Customer Reviews

To the Bitter End: The Final Battles of Army Groups North Ukraine, A, Centre, Eastern Front, 1944-45

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The scope of this book is very wide, and includes the Soviet offensive in the Carpathians, the Slovakian uprising, the massive Vistula Oder offensive of January 1945, the Red Army's pushed into Silesian, and the final battles in Saxony. Throughout, the author writes factually and clearly.

The coverage of this book is a major plus, as the majority of these campaigns have never been covered before in the English language. The translator has done an excellent job, and added numerous footnotes which clarify and expand on the text. A comprehensive bibliography is attached.

This is a very nicely produced book, I disagree with a previous reviewer that there is a profusion of typos, quite the opposite. It is also worth mentioning that the book includes 30 maps, all of them clearly reproduced. A lack of maps frequently lets down a well written book, and I'm pleased to report that this is not the case for this book.

TO THE BITTER END: THE FINAL BATTLES OF ARMY GROUPS NORTH UKRAINE, A, CENTRE, EASTERN FRONT 1944-45 is a specialty item no military library should be without: the author was born in 1922 in Eastern Germany and joined in 1939, following the Campaign in the West in 1940 and attending military academy. He served in Russia and spent much of the war as a forward observation officer, participating in the advances of 1942 and 42. His account isn't an autobiography, as one might expect, but a detailed military analysis of strategy, events, and leadership, including maps and discussions of Soviet advances. An outstanding, in-depth and very particular history evolves.

Considering how little is published English on this phase of the war, the publishers really should be congratulated for doing a superb job! There is loads of detail covering these rare battles, and it really is nitpicking from another reviewer to give the book only two stars for not including personal accounts. Personal accounts on these battles are not easy to come by at all, and I understand the author died some years ago, so the publishers were unable to revise this English edition. As it stands, it provides a lot of information completely unavailable elsewhere, and is recommended to those who are interested in researching some of the less well-known aspects of the War on the Eastern Front in World War II.

No great moment by moment accounts here,only an overview of what units and divisions were where and what happened to them.Very brief combat accounts such as " they were heavily engaged before being pushed back to the river Bug" are most of what you will find along with an some short equipment notes such as " a hetzer group of 12 units was added until sent elswhere" Not what I was hoping for after reading books like "HELLS GATE" and "TIGERS IN THE MUD".The most interesting part is a sideline about the Slovack uprising at the time and it's key players.This book does suffer from some translation problems that do not improve it's flow.Treat this as reference material not the defining account of the end of Army Group Center.Maybe Douglas Nash can tell this story next...

My expectations for this book were fairly high after having read Hinze's "East front Drama". This was especially true in regard to the Order of Battle data which was described in various pre-publication reviews as 'comprehensive'. Based on his aforementioned "Eastfront Drama" which detailed German units from Division down to independent Battalions for several dates, I had high hopes. Unfortunately these were not met. The 'comprehensive' OB's are primarily Division level only and only detail the German side. Also in the text many 'typo' errors appear with numerical designations rerversed. The Publisher practically admit this in their forward where they state that their chief translator lost most of his files courtesy of Hurricane 'Katrina' prior to final publication and so errors may have crept in. Aside from this, if you are not familiar with the this period of the War on the Eastern Front, it still well worth the read. Many Divisions are dealt with in detail concerning military operations and sometimes independent battalions/brigades get a mention in the text as well although all too briefly.

I hate to be negative about a book from the German prespective, as they are rare, but I feel I must for others not to waste
their money. The book is a general and basic operational
overview of the end stages of combat in the Silesia area. If you
are only looking for dates, places, and names of units involved
this book is for you but, if you are like me, there are ZERO
personal accounts included, which are needed to "flesh" out a
book like this, to give you a better understanding of the various battles described.

To the Bitter End stand at the boundaries of two kind of books regarding the January 45 Soviet offensive on the Berlin axis (Poland - Germany). The first ones, like Duffy's Red Storm on the Reich are a wide overlook on military actions in a peticular timeframe and the second detailled writing on series of small units actions mainly based on unit history and memoirs (Gunther's Last Laurels being a good examples). With the notable exemption of Glantz edited symposium report From the Vistula to the Oder (which, save for the outstanding maps, is not - and do not pretend to be- the key book on the subject), there is nothing close to what could be described as a solid military studie on the Soviet Winter offensive, at least, in english.

It is hard to understand what the author of East Front drama, a must have to understand the 1944's Soviet offensive on the AG Center, wanted to achieve here. It certainly doesn't came close to East Front Drama regarding the luxury of detailled on german tactical units successfully merged in a good account of the operational subtilities of the campaign. It is rather, pretty much like Gunther work, a patchwork of units histories summaries loosely tied as a story of the german armies in a specific timeline on a specific location (it mostly focus on the AG A and the 4st Tank Army, from Poland to the then German Silesia).

The good point is that it still have some interest for those who don't master either german or russian, the first being the core langage of Hinze sources and the second being the only langage in which solid accounts on the operations on the Berlin Axis have been written- so far as I can tell. It might even have been a better walkthrough than Duffy book if it was not for a price not worth the content.

All in all, if you're willing to spend 40$ for a overview of military operations between the Vistula - Oder - Neisse in 1945 from the german side, it is your best shot. If you want a good campaign studie in english, you will have to wait and if you think 40$ is the first price for a reference book, you might want to look elsewhere.

