex J. Kay) (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2018).
Retreat from Moscow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2019).


Lectures by David Stahel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxsdfcgfSS8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4XEbJOqTCo

[DeletedUser44]

ORIGINAL: Iam5not8

HANDBOOK ON GERMAN MILITARY FORCES, WAR DEPARTMENT • 15 MARCH 1945 - WAR DEPARTMENT TECHNICAL MANUAL TM-E 30-451

I believe this is online now, located here: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Germany/HB/

[DeletedUser44]

ORIGINAL: Zovs

A bit dated but good and now free:

https://history.army.mil/html/books/030 ... index.html

https://history.army.mil/html/books/030 ... index.html

When I was in the service and was working for the S3, I was responsible for the battalion training materials, I went through and ordered all the ones covering historical military operations.

a little background on the S3

Battalion Staff Organization (as far as Artillery) was as follows:
S1 - Administration
S2 - Intel & Security
S3 - Operations and Training
S4 - Logistics

The battalion S3 officer is responsible for training at the battalion level when the units are not deployed. He defines and writes manuals for the tasks that the unit and its individual soldiers are expected to perform. These list of tasks are used to evaluate the performance of the unit during training exercises. An S3 is responsible for training every aspect of a battalion's operations.

When the unit is deployed, the S3 is in charge for operations planning. He is expected to anticipate the situations that may arise during combat and prepare standard operating procedures for handling these conflicts.

When deployed, we planned and coordinated all firing battery movement orders, sitrep reports, coordination with "Range Control". (These are the guys that manage the artillery firing range for the Army Base), Operational unit locations and map overlays, ...

Working in the S3 shop was a blast and I loved it!

I think there were some others as well of relevance. Now all free and online! WOW

Operations of Encircled Forces, German Experiences in Russia
https://history.army.mil/html/books/104 ... index.html

Rear Area Security in Russia
https://history.army.mil/html/books/104 ... 104-16.pdf

The Soviet Partisan Movement (1941-1944)
https://history.army.mil/html/books/104 ... 104-19.pdf

Terrain Factors in the Russian Campaign
https://history.army.mil/html/books/104 ... _104-5.pdf

The German Campaign in Russia - Planning and Operations (1940-1942)
https://history.army.mil/html/books/104 ... index.html

MILITARY IMPROVISATIONS During the RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN
https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/milimprov/fm.htm

-----
Way too many to list individually! The following link(s) will get you started!

https://history.army.mil/
https://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate ... ry=Germany

[jedwardpita]

A more specialized book I recommend is "The Tanks of Operation Barbarossa" by Boris Kavalerchik. It compares in detail the Soviet and German armored forces. Special emphasis is placed on qualitative factors such as reliability, mobility and communications. The book relies on recently declassified Soviet Archives.

[PeteJC]

David Glantz's books are frequently referenced by historians and You tube streamers

[king171717]

ORIGINAL: jedwardpita

A more specialized book I recommend is "The Tanks of Operation Barbarossa" by Boris Kavalerchik. It compares in detail the Soviet and German armored forces. Special emphasis is placed on qualitative factors such as reliability, mobility and communications. The book relies on recently declassified Soviet Archives.

Ordering this book now, Thanks

[Bennett]

Also ordered "The Tanks of Operation Barbarossa". Very intrigued.

[jedwardpita]

ORIGINAL: king171717

ORIGINAL: jedwardpita

A more specialized book I recommend is "The Tanks of Operation Barbarossa" by Boris Kavalerchik. It compares in detail the Soviet and German armored forces. Special emphasis is placed on qualitative factors such as reliability, mobility and communications. The book relies on recently declassified Soviet Archives.

Ordering this book now, Thanks

I hope you will like it as much as I did. Be sure to read appendix 1: "Report on Long-Range Test March of Three T-34 Tanks" It was written in 1940 by Soviet testers and laid out all of the T-34 weaknesses.

[jedwardpita]

ORIGINAL: PeteJC

David Glantz's books are frequently referenced by historians and You tube streamers

For Stalingrad the three volume Glantz study is amazing. Like WITE2, it is a major undertaking. Another much shorter 3 volume set is "Stalingrad Battle Atlas" by Anton Joly. It presents strategic and tactical information with new maps for each day. It gives weekly OOB with approximate manpower each week. For example the 10th NKVD Rifle division goes from 8,500 men on 9/13/42 to 3,000 on 9/27/42.

[DeletedUser44]

ORIGINAL: PeteJC

David Glantz's books are frequently referenced by historians and You tube streamers

I have read that as well.

I recently picked up "Barbarossa Derailed: The Battle for Smolensk 10 July-10 September 1941" by David Glantz and am not disappointed.

For those that are ok with kindle, they have several of his books via kindle at a fraction of the price of the physical books.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005A ... ype=ebooks

----

If it means a cost savings of several hundred dollars, I am perfectly OK with kindle.

[king171717]

ORIGINAL: jedwardpita

ORIGINAL: king171717

ORIGINAL: jedwardpita

A more specialized book I recommend is "The Tanks of Operation Barbarossa" by Boris Kavalerchik. It compares in detail the Soviet and German armored forces. Special emphasis is placed on qualitative factors such as reliability, mobility and communications. The book relies on recently declassified Soviet Archives.

Ordering this book now, Thanks

I hope you will like it as much as I did. Be sure to read appendix 1: "Report on Long-Range Test March of Three T-34 Tanks" It was written in 1940 by Soviet testers and laid out all of the T-34 weaknesses.

Thank you! I will

I also just order T-34 Shock: The Soviet Legend in Pictures which just came out a few months ago. You should check it out.

With more than 500 pages and nearly 600 images, this book is full of inspiration for the T-34 modeler. The well-organized chapters, diagrams, and photo captions also provide the technical information to clarify the historical mess of T-34 variants, factory features, and production changes.

[vinnysix]

At Leningrad's Gates: The Combat Memoirs of a Soldier with Army Group North

Top Read for AGN Road 2 Leninigrad...

“A first-rate memoir” from a German soldier who rose from conscript private to captain of a heavy weapons company on the Eastern Front of World War II (City Book Review).

William Lubbeck, age nineteen, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in August 1939. As a member of the 58th Infantry Division, he received his baptism of fire during the 1940 invasion of France. The following spring, his division served on the left flank of Army Group North in Operation Barbarossa. After grueling marches amid countless Russian bodies, burnt-out vehicles, and a great number of cheering Baltic civilians, Lubbeck’s unit entered the outskirts of Leningrad, making the deepest penetration of any German formation.

In September 1943, Lubbeck earned the Iron Cross First Class and was assigned to officers’ training school in Dresden. By the time he returned to Russia, Army Group North was in full-scale retreat. In the last chaotic scramble from East Prussia, Lubbeck was able to evacuate on a newly minted German destroyer. He recounts how the ship arrived in the British zone off Denmark with all guns blazing against pursuing Russians. The following morning, May 8, 1945, he learned that the war was over.

After his release from British captivity, Lubbeck married his sweetheart, Anneliese, and in 1949, immigrated to the United States where he raised a successful family. With the assistance of David B. Hurt, he has drawn on his wartime notes and letters, Soldatbuch, regimental history, and personal memories to recount his four years of frontline experience. Containing rare firsthand accounts of both triumph and disaster, At Leningrad’s Gates provides a fascinating glimpse into the reality of combat on the Eastern Front.