Customer Reviews

Operation Barbarossa 1941 (3): Army Group Center (Campaign) (v. 3)

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This third volume in Robert Kirchubel's account of Operation Barbarossa, number 186 in Osprey's campaign series, is a mixed bag, with some good, some indifferent and some bad. Having written Moscow 1941, Campaign No. 167, last year, I was eager to see how this volume would complete the trilogy on the largest ground invasion in history. Unfortunately, this volume seems to be the weakest of the three the author has written and appears to falter badly toward the end.

The opening sections on origins of the campaign, opposing forces, plans and commanders is relatively short, but understandable given that this volume is third in a 3-part series. However, the author devotes 10 pages to opposing forces, without actually saying a great deal. It is clear that the author has not used the superb research by David Glantz in Stumbling Colossus, which spells out the extent of disarray in the Soviet army on the eve of Barbarossa. The author does seem to want to avoid some of the standard canards about the campaign concerning bad weather in favor of a more logistics-heavy focus (which echoes the approach I used in my own Moscow 1941), but without providing the facts to back it up. For example, he states that the 4th Panzer Division only had enough fuel to go 60 miles (96 kms) at the start of Typhoon, without any supporting data, yet it actually had enough to go 200 kms in the first few days of the offensive.

The volume has five 2-D Maps (strategic overview; Boldin counteroffensive; Timoshenko counteroffensive; Vyazma and Bryansk; German advances toward Moscow) and two 3-D BEV maps (Minsk encirclement; Operation Typhoon). The maps are problematic in this volume, for example, the map entitled "Vyazma and Bryansk" does not actually show the town of Vyazma, nor do any of the maps show railroads. How can you discuss German logistics in Operation Barbarossa if you don't show the rail lines, to which they were tied? The 3-D maps are zoomed out such that the grid lines are 50 kilometers apart, meaning they depict battle areas of 400 x 300 kilometers - meaning that terrain features are virtually indistinguishable. Trying to cover a two-month offensive involving six German armies on a single BEV was just ridiculous! On the other hand, the three battle scenes by Peter Dennis (Soviet 6th Rifle Division defends Brest-Litovsk; 7th Panzer and 29th Motorized Infantry Division link-up closing Smolensk kessel; German 137th Infantry Division assault through Moscow defenses near Voronino) are excellent - probably one of the best aspects of this volume. The author provides a fairly decent bibliography, but the omission of David Gantz's landmark Stumbling Colossus is incredible.

This narrative consists of three main set pieces: the opening border battles and Minsk-Bialystok pocket in June-July 1941; the Battle of Smolensk in July-August 1941 and Operation Typhoon in October-December 1941. The author's sources are German-heavy, although he has made efforts to include Soviet material from David Glantz. The section on the Minsk encirclement is fairly good, although a bit short and provides only the barest details on critical actions, such as the assault on Brest-Litovsk. By the time that the author gets to Smolensk, his narrative gets hard to follow. The author also begins inserting information that is incorrect or misleading. For example, on page 46 that "OKH created Fourth Panzer Army" on 2-3 July (it was not until 5 October) and on page 49, talks about Von Kluge "in his new role as a Panzer Army commander". On page 64, the author writes that, "on July 27, when von Kluge was removed from command of Fourth Panzer Army," yet Generaloberst Erich Höpner was the commander of 4th Panzergruppe from February to December 1941 and von Kluge was commander of 4th Army. About this point, I began to get a funny feeling about this volume.

By the time that the narrative moves to Operation Typhoon, I could sense that the "facts" being used herein were rather squishy. The number of Luftwaffe aircraft supporting Typhoon listed here was more than double what they actually had and claims that the Germans had broken through the entire Mozhaisk Line by 16 October are false (Mozhaisk did not fall until 18 October and Volokolomsk not till 27 October). The author says that "Hitler could not bring himself to assault Moscow frontally," but in fact, 4th Army was stopped cold at Naro-Fominsk on 20-23 October. On page 78, the author says that "one division from the Soviet Far East was arriving near Moscow by rail every two days" in late October, but actually only a few Siberian divisions went to Moscow and most went either to the Leningrad or Ukrainian fronts. The author's take on von Kluge's failure to act also seems to accept a lot of baloney (von Kluge was lying to his peers and superiors, which von Bock's diary bears out), which makes his telling incomprehensible. This final volume in the trilogy stumbles across the finish line and collapses in a disorderly heap.

Robert Kirchubel's Operation Barbarossa: Army Group Center is the final book of the Osprey Campaign trilogy on the first 6 months of the Soviet - German conflict. Like its predecessors in the trilogy, Barbarosa: Army Group Center provides a useful resource to the WWII historian. It is well organized, excellently illustrated and provides a surprisingly comprehensive analysis for such a brief volume.

Barbarosa: Army Group Center, is a well organized description and analysis of BOTH German and Soviet operations in Army Group Center's area during 1941. Kirchubel's description offers a very good balance of larger scale operations and decision-making with occasional telescoping down to small scale actions that reveal the unique nature of that conflict. For such a brief work (Osprey's format constrains volume length to 90-100 pages) he addresses the complex issues of terrain, strategic decisions, logistics, and a complicated and dynamic order of battle. His analysis incorporates some of the newest research in the field - for example the impact of the rapid expansion of the Red Army on the quality of leadership rather than the purges.

