Customer Reviews

Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944

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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.

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.

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.

This 'Scorched Earth' traverses the vast expanse of the Russian War from the battle of Kursk -- including the greatest tank battle of Prokhorovka -- , the siege of Leningrad and the 4th battle of Kharkov, the Cannae of the German armies in the region of Armeegruppe Mitte (Army Group Center) and finally to the evacuation of the Crimea, a withdrawal forbidden by Hitler. It covers nearly all bloody fighting between Germany and Russia after the German defeat of Stalingrad. I suppose that anyone who is intersted in the Russo-German War should read this well-known and famous war history classic.

Paul Carell takes military reading enjoyment to the next level while giving a macro to micro account of this brutal conflict. No other work so graphically details the trials and struggles of the ordinary soldier, and yet, still guides the reader through the bigger struggles at the strategic level.

Critics attack his bias towards German military ability, but on the whole, no other work captures the feel of battle on the Eastern Front as well as his. Enjoy!

Carell's book is an outstanding account of the War in the East in WW II. Certainly his Germanic viewpoint is clearly evident in the heroic accounts of small groups of Nazis holding out against overwhelming manpower and material superiortiy of the Soviets. But, aside from this minor shortcoming it is an excellent, readable account of the overall campaign from Kursk to East Prussia describing with fine detail small unit actions as well as strategic blunders and brilliances. Bravo!

Paul Carell continues his gripping account of the German Army's (mis)adventure in Russia. A striking feature of Carell's authorship is how he manages to involve the reader from the 'map table' to the trenches. His accounts are graphic and certainly do convey the fears of frontline troops. I highly recommend it to any serious military enthusiast.

An incredibly detailed depiction of the battle strategies and,especially, the tactics on the Eastern Front during the two decisive years of WWII. Readers should be aware, however, that the story is told largely from the German army's point of view. Russian tactics are given matter-of-factly, while German action is described as "brave", "courageous", "gallant", and so forth. The sub-title of the book, "The Russan-German War" would have better been given as "The German War in Russia".

"Scorched Earth" by Paul Carell (pen name for Paul Karl Schmidt, 1911-1997) is a retelling of climactic battles on the WWII Eastern Front unabashedly from the German perspective. The tide was turning or had turned against the Wehrmacht by then, with the Allies gaining in power by the day while German reserves in manpower and matériel started to shrink at an accelerated pace. Unlike the general run of war books, Carell informs that there is more than just "Germans," he introduces the reader to from where in Germany units were raised, e.g., the Hessian 20th Panzer Division, the Saxon 223rd Infantry, the Silesian 11th Panzer, the Rhineland 72nd Infantry, the Bavarian 1st Mountain Division, etc. Carell's sources are predominantly German from archival documents to personal interviews, which, considering the final result in May 1945, at times presents a less than clear assessment of an engagement. Carell states in the 1994 edition preface that even with the opening of archives after the collapse of Soviet Communism, his account in the first publication in 1971 "remains valid." In all, if the German rather than the Soviet (or by extension the Allied) perspective is sought, "Scorched Earth" fills the bill.

This book is essential to study the Russo-German conflict. Yes Paul Carrell is biased to the German side, understandable as a veteran of WW2, but he has put together a solid and most readable effort. He adds a personal face to the battle, a story not only told on the grand scale of battle, but also of the smaller things, like a soldier's long journey back to his own lines. The story is told slightly out of sequence, mainly to show what was the turning point of these two years(Kursk) and then tells the story from beginning to end. It is well worth the investment of time. The book has pictures of varying quality but the maps are excellent.