The German Army 1939-45 (3): Eastern Front 1941-43 (Men-at-Arms) (v. 3) [Paperback]

Nigel Thomas (Author), Stephen Andrew (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 1999 | Series: Men-at-Arms (Book 326)

Operation Barbarossa, the attack on the Soviet Union, commenced on 22 June 1941. It became the biggest conflict in military history, with some three million German troops and about 900,000 allies facing almost 4.7 million Soviet troops. The effects would colour postwar European history for the next 50 years. This title examines the history of the conflict, and the organisation, uniforms and insignia of the German Army on the Eastern Front during World War II, from 1941-43. The book contains numerous illustrations and photographs throughout, incuding eight fine full-page colour plates by Stephen Andrew.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Packed with specially commissioned artwork, maps and diagrams, the Men-at-Arms series is an unrivalled illustrated reference on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the world's military forces, past and present.

About the Author

Nigel Thomas is a graduate in French and German who has amassed a large archive of information on 20th century military uniforms and orders of battle. He has authored and co-authored many Osprey titles such as MAA 282 ‘Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-45’ and is currently head of the Modern Languages Centre and Business Language Unit at the University of Northumbria.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (March 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855327953
• ISBN-13: 978-1855327955
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.3 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,338,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Study of an Important Force Overstretched, December 27, 2001

By 

El Cutachero (MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The German Army 1939-45 (3): Eastern Front 1941-43 (Men-at-Arms) (v. 3) (Paperback)

This work is a splendid example of the new emphasis of the publisher on producing comprehensive works in a handy format compared with the earlier broad brush treatments which covered too much in too little detail.
The new emphasis is on sets covering various national armed forces in as much detail as is available, consistent with the current purpose of the works in the series, which have evolved from an original emphasis on serving the military miniature maker market into works intended to enlighten the general reader in enough detail to satisfy the merely curious and to point the way to further reading.
Most of us, including myself, have little need for, or the patience to read, voluminous studies, often in foreign languages, covering many eras and nations. My main interest is in the US forces, their allies and their enemies in the twentieth century.
That said, these works should be purchased as presented, in sets within the series. Since they are produced as a set, the volumes cover only relevent parts of the general history and the clothing and individual equipment is covered as it appears in each period. The French Army, US Army, British Army, and Italian Army series all have three volumes, covering the major theatres and time periods of the war. The German set has five.
The German Army set should be read in conjunction with many other individual volumes covering their allies and opponents and the other German fighting forces such as the Waffen SS, and the Parachute units, which were part of the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe.
If you want an introduction to the fascinating variety of clothing and equipment of the forces covered, this set is for you.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, July 25, 2004

By 

Michael A Dorosh (Calgary, AB, CANADA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The German Army 1939-45 (3): Eastern Front 1941-43 (Men-at-Arms) (v. 3) (Paperback)

This five volume set contains much of the information found in larger volumes like Angolia's, and much more detailed info than other volumes like the SOLDAT series which concentrate solely on front line troops.

The detailed info in this volume includes rank insignia of the Eastern Legions, info on Beamten (military officials) and a detailed table on Beamten - this stuff is not currently available in English in any other currenly printed books.

The meat and potatoes of the book are of course the colour plates , the detailed history of the Eastern Front, and the list of divisions and numbered units (the last being especially only marginally useful).

Doesn't get five stars because of the colour plates. The poses are good, the artwork in the main is useful and shows a wide variety of kit, but the faces tend to look similar and the noses in particular need work. Andrew is obviously influenced by Volstad but needs to learn to put variety into his facial structure in order to present a realistic appearance.

I see my review for Volume 3 is also listed under Volume 4, and 5 so I will add comments on these here -

Volume 4's special content includes insignia of the ROA (Russian Liberation Army) and special rank badges. Probably didn't need a whole page for the latter, but a bit of new information is posted in the chart also.

Otherwise, all previous comments on the series, including those on volume 3, above, apply.

Volume 5 has no special content in table or illustrations, but the text does discuss in some detail all the campaigns that took place on the "western front" and has note on the organization of infantry divisions as well as good general info on uniforms and insignia.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Reference on WW2 Military Modelling., January 8, 2001

By 

paul_cheng "K.F." (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The German Army 1939-45 (3): Eastern Front 1941-43 (Men-at-Arms) (v. 3) (Paperback)

This book is the third of five (so far) from the Osprey's Men-At-Arms Series on "German Army". The other four are:-

MAA 311 The German Army 1939-45 (1) Blitzkrieg;

MAA 316 The German Army 1939-45 (2) North Africa & Balkans;

MAA 330 The German Army 1939-45 (4) Eastern Front 1943-45;

MAA 336 The German Army 1939-45 (5) Western Front 1943-45.

These books basically cover the German Army uniform and rank insignia of specific time and place during WW2. Each book includes 30 to 40 b/w photographs of German soldiers in different types of uniform. There are also 8 pages of colour-plates in each book depicting the uniforms in colour. Since I own all five books, I observed that the drawing skill of Stephen Andrew improving gradually over the years.

These books are by no means a comprehensive account of the uniform of the German Army during WW2. However, the contents (text, photos and colour-plates) are excellent source of reference materials for modelling enthusiasts focusing on WW2 German Army.

This review applies to all five books.