Would like to echo the other reviewers comments with a word of caution for someone other than a serious military historian who might be interested in reading this book.
First, the author has far greater command over the facts and figures than smoothly flowing prose. In short, its a bit of a tough read and one in which I found myself regularly going back to go through a paragraph a second time to ensure it made sense; Additionally, the Cambridge editors did not do a stellar job on catching the more than occasional typo. All in all, I felt this book was rushed into publication by a press eager to inaugurate its Armies of the Second World War series.
That is about all I would caution prospective buyers about. For me, the flaws were not enough to deter me from buying it or from giving it a five star rating.
The manuscript's strengths far outweigh its flaws. One look at the bibliography shows that the author has plumbed Russian sources far more than most english speaking historians writing about this topic. More importantly, he takes those sources with a "grain of salt" whenever required and points out which sources he considers as reliable.
That leads me into another strong point of this book, namely Professor Hill - unlike many of his contemporaries - includes cogent and insightful analysis with his accounts of personalities, events, and technology. He begins with the Revolutionary Soviet Army and proceeds to chart its evolution to a professional force with detailed looks at tactical and technical developments, experience in the Spanish Civil War, border clashes with the Japanese in the late 1930s, the war with Finland, and occupation of the Baltic States and Poland. When combined with his detailed examination of the Russo-German conflict that spanned June 1941 - May 1945, Hill has arguably succeeded in producing one of the most comprehensive and informative accounts of the Red Army to date.
He does an excellent job of laying the groundwork for the events that took place in the immediate aftermath of the German invasion, namely why a defending force that far outnumbered the attackers AND which possessed better tanks did so poorly in the opening months of the Eastern Front. Hill then details how the first shipments of lend lease made a much greater difference than mere numbers suggest by looking how the Red Army stood at the end of 1941 and how it benefited from mostly British deliveries at a critical period.
Hill then discusses Stalin's misplaced belief that the Germans stopping before Moscow passed the strategic initiative back to the Soviets, which led to a series of costly offensive operations, which for the most part lacked proper planning and resources, that succeeded at winning back territory but at a horrific cost in men and equipment. The debilitated Soviet forces were therefore unable to stop the Germans from pushing to Stalingrad, which turned out to be an equally fateful mistake.
One thing that I really liked (among many) in this book was that Hill is able to clearly explain the relationship between the Eastern Front and other theaters of war. The Soviets benefited from operations by the Western Allies and vice versa at several points in the war.
Another plus for this impressive work is that Hill does not concentrate on the Soviet ground forces, but also provides readers with a detailed look at the Soviet Air Force throughout the conflict.
If one is more interested in the latter half of the conflict vice the Barbarossa through Kursk period, then perspective buyers should be aware that the first three-quarters of the book takes the reader up to Kursk, with the final quarter devoted to the final two years (almost) of the Russo -German war. That said, Hill does not skimp on detail and analysis for the final quarter as he continues to deliver narrative with penetrating insight jam packed with new facts all the way up the book's conclusion.
Very highly recommended.
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Top reviews from other countries
Amazon Customer
Exhaustive, