Red Storm on the Reich: The Soviet March on Germany 1945

by Christopher Duffy

Overview

The Eastern Front witnessed the critical battles between the German and Russian armies which won and lost the Second World War. In Red Storm on the Reich, Christopher Duffy uncovers a military campaign of unprecedented scale and ferocity during which thirty million lives were lost - a deadly harvest in which the slaughter and suffering of German civilians reached unfathomable dimensions.
By quoting extensively from the memoirs of Soviet and German commanders and the diaries of infantrymen, Red Storm on the Reich brings to life not only the Russian military assault on the lands of Germany, but also the human drama behind what can only be called epic seiges of the fortress cities of Danzig, Kolberg and Breslau.
Christopher Duffy's gripping narrative of this unexplored offensive and the psyches behind it makes for essential reading for all those interested in the Second World War and European history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781136360404
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/03/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	852,411
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Christopher Duffy is Professor of Military History at De Montfort University and his many books include Frederick the Great (Routledge, 1989),Seige WArfare (Routledge, 1996) and Military experience in the Age of Reason (Routledge, 1987)

Table of Contents

List of Maps, Introduction, PART I: TOTAL WAR, PART II: FROM THE VISTULA TO THE ODER, PART III: THE SOUTHERN FLANK: KONEV AND THE CONTINUIING CONTEST FOR SILESIA, PART IV: THE BALTIC FLANK, PART V: THE SIEGE OF THE FORTRESS CITIES, PART VI: 1945 AND GERMANIC EASTERN EUROPE, APPENDIX: THE CONDUCT OF WAR: SOVIET SCIENCE AND GERMAN ART, Bibliography, Index

Editorial Reviews

Duffy, a senior lecturer in military history at the British Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, reminds us that the war against Hitler was essentially won on the Eastern front. In this solidly researched study he describes the Soviet assault on Germany from January to April 1945, tracing events from the start of the Vistula offensive up to but not including the capture of Berlin (``on which very many works have already been written''). It is the story of two massive Red Army groups under marshals I. V. Konev and G. K. Zhukov, their drive across western Poland into Germany, and the futile defensive measures of the German forces. Given the overwhelming superiority of troops and tanks, the Soviet advance was well-nigh inexorable, as Duffy shows, with Zhukov and Konev pausing only to deal with cut-off German strongpoints. The author has interesting things to say in regard to the savagery of the Russian troops once they crossed into the German homeland. Recommended for serious students of modern military strategy, the book presents a comprehensive picture of the epic-scale warfare on the Eastern front in 1945. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Utilizing recently released Soviet archival materials, and quoting extensively from the memoirs of Soviet and German commanders and diaries of infantrymen, Duffy portrays the Russian military assault on Germany and the human drama behind the sieges of the fortress cities of Danzig, Kolberg, and Breslau. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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