Polish Campaign of 1939 [Paperback]

Victor Madje (Author), Stefan Zaloga (Author), Victor Madej (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books (September 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870527991
• ISBN-13: 978-0870527999
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,989,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Zaloga is a senior analyst for Teal Group Corp., an aerospace consulting firm. His professional specialization is the commercial and technological aspects of the international trade in missiles, precision guided munitions, and unmanned aerial vehicles. He also serves as an adjunct staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think-tank.

Mr. Zaloga has published numerous books and articles on military technology and military history. His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He has been a special correspondent for "Jane's Intelligence Review" and is on the executive board of the "Journal of Slavic Military Studies". From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/director for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series "Firepower" that aired on The Discovery Channel in the US.

Mr. Zaloga was born in 1952 and received his BA in history from Union College, Schenectady, NY. He received an MA in history from Columbia University specializing in modern East European history, and did graduate research and language study at Uniwersitet Jagiellonski in Krakow, Poland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Refreshing Debunking of Myths, September 11, 2003

By 

Jan Peczkis "Scholar and Thinker" (Chicago IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Polish Campaign 1939 (Hardcover)

Most western accounts of the German attack on Poland end up repeating tales straight out of German propaganda. These include the myth of Polish cavalry charging German tanks, and the myth about the Polish Air Force being destroyed, largely on the ground, in the first two days of combat. Neither of these oft-repeated tales is true. While the authors do point out that some Polish military thinkers tended to underestimate the significance of Panzer divisions, the same held for many French, British, and yes, German military thinkers before the war. Nevertheless, the Poles possessed the potent Bofors 37 mm antitank gun, but not enough to make a difference in the war. The authors also discuss temporary military successes in the Bzura campaign. In the end, the German victory over Poland, and also later over much of Europe, stemmed from a combination of the former's industrial superiority coupled with the failure of western Europeans to take Hitler seriously.