Description
Kursk: The German View—Firsthand Accounts of the German Commanders Who Planned and Executed the Largest Tank Battle in History
By Steven H. Newton. The Battle of Kursk, fought in the summer of 1943, involved 6,000 German and Soviet armored vehicles, making it the biggest tank battle of all time and possibly the largest battle of any kind.
Students of military history have long recognized the importance of Kursk, also known as “Operation Citadel,” and there have been several serious studies of the battle. Yet, the German view of the battle has been ignored.
After the war, U.S. Army Intelligence officers gathered German commanders’ postwar reports of the battle. Due, in part, to poor translations done after the war and an effort to weave a false tale of German incompetence, these important documents have been overlooked by World War II historians.
Steven H. Newton has collected, translated and edited these accounts, including reports made by the Chiefs of Staff of Army Group South and the Fourth Panzer Army, and by the Army Group Center Operations officer.
As a result, a new and unprecedented picture of German strategy and operations is made available. The translated staff reports are supplemented by Newton’s commentary and original research, which challenges a number of widely accepted ideas about this pivotal battle, which was for decades was comprised of nothing but Soviet propaganda.
Hardcover, 592 pages
