BARBAROSSA TO BERLIN - A Chronology of the Campaigns on the Eastern Front, 1941 to 1945 : Vol. 2 - THE DEFEAT OF GERMANY,19 November 1942 to May 1945 by Taylor, Brian

Staplehurst, 2004,Spellmount, UK first edition, , hard bound in dust jacket, FINE/VG CONDITION, (dj shows scratches on rear cover ), 6x9, x, 341 pages, illus, maps, notes, bibliog, index.------------------------------------------------ The second of two volumes, this is a chronological account of the campaigns on the Eastern Front, following the Soviet counter-offensive around Stalingrad to the final destruction of the Ostheer. Having carefully mustered their forces for a counter-offensive around Stalingrad, the commanders of the Red Army began the long process of besting the German Army and pushing it out of the Soviet Union. The last large-scale German offensive in the east, Kursk, broke the back of the revitalized Panzerwaffe and placed the Ostheer on the defensive for the remainder of the conflict. Unrelenting pressure pushed the Ostheer back to the Dniepr and beyond and paved the way for the overwhelming Soviet victories of 1944 and 1945. In the last 18 months of the war the Red Army demonstrated a complete mastery of the application of force and the crushing victories in Belorussia, the Balkans and Poland destroyed the cohesion of the Ostheer and proved beyond any doubt that Germany was destined for total defeat. ----------------------------------------------------This day-by-day account allows the reader to obtain an understanding of the scale of the conflict and assess the impact of distance and time upon operations or alternatively, to concentrate upon a specific battle as it unfolded. By detailing each combat sector, be it the hard fighting around Leningrad, the destruction of Army Group Centre in Belorussia or the battles of attrition at Kursk, the reader is able to study a chosen area of operations in isolation while also assessing its impact upon the wider campaign