Receive Your Copy Armor And Blood: The Battle Of Kursk: The Turning Point Of World War II Designed And Illustrated By Dennis E. Showalter Accessible As Volume

very solid, engaging, and informative history of the battle of Kursk, Showalters best work is in the beginning and the end of the book, He does great work in putting the battle into context, both before and after, and paints a strong picture of Kursk as the turning point in the East, The story is told at the Corps, Army, and Division levels, but Showalter does not neglect the experience of the individual soldiers, both behind the lines and in battle,

The core of the book covers the week of July, The detail of the cutandthrust between the armies told mostly at the division and army level is solid, and Showalter goes to great lengths to dissect the thoughts and plans of the opposing generals not just what they did, but why.
Where the book suffers a bit is in clarifying the context of what was admittedly a messy meatgrinder of a battle, Here Showalter is let down by the quality of the maps, which are quite poor, Maps are inconsistent at what units they show sometimes omitting one sides units entirely and are less than minimal at showing context, terrain, infrastructure, and fortification, While Showalter does great work to explain the difficulty and heroic effort in an advance or defense, the cartography is useless at putting this into a geographic context, That aside, the book is a great read articulate, cogent, and entertaining, Relative dearth of usefully detailed maps exacerbated as always in a Kindle edition is the only real blot on an otherwise excellent analysis of Kursk and the battles importance and impact on the rest of World War II.
I picked this up on audible and I thought it might be a nice fill in for a pivotal battle for the eastern front in WW II, So I was surprised to find out that not only is the author a respected military historian but his outlook on the Germans in WW II was not one I had come across.
The author Dennis Showalter takes a more of a big picture look at this battle that is drawn more from the cultural and political landscape of the Third Reich as well as the impact of the leaders on the military machine of the Wehrmacht.
I think because of this outlook and the authors narrative skill the book was a gripping listen that had me riveted to the story, The battle itself is explained deftly with an emphasis on how the different generals in charge shaped there part of the battle both to the benefit and detriment of the Reich.
This was such a good book that I am already considering a reread of it, I did not think someone would be able to write such a concise history of a complex battle while still adding depth and thought to the big picture of where this battle lays in the strategic outlook of WW II.



Pithy review compelling narrative with brilliant history I wasnt too familiar with the Battle of Kursk besides hearing about it being the biggest tank battle in history.
This book was a great overview and gave views from Army, Corps, Division all the way down to battalion and company level, Id like to read the Glantz book on Kursk, which the author mentions and references in this book, But overall a good read with a lot of information that wouldnt be overwhelming to someone unfamiliar with military history, Our natural interest as Americans in the

Western Front and the Pacific Theater tends to leave us ignorant of the much larger part of the war that took place in Russia.
Even so, before this I had for some reason considered Stalingrad the turning point, but the author makes a convincing case for the Battle of Kursk, I found the work engaging and informative,

The author has a good knack for word pictures and clever turns of phrase that make for pleasing reading,

On a personal note, I was privileged to visit the official WW II museum in Moscow, Russia, they call it "The Great Patriotic War" personally guided by the son of a Soviet veteran of the war.
If you ever find yourself in Moscow, don't miss it! Winston Churchill described the battle Kursk as" heralding the downfall of the German Army on the Eastern Front", When we read of the battles in Russia, Stalingrad usually is the first major battle that comes to mind but the battle of Kursk was the watershed,

Although the Russian and German armies were not what they were during Barbarossa, their meeting at Kursk had given the powers that be the opportunity and time to understand the nature of the proposed encounter and prepare for it in their own way.
The author called it "a dueling ground" as errors could not be compensated for by changing the parameters in the restricted size of the battleground, It became a matter of who could last the longest and it soon became obvious that the Germans could not hold since Stalin was willing to pay the price of taking it or breaking it.
. Germany's war became defensive rather than offensive and the die was cast, To quote the author . War takes two basic forms, . . matching of superiorities and inferiorities at decisive moments, The other is a test of strengths and wills, a crisis of attrition,

The author provides complete details and analysis of the battle and the decisions made by both sides, It is not a fast read but is a fascinating book which I would recommend to all those interested in the Russian front using the current state of the art research after the opening of Soviet archives and showing clearly why Kursk was the final turning point of the war in the East Moscow showed that USSR would not be beaten in a blitzkrieg, Stalingrad stopped the possible collapse of the state if it would have lost the rich South, while Kursk established the material domination of the Red Army as decisive

very gripping and absorbing and a must for anyone interested in WW II In Armor and Blood, Showalter recreates every aspect of this dramatic struggle.
He offers expert perspective on strategy and tactics at the highest levels, from the halls of power in Moscow and Berlin to the battlefield command posts on both sides, But it is the authors exploration of the human dimension of armored combat that truly distinguishes this book, In the classic tradition of John Keegans The Face of Battle, Showalters narrative crackles with insight into the unique dynamics of tank warfareits effect on mens minds as well as their bodies.
Scrupulously researched, exhaustively documented, and vividly illustrated, this book is a chilling testament to mans ability to build and to destroy, The book itself is incredibly detailed, but to the point where it is hard to read, Although the lack of maps wasn't really like some how other people complaining, it was still mildly difficult to picture troop positions, groups, etc, Overall a solid book. Whether you're just bored or is interested in World War, this is the book, A ten hour unabridged audiobook,