Having already read "East Front Drama 1944", the presumption of a challenging read for this newer book was expected and I wasn't disappointed. Of all the tactical writers I read, people like Glantz, Nash, Carafano, Reardon, Carell and others, Mr Hinze is the most difficult and least satisfying. The author includes in this volume, which is neither an overview nor comprehensive study but somewhere in the middle, background information, tactical, strategic and analytical coverage. Three of the types are good but the tactical coverage is fragmentary and is terribly disappointing for a reader who is concerned with piecing together all the military events of the war.

Generally speaking, the book covers the Vistula River Offensive that starts in late 1944 and works its way to the end of the war. The Soviets which had a commanding advantage in men, tanks, guns, equipment swept through Poland and Slovakia to reach Germany by April 1945. Coverage includes the Soviet advance through the Beskides, Carpathian Ranges, Solvakia especially the important Silesian industrial district and all of Poland. The fall of Berlin is not included. This book starts where "East Front Drama 1944" ends.

If you have just a casual interest in this campaign then my next comments will probably not be an issue but if your tactical concerns are high then parts of this book will be disappointing. First off, the number of tactical engagements covered is far from complete; the author provides only a sampling in each combat sector. To make it more disappointing, the examples that are given are fragmentary. Dates of the event are missing in more than half of the cases, the descriptions of the battlefields are brief as well as the locations of these battles. The author will say: "In the 17th Army area, the Soviets penetrated the front line and drove 6 km to the rear..." I would like to know which dates, cities were involved or hills and rivers; which Soviet units were involved and many other things of interest. The troop designations for the Axis side is usually given at division or Corps but sometimes only Army level but on the Soviet side the number of times unit designations are given and at the Army level only could be counted on both hands. Some of the German commanders are presented but you'll have to look elsewhere to find out who commanded the Soviet divisions.
Hitler, Guderian and the OKH is mention somewhat but not a great deal. The author discusses Hitler's unrealistic ways and how it effected the German forces on the line. Guderian tries to enlighten his boss on how to prosecute the war in the east but fails to be convincing.
While the tactical coverage is disappointing, the other aspects of the book are better. The author provides strategic insight and analysis as well as background information that is helpful and raises this volume to acceptable levels.

There are 30 maps heavily populated with cities, rivers, other landmarks. The maps will usually have German Corps or Division designations but the Soviet dispositions are not always given and only arrows are shown to depict the Soviet advance. With the generic descriptions of the tactical battles in the narrative, these maps, even with their shortcomings will help you greatly in following the action. There are also pictures which are good and add to the value of the book. There is also a Bibliography and assorted Orders of Battle that reflects the campaign progression. There are no Notes.

There is only one other book I know of that covers this campaign and that's Duffy's "Red Storm on the Reich". Hinze covers some things that Duffy misses but there were times Duffy's book was able to clarify events that weren't clear in Hinze's book. I'd like to suggest that if you have a real interest in this campaign that you read both books to get a more complete picture. The two complement each other nicely. Even with rating this book three stars, I'm still glad to have it in my collection for it adds to my knowledge base of an underrated campaign of the war.

The title does indeed say it all. An excellent book you won't put down "To The bitter End". This really is a superb addition to the literature in English about these battles, and all credit to the translator!

Although the subject matter is interesting and the period and area are not well covered in standard WW2 literature, this book is very, very bad. The text is confusing, with lots of repetition and unexplained jumps (plus weird phrasing such as "the 6th Infanterie-Division had changed its name repeatedly, from 6th Grenadier Division, 6th Volks-Grenadier Division, Division 'Panzertod', and finally back to the 6th Infantry Division and, indeed, with 20 to 22 infantry battalions". That's it -the phrase ends there, and stuff like that happens a lot throughout the pages).

Since the main attraction of the book would supposedly be its coverage of a less-studied campaign, some background info on the area, its geography and terrain, and how the opposing armies ended up fighting there would be welcome -nay, essential-, but neither the author nor the editors saw fit to include it. And although there are plenty of maps, they are very hard to read, badly laid-out and almost useless.

I am usually not crazy about political correctness, but if one would base one's views about WW2 on Mr. Hinze's work, the impression would be that poor, innocent Germany was invaded by bloodthirsty enemies who -cheeky barbarians!- disrespected the Geneva Convention (he complains about it more than once). It would be nice if the author or editors deigned to mention, even if in passing, the fact that Germany invaded the USSR, indiscriminately killed and tortured millions of POWs and civilians and planned on butchering 30 million Slavs, if their plans to resettle the new German Ostland had bore fruit (and, of course, that Germany did NOT apply the Geneva Convention in their dealings with the Soviets).

Mr Hinze repeatedly complains about the brutality of the Soviet occupiers against German civilians, and I am certainly not condoning it, but there is a context to the tale and, by reading his book, one would never form the impression that Germany started the war and prosecuted it murderously for almost five years before its enemies crossed the German frontiers. In fact, the book would bother me less if someone had decided to stick a warning on the cover about Mr. Hinze being an unrepentant Nazi.

To sum it up, this is a very expensive, badly-produced and not very informative book. I have close to a thousand books about WW2, and Mr. Hinze's is one of the worse. Avoid it like the plague.