Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir Of General Raus, 1941-1945 [Hardcover]

Erhard Raus (Author), Steven H. Newton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 25, 2003

Drawing from post-war reports commissioned by U.S. Army intelligence, World War II historian Steven H. Newton has translated, compiled, and edited the battle accounts of one of Germany's finest panzer commanders and a skilled tactician of tank warfare. Throughout most of the war, Erhard Raus was a highly respected field commander in the German-Soviet war on the eastern front, and after the war he wrote an insightful analysis of German strategy in that campaign.The Raus memoir covers the Russian campaign from the first day of the war to his relief from command at Hitler's order in the spring of 1945. It includes a detailed examination of the 6th Panzer Division's drive to Leningrad, Raus's own experiences in the Soviet winter counteroffensive around Moscow, the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Stalingrad, and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war. His battlefield experience and keen tactical eye make his memoir especially valuable for scholars, and his narrative is as readable as Heinz Guderian's celebrated Panzer Leader.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A very useful work for students of the war on the Eastern Front." -- WWII History May 2004

"A welcome addition to the literature on World War II...A vivid account of operations and an insightful study." -- Foreign Affairs March/April 2004

"An informative and compelling account...Raus provides sufficient whiffs of gunpowder to engross even the non-specialist." -- The Journal of Military History January 2005

"Beautifully descriptive scenes...a good military history...an interesting, enjoyable read." -- Curled Up With A Good Book 5/5/04

"Especially valuable for scholars, while his readable narrative will engage even the casual military buff or history enthusiast." -- SirReadaLot.org 12/20/03

About the Author

Steven H. Newton is Professor of History at Delaware State University. His previous books on World War II include Kursk: The German View and Retreat from Leningrad.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First edition (November 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306812479
• ISBN-13: 978-0306812477
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #901,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful New Title on German Operations, December 29, 2003

By 

T. P. S. "Savas Beatie LLC" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir Of General Raus, 1941-1945 (Hardcover)

The name Erhard Raus will not register to many students of WWII, but the general saw as much action on the Eastern Front as any officer I know of.

Raus entered Operation Barbarossa in command of a brigade in the 6th Panzer Division, and ended the war as the head of an Army Group. He learned the art of tank tactics under fire. After he was captured he penned an extensive memoir (while the war was still fresh in his mind). Although pieces were used by American intelligence, they were often heavily edited and incomplete. Here, for the first time in print, is Raus's complete memoir. In a word, it is extraordinary.

The memoir was located, pieced together, and translated and edited from the original German by Steven Newton (Professor of History, Delaware State University). Raus was as good a writer as he was a tank commander. Simply put, this is extraordinarily well written, although it assumes at least a working knowledge of the war in the East and the structure of the German military.

Raus discusses the offensive battle in Army Group North during the drive for Leningrad, the offensive against Moscow, his role in Manstein's abortive effort to relieve Stalingrad (oddly, Manstein is not found in the index though is mentioned often), and the final defensive battles back into Germany, where Raus was relieved of command by Hitler in March 1945. Hasso von Manteuffel (who also is absent from the index) assumed his command, ending Raus's 40 years of military service. Raus's writing is often personal, always perceptive, and offers a hands-on knowledge that was obviously fresh in his mind when he wrote.

Newton provides an enlightening Introduction to this memoir and a date-oriented resume of Raus's career, which appears as an appendix. Thirteen maps are included (they are good but not great).

Panzer Operations should be read and owned by every WWII tank and East Front student everywhere. Run, don't walk, to your local book store (or order on line) and pick up a copy. With his work getting this manuscript into book form, Dr. Newton has proven once again why he is widely considered one America's foremost military historians.

30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, But..., July 7, 2005

By 

Thomas Reiter (Washington DC, DC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir Of General Raus, 1941-1945 (Hardcover)

This is a very good book on operations on the Russian Front. Raus was clearly a very gifted commander, and his descriptions of his numerous successful operations (both offensive and defensive) are very interesting, as he discusses the risks associated with the various courses of action he could take, why he chose a particular course of action, and the results.

Raus was involved in a very wide variety of actions, from the attack toward Leningrad, forcing a passage on a troop-train through partisan-infested forests, attacks attempting to relieve Stalingrad, the Kursk offensive, and the defense of East Prussia. Once the Germans shifted to the defensive, Raus' "trademark" tactic was the flexible defense, in which he was (at least according to his testimony) very successful and which probably explains the interest of the US Army in his writings after the war.

This book is very good, but I'll mention a few reasons why I only gave it four stars, so you can judge for yourself:
--Raus rose from a relatively junior officer at the outbreak of war with Russia to an Army commander by the end of the war. While I was very interested in his descriptions of the small unit actions in the first part of the book, my interest waned as he became more senior, and I found his accounts of his actions as an army commander fairly dull.

--While Raus was clearly a very gifted commander, the book makes it sound like his unit was always succesful--all failures occurred under other commanders on other parts of the front (note that Raus never says this, it is just an impression that arises from reading his accounts).

--Maps are pretty sparse.

--I didn't find Raus' descriptions of his Russian opponents very objective--he basically describes them as very brave, tough, clever (in a sneaky sort of way), and prone to atrocities, with only their massive numbers saving them. Maybe this is the way it was, but I don't think Raus gave the Russkis enough credit.

TMR

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating study of armor tactics in Eastern Front, April 20, 2011

By 

J. Groen "Jerry Groen" (GURNEE, ILLINOIS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941-1945 (Paperback)

This book is a fascinating study of armor tactics during World War II on the Eastern Front. The author was a colonel, major general up to a full general (what the Germans called a Colonel General) and served from June 22, 1941 (the start of Barbarossa) until March, 1945 (when Hitler relieved him from his post).

During that period, he served as a kampfgruppe (brigade) commander in the 6th Panzer Division, the commander of the 6th Panzer Division, an Infantry Corps commander and the commander of a number of different Armies. Since the author has better insight on small unit actions during the early part of the war, that part of the book is somewhat better than the later chapters.

The book is fascinating because of the tactical examples that it provides on battles fought on the Eastern Front. Here are a couple of examples. (1) The first time that the Germans met the 52 ton KV-1 tank, they had extreme difficulty destroying these heavy tanks. In one instance, he shares an example in July, 1941, when a single tank held up the movement of his kampfgruppe for more than day. Finally, the tank was destroyed by combined artillery and flak gun (German 88) fire. (2) During the first two months of the war, the German armor units were fighting on the edge. For example, he relates a story of the taking of a bridge over a major river right before Leningrad and the overwhelming Soviet forces that attacked the Germans until their help arrived. (3) The Germans at the start of the war didn't have the better tanks, but they attacked with hundreds of tanks at a spot at the beginning of the war and had overwhelming forces in a single area. He relates a story of a tank battle that occurred in the attempt to relieve Stalingrad in December, 1942. Although the Germans were outnumbered in tanks by 500 to 200, they attacked with all 200 of their tanks, single Soviet units of 50 tanks and destroyed each unit and until they beat the Soviets.

There are many more examples. One conclusion that I derived from this book is that the Germans had much better junior commanders (Lieutenant through Major) than the Russians throughout the war and themselves at the start of the war. As the war progressed, the Soviets used overwhelming numbers of artillery and tanks to defeat the Germans.

This is an excellent book that I highly recommend for any individual interested in the Eastern Front during World War II. In fact, this is the best book that I've ever read on this topic. One negative - there are some excellent maps in this book showing the ground that some of the major armor actions were fought on. On the Kindle as usual, these maps are difficult to read. Therefore, I suggest that you stay away from the Kindle version and purchase the paperback copy.