Red Storm On The Reich: The Soviet March On Germany, 1945 [Paperback]

Christopher Duffy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1993

On the night of January 11, 1945, fog, low clouds, and blizzards reduced visibility at times to literally zero along the Sandomierz bridgehead. So the German troops did not notice tanks, assault guns, and towed artillery pieces moving in position by the thousands along the east bank—the Russian side—of the Vistula River. Within seconds after the order to fire was given by the Soviet commander, General Konev, the air became incandescent with unnatural light. A sky of fire and smoke lowered over the country across the river: Houses flared up like torches, bunkers collapsed, roads were broken up, and men were ripped apart. The ferocity of the first attack shook the Germans so badly that they thought they were dealing with the main assault, and not just a reconnaissance in force. So they were completely unprepared for the principal attack and the horrors it held. Thus began the Red Storm on the Reich—the largest, costliest, and fastest—moving military operation in European history."Essentially, the Second World War was won and lost on the Eastern Front," writes renowned historian Christopher Duffy. Until this book, however, the most dramatic events surrounding this part of the war have been little understood. Utilizing a wealth of recently released Soviet materials from Moscow archives, and cross-referencing these with German accounts, Duffy has uncovered a military campaign of unprecedented scale and intensity during which thirty million lives were lost. Red Storm on the Reich brings to life not only the Russian military assault on Germany, but also the human drama behind the epic sieges of Danzig, Kolberg, and Breslau. Duffy's gripping narrative is essential reading for all those interested in modern European history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Duffy's solid study describes the Soviet assault on Germany from January to April 1945, reminding us that the war against Hitler was essentially won on the Eastern front. Maps.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Standard military historical fare from Duffy (The Military Experience in the Age of Reason, 1988), who here details the final Soviet drive against the Nazis on the road from Poland to Berlin. With overwhelming superiority in armament and troop strength, the Soviet battle plan initially involved two coordinated assaults across the Vistula River in mid-January 1945. The assaults met with less resistance than anticipated--in fact, the German front collapsed, enabling the Soviet armies to begin a race to the Oder and German soil that made it seem as though the war would be quickly won. However, eventually bogged down by increasingly desperate fighting and the possibility of attack from the flanks and rear, Soviet operations turned to consolidating positions and eliminating pockets of resistance while maintaining steady progress westward. Duffy considers each siege and state of the assault separately, providing a full analysis of strategy and paying particular attention to the divisive role Nazi functionaries played in the Wehrmacht's efforts to fight back and regroup. Although battles are described with dramatic highlights, the march becomes fragmented into a series of isolated conflicts in which descriptions of maneuvers during the siege of K”nigsberg or Breslau, or on the Oder, often appear formulaic or repetitive. A lengthy appendix closely analyzes Soviet and German styles of warfare, with the former's mechanized ability and tactical advantage on the offensive proving decisive. Well researched and meticulously presented, but only occasionally engaging: a history of interest primarily to military specialists. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306805057
• ISBN-13: 978-0306805059
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific history of final WWII events in E. Prussia, Poland, May 17, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Storm On The Reich: The Soviet March On Germany, 1945 (Paperback)

"Red Storm" is an excellent history of an overlooked yet vital part of World War II: the fighting between the Soviet Union and Germany in the last months of the war from East Prussia and Poland into Berlin. The text is very readable with a refreshing and frequent use of personal experiences of both Soviets and Germans. Not just soldiers but ordinary people describe life during this inferno. Some of the incidents are truly heart-wrenching, especially the scenes of deprivation suffered by the people unfortunate enough to live in this region during those last few months. The descriptions of the military action are well-paced with a good use of maps. The detailed appendix and endnotes are full of interesting trivia and departure points for more reading on specific topics. The author also digs up obscure episodes of interest. An example is the use of German capital ships like the heavy cruisers Prinz Eugen and the Admiral Scheer in bombarding the advancing Soviet troops. These German ships and others hurled thousands of rounds of shells over the heads of the German troops from their positions offshore in the Baltic Sea. The German Navy also played a crucial role in the evacuation of civilians and troops from seaports in front of the Soviet offensive. The discovery of Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz by the advancing Soviet troops is also covered. The only (minor) faults I could find were the lack of any historical photographs and the author's tendancy to talk about the Nazi's regime's survival "into summer"-though the regime seized to exist after May 10, which is still spring to most people. I highly recommend "Red Storm on the Reich" if for no other reason than it keeps alive the memories of the fighting and now vanished ways of life in cities like Breslau, Danzig, Stettin, Konigsberg, and other cities which today have lost even their German names.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Way to Teach History, January 30, 2000

By 

Marc Dauphin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Storm On The Reich: The Soviet March On Germany, 1945 (Paperback)

Until the late 80's, knowledge about what happened on the Esatern Front was limited, due to many factors, one of which was the totally stereotypical way in which the Soviet participants and historians retold these tremendous events. In the early 90's, with the collapse of the Soviet Empire, historians could, for the first time, access new and heretofore unpublished material. This book represents one of the first of these "new history" texts. It describes in broad brushstrokes the huge operations on the Eastern Front which resulted in the collapse of Germany in 1945. In addition, it gives enough human element that one can begin to imagine the untold suffering of both the anonymous soviet soldiers whose lives were squandered by the millions, and of the Germans, both civilians and military who were brushed aside or crushed impersonnally under the irresistible soviet juggernaut. It gives one a whole new perspective on what happened in early 1945.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable account of the Eastern Front battles, January 12, 2005

By 

Dimitrios (Greece) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Red Storm On The Reich: The Soviet March On Germany, 1945 (Paperback)

This is a fine and well known book about the operations in the Eastern Front in 1945 which usually remain at the sidelines of World War II histories. The author is a renowned military writer and a specialist on Frederick the Great's campaigns, a fact that served him well in his attempt to recount the terrible and fast-paced battles of the closing months of World War II in the East. The account is evenly balanced between the German and the Soviet side and so is the criticism for the mistakes commited by the two mighty and ruthless opponents. The period covered does not include the capture of Berlin, but this is not so important because the fate of the Third Reich was sealed months before, during the horrible battles of Poland, East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia. However the book suits more the military history fan than the layman, it requires a solid backround on WW II and is not to be read like Anthony Beevor's popular works. Duffy writes in his introduction that ""Red Storm on the Reich" stands as an atrocious book, in the literal sense of theat term. I have limited the story of destruction as far as I could to that of landscape and machines, and I hope that I have given no satisfaction to lovers of the pronography of violence". I think that he has fully achieved his aim. He presents the operations in a crystal clear way, with the aid of numerous and very good maps, and the editing is excellent, leaving only a few typos. I was especially impressed by his bibliography whic I found very useful. It is not particularly extensive but it includes many first hand accounts as well as some rare and authoritative sources on the subject. The Appendix named "The Conduct of War: Soviet Science and German Art" is also an extremely interesting analysis of the technical and operational matters of the campaign.