Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944 [Hardcover]

Paul Carell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1994

The classic! This new edition of Paul Carrell's eastern front study picks up where Hitler Moves East left off. Beginning with the battle of Kursk in July 1943, Carell traverses the vast expanse of the Russian War, from the siege of Leningrad and the fierce battles of the norther front, to the fourth battle of Kharkov, and the evacuation of the Crimea, a withdrawal forbidden by Hitler. The book ends in June of 1944 when the Soviet Armies reach the East Prussian frontier.Hundreds of photographs, situation and campaign maps, complete index, and comprehensive bibliography, add to this impressive account. This edition includes a new preface by the author.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 600 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; 1st English Edition edition (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887405983
• ISBN-13: 978-0887405983
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gotterdammerung of Hitler's Wehrmacht in Russia, September 30, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944 (Hardcover)

In "Hitler Moves East", Paul Carrell told the spellbinding story of the audacious attempt by the seemingly invincible Wehrmacht to destroy Russia in1941-42. In "Scorched Earth" he continues the story of this titanic clash between the two totalitarian states, locked in a death struggle. Carrells' narrative takes the reader on a journey with the Wehrmacht through the steppes of Russia, to the greatest tank battle in history at Kursk, and finally on the long retreat to ultimate defeat for Hitler's legions. This book, along with "Hitler Moves East", constitutes the best available history of the Russo-German war of 1941-45 to date. Very detailed, but VERY READABLE.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE history of the Eastern Front, July 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944 (Hardcover)

Great book.

Written in the style of Cornelius Ryan -- personal accounts mixed with historical overview and critical opinion by the author.

While biased from the German point of view, it is far more objective than typical (and questionably accurate) Soviet histories. It does give scant recognition to Soviet soldiery and tactics, preferring to attribute Soviet victories to overwhelming numbers. While somewhat accurate, it regrettably misses probably the greatest irony of the war -- that Soviet and German military doctrine between 1941 to 1945 did a flip-flop -- Soviets evolved from following disastrous defensive strategy into masters of the Blitzkrieg, while the Germans went in the exact reverse direction.

The book accurately portrays the horror and hell of the Eastern Front from the standpoint of the average German "grunt", while providing an solid strategic examination of the war.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beginning of the End, April 4, 2003

By 

john m price, md (monroe, la United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944 (Hardcover)

Once again, Mr. Carell has written a masterful compendium of the Eastern front in WW 2 covering 1943-44. A bit chronologically out of place, the battle of Kursk is covered first. Not surprisingly, the author feels that this battle was the true turning point in the war, not Stalingrad; and futhermore, that he believes that Germany could have won it with less meddling by Hitler and without the total intelligence compromise that occurred. A whole chapter deals with this security compromise at the highest level which to this day the source is not known. Because of this, the operation was doomed from the getgo, as the germans could hardly afford a huge battle of attrition and expect to win at this stage. Subsequent portions of the book deal with General Manstein's masterful retiring action that, though not able to break the seige of Stalingrad, was brilliant in his ability to hold open the Rostov corridor long enough for the large number of german forces in the caucasas to escape, some of them over a frozen Sea of Azov!Manstein's ability to contain the Russian offensive and prevent an encirclement of German forces that would have dwarfed Stalingrad with relatively meager forces may be the most overlooked tactical success of WW2 - as most retiring actions are. After this, the actions around Kharkov are covered in good detail, especially general Hausser's controversial retreat from certain destruction, disobeying Hitler's direct order to hold at all costs. Subsequent to this, Manstein's counteroffensive that encircled and destroyed these forces and retook Kharkov were Mansteins'last and perhaps greatest victory and germany's last successful offensive that finally stabilized the eastern front in 1943. The remainder of the book covers a myriad of retiring actions in late '43 - early '44 such as Demyansk, Velyka Luki, Cherkassy, that from a tactical perspective are fairly interesting, but are depressing for the hopelessness of the actions and Hitlers' obstinate demand to hold territory that the germans didn't possess the forces to protect. These mini-disasters presaged the meltdown of Army Group Central in June 1944. As is usual in Mr. Carell's books, many pictures and maps are included. This era of the conflict is certainly not the most popular for reading, but is well covered albeit from a progerman skew. The most exciting portions are General Mansteins' battles in early 1943. It is an indispensible book for devoted students of the Eastern front.