I think any objective student of history will tell you that wwin Europe was mainly fought, and won, on the Eastern front, The masses of troops and equipment expended there by the Soviets and Nazis makes all other fronts pale in comparison, It's about time I get an in depth look at the Kursk, rather than a few pages broadly devoted to it,

One of the interesting tidbits were how quickly the Germans could repair their damaged tanks, in some instances the same tank, having already been taken out of action three times in one day, was back in the fight after being quickly repaired a fourth time.
This quick resurrection of damaged tanks under those conditions was an impressive feat,

Perhaps the most interesting part is how mythical the battle has become, It surely was a brutal slugfest, but the German offensive Operation Citadel only sustained about,casualties on their side, That surprised me considering the Russians suffered thrice as many whilst on the defensive in prepared positions and successive lines of defense,

The Russian counter offensive was much bloodier for both sides, but the vast majority of the book focuses on the German offensive portion, I liked the book. Engagingly written, albeit jarringly conversational in a few places I suppose that's the price, I can't speak to the physical production, as I listened to this one and occasionally pulled open a browser for a map of the relevant areas,

I found the extended discussion on background army methodologies and attitudes interesting and generally novel to me, but I admit I'm not widely read on this subject, I expected a bit more on the Soviet side, but given the author's bona fides I guess the German focus is unsurprising, The author lays out a pretty clearcut case for the tactical superiority of German warmaking in the service of inept or even ludicrous strategic goals, Here we have extensively prepared positions, clear force imbalances favoring the defender, and still the Germans nearly turned it into a victory however pyrrhic, But to what end

I do wish the author had laid out the "war as a science" case a bit more fully for the Soviet side, He posits that as a maxim, but didn't drill into the details as much as I'd have preferred,

Overall, an excellent read, both for the writing itself and for gaining a much clearer understanding of Kursk and its significance, A good operational review of the battle that gives a fair balanced account of the actions by both sides and at least a plausible reason why the actions were done.
One of Americas most distinguished military historians offers the definitive account of the greatest tank battle of World War IIan epic clash of machines and men that matched the indomitable will of the Soviet Red Army against the awesome might of the Nazi Wehrmacht.

 
While the Battle of Kursk has long captivated World War II aficionados, it has been unjustly overlooked by historians, Drawing on the masses of new information made available by the opening of the Russian military archives, Dennis Showalter at last corrects that error, This battle was the critical turning point on World War IIs Eastern Front, In the aftermath of the Red Armys brutal repulse of the Germans at Stalingrad, the stakes could not have been higher, More than three million men and eight thousand tanks met in the heart of the Soviet Union, some four hundred miles south of Moscow, in an encounter that both sides knew would reshape the war.
The adversaries were at the peak of their respective powers, On both sides, the generals and the dictators they served were in agreement on where, why, and how to fight, The result was a furious death grapple between two of historys most formidable fighting forcesa battle that might possibly have been the greatest of all time,
 
In Armor and Blood, Showalter recreates every aspect of this dramatic struggle, He offers expert perspective on strategy and tactics at the highest levels, from the halls of power in Moscow and Berlin to the battlefield command posts on both sides, But it is the authors exploration of the human dimension of armored combat that truly distinguishes this book, In the classic tradition of John Keegans The Face of Battle, Showalters narrative crackles with insight into the unique dynamics of tank warfareits effect on mens minds as well as their bodies.
Scrupulously researched, exhaustively documented, and vividly illustrated, this book is a chilling testament to mans ability to build and to destroy,
 
When the dust settled, the field at Kursk was nothing more than a wasteland of steel carcasses, dead soldiers, and smoking debris, The Soviet victory ended German hopes of restoring their position on the Eastern Front, and put the Red Army on the road to Berlin, Armor and Blood presents readers with what will likely be the authoritative study of Kursk for decades to come,

Advance praise for Armor and Blood
 
“The size and the brutality of the vast tank battle at Kursk appalls, this struggle that gives an especially dark meaning to that shopworn phrase last full measure.
Prepare yourself for a wild and feverish ride over the steppes of Russia, You can have no better guide than Dennis E, Showalter, who speaks with an authority equaled by few military historians, ”Robert Cowley, founding editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History
 
“A fresh, skillful, and complete synthesis of recent revelations about this famous battle.
. . As a myth buster, Armor and Blood is a mustread for those interested in general and military history, ”David M. Glantz, editor of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies

“Refreshingly crisp, pointed prose, . . Throughout, Showalter demonstrates his adeptness at interweaving discussions of bigpicture strategy with interesting revelations and anecdotes, Showalter does his best work by keeping his sights set firmly on the battle at hand, while also parsing the conflict for developments that would have farreaching consequences for the war.
”Publishers Weekly The event that signaled the end for the German war machine's offensive capability of WW, after being halted and then turned around at Stalingrad.
Impossible to imagine the scale of the destruction, My first military historical book, Rather difficult at times but still very interesting, Understanding the sizes of army units is incredibly important, something for which I lacked enough knowledge, Either way it was good, Before I read my next selection I will certainly study unit sizes etc,
I thouroughly enjoyed the parts describing the head butting of the Commanders and the Fuhrer, Central command etc, Manstein, Model, Hoth, Vatutin, Rotmistrov etc are a fascinating figures! I believe the next book I will read will have to do more with their mentality and decision making as opposed to tactics.

One thing I wish more of was maps, Really who the hell knows where some of the obscure Russian cities are, Frame of reference for the casual reader is sorely needed, .