However, the most unique and interesting aspect of this volume (as well as the others in the trilogy) are the excellent photos, maps and art work. The photos in particular are well chosen and with insightful commentary (particularly this last volume) that illustrate the operating conditions, technology and terrain that made the "Eastern Front" such a distinctive conflict.

The scale and range of operations, physical and economic geography, and the complexity of leadership issues (ideology, nationality, organization, personality etc.) makes the coverage of the Soviet-German War a challenging task indeed. Kirchubel has addressed this challenge with effective if not admirable results. I hope the author follows up with a similar (and much needed) work on the 1942 campaign.

Robert Kirchubel's third volume of Operation Barbarossa 1941 Army Group Center is a wonderful addition to his Russian-German War trilogy. Taken together, the novice as well as the informed reader will have an exceptional overview of the Barbarossa events. The combination of a well written text, photographs, paintings, charts, and 2 and 3D maps all add to the enjoyment of this 96 page effort.

Divided into five main chapters, Operation Barbarossa 1941 (3) follows a systematic and logical flow. After a few pages of Introduction and a one-page Chronology (February to November 1941), Mr. Kirchubel discusses German and Soviet plans and opposing commanders. Critics might disagree with the author's choices of the commanders profiled. However, the mini-biographies of the German and Soviet personalities who began the campaign are but stepping stones to stimulate a reader to explore their backgrounds further.

Mr. Kirchubel's discussion of the Opposing Armies is both succinct and enlightening. The photo caption on page 21 is just one example of the author's style: "Sixty of the 73 officers of Infantry Regiment 12 (31st Infantry Division), photographed in April 1941 at Kutno in occupied Poland. By December the regiment would be on its fourth commander since the start of the campaign; its losses would also include the two majors shown here, two of the three captains, one of the five physicians, and 27 of the 56 lieutenants."

The author devotes approximately 60 pages to the frontier battles, Bialystock and Minsk salients, the encirclement battle at Smolensk, Soviet counteroffensives, Operation Typhoon with the capture and destruction of Soviet forces around Viazma and Bryansk, as well as the final push of German forces toward Moscow. The amount of detail, while not overwhelming, is more than enough for the general reader to absorb. Mr. Kirchubel weaves his narrative in a direct and comprehensive manner that will assist anyone interested in the Barbarossa campaign not only to understand the sequences of events, but to enjoy its contents. When the author states (at page 56) that Hoth's 7th Panzer Division closed on Smolensk on July 13, separated by Guderian by 25 miles, and two days later "Rommeled" into Yartsevo, one can visualize the speed of this operation.

A few minor printing and editing errors do not detract from its substance. For example, the German front line color coding on the Operation Typhoon pages (70 and 71) do not match the 3D map lines. And the author's name on the title page is shown as "Richard" instead of "Robert". One reviewer noted the inadequacy of Mr. Kirchubel's coverage of the assault on Brest Litovsk. However, the cover painting reproduced at pages 42 and 43, and explained on page 44, is more than sufficient given the overall German operational achievements between June and November 1941.

Much has been written on Operation Barbarossa over the last 60 years. Few pack as satisfying a punch as Mr. Kirchubel's trilogy.

Gary Komar

Completely agree with Mr. Forczyk review. This is a half-baked product.
The idea to describe the greatest ground battle in history, which lasted for almost 6 months, in just 90 pages was flawed from the beginning. It requires at least 3 books in Campain format (Minsk, Smolensk-Elnya, Typhoon).
It also suffers from weak implementation.
On just 25 pages (from p. 32 to p. 57) describing the initial period of invasion I found at least 25 misleading statements or factual errors. On top of that, the text is poorly organized logically, the narrative jumps from later episodes to earlier, etc.
Another major drawback is that there are too few maps for such a complex and prolonged campaing (in fact, at least 3 campains), 2D maps could have been better, 3D maps are almost useless.
Tired of this, I put it aside in the middle of the book, just after Smolensk.

Robert Kirchubel's OPERATION BARBAROSSA 1941 (3): ARMY GROUP CENTER outlines the command strategies, tactics and battle experiences of the Barbarossa campaign of 1941 and represents the concluding volume in the trilogy on the subject. Military libraries that already have the other volumes will find it an essential probe of the causes behind the German failure.

Ever since getting Operation Barbarossa 1941 (2) I've been waiting for this one to come out. And it is about time it did. It is as good as the priveious two covering operations in the North and in the South of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the clash between the 20th Century's Two most evil empires. Why the author kept this one for last I do not know but I am glad Osprey has finally published it.

Covers operations in the move for Moscow quite well. Very well describes its actions and why it failed for the Germans even though they came so well close to Victory. Politicians should never be allowed to meddle with military decisions.

A must read for students of military history and anyone interested in WWII.

All are well written and each gives a solid overview of each of the three german armies that were involved in the conflict. This one deals with the Army Group Center and what it's individual tactical objectives were. I strongly recommend these books especially if you are already a fan of the Osprey format.