To the Bitter End: The Final Battles of Army Groups North Ukraine, A, and Center-Eastern Front, 1944-45 Paperback – April 3, 2010

As several other reviewers noted, this book is a strange historical mix: neither strategic, nor operational, nor tactical, shuttling randomly among different points of view and different timelines. For instance, there is a map of the situation in Heeresgruppe Nordukraine in July 1944 and the author starts speaking of operations around Kovel in March-April, suddenly switching to the July 1944 battle, without any sort of description of how the situation changed in between. This approach repeats itself throughout the book and ends up being maddening.
I bought this as a kindle book, and I pity those who paid for the hardback version.
One bright point, as another reviewer noted. The maps are good, and their quality of reproduction is outstanding in a kindle. At maximum magnification, they are entirely readable, something lacking in every other kindle book I have seen up to now. Well done, Helion, and what do they know that every other publishing company doesn't?

Operational level synopsis

No great moment by moment accounts here,only an overview of what units and divisions were where and what happened to them.Very brief combat accounts such as " they were heavily engaged before being pushed back to the river Bug" are most of what you will find along with an some short equipment notes such as " a hetzer group of 12 units was added until sent elswhere" Not what I was hoping for after reading books like "HELLS GATE" and "TIGERS IN THE MUD".The most interesting part is a sideline about the Slovack uprising at the time and it's key players.This book does suffer from some translation problems that do not improve it's flow.Treat this as reference material not the defining account of the end of Army Group Center.Maybe Douglas Nash can tell this story next...

That's about all it does - surf over events and battles without any depth, insight, comment or detail. A disappointing read.

The book my be historically accurate, but it is hard to follow. Leaders are hardly identified. I was looking forward to receive this book and I was disappointed reading it.

Having already read "East Front Drama 1944", the presumption of a challenging read for this newer book was expected and I wasn't disappointed. Of all the tactical writers I read, people like Glantz, Nash, Carafano, Reardon, Carell and others, Mr Hinze is the most difficult and least satisfying. The author includes in this volume, which is neither an overview nor comprehensive study but somewhere in the middle, background information, tactical, strategic and analytical coverage. Three of the types are good but the tactical coverage is fragmentary and is terribly disappointing for a reader who is concerned with piecing together all the military events of the war.

Generally speaking, the book covers the Vistula River Offensive that starts in late 1944 and works its way to the end of the war. The Soviets which had a commanding advantage in men, tanks, guns, equipment swept through Poland and Slovakia to reach Germany by April 1945. Coverage includes the Soviet advance through the Beskides, Carpathian Ranges, Solvakia especially the important Silesian industrial district and all of Poland. The fall of Berlin is not included. This book starts where "East Front Drama 1944" ends.

If you have just a casual interest in this campaign then my next comments will probably not be an issue but if your tactical concerns are high then parts of this book will be disappointing. First off, the number of tactical engagements covered is far from complete; the author provides only a sampling in each combat sector. To make it more disappointing, the examples that are given are fragmentary. Dates of the event are missing in more than half of the cases, the descriptions of the battlefields are brief as well as the locations of these battles. The author will say: "In the 17th Army area, the Soviets penetrated the front line and drove 6 km to the rear..." I would like to know which dates, cities were involved or hills and rivers; which Soviet units were involved and many other things of interest. The troop designations for the Axis side is usually given at division or Corps but sometimes only Army level but on the Soviet side the number of times unit designations are given and at the Army level only could be counted on both hands. Some of the German commanders are presented but you'll have to look elsewhere to find out who commanded the Soviet divisions.
Hitler, Guderian and the OKH is mention somewhat but not a great deal. The author discusses Hitler's unrealistic ways and how it effected the German forces on the line. Guderian tries to enlighten his boss on how to prosecute the war in the east but fails to be convincing.
While the tactical coverage is disappointing, the other aspects of the book are better. The author provides strategic insight and analysis as well as background information that is helpful and raises this volume to acceptable levels.

There are 30 maps heavily populated with cities, rivers, other landmarks. The maps will usually have German Corps or Division designations but the Soviet dispositions are not always given and only arrows are shown to depict the Soviet advance. With the generic descriptions of the tactical battles in the narrative, these maps, even with their shortcomings will help you greatly in following the action. There are also pictures which are good and add to the value of the book. There is also a Bibliography and assorted Orders of Battle that reflects the campaign progression. There are no Notes.

There is only one other book I know of that covers this campaign and that's Duffy's "Red Storm on the Reich". Hinze covers some things that Duffy misses but there were times Duffy's book was able to clarify events that weren't clear in Hinze's book. I'd like to suggest that if you have a real interest in this campaign that you read both books to get a more complete picture. The two complement each other nicely. Even with rating this book three stars, I'm still glad to have it in my collection for it adds to my knowledge base of an underrated campaign of the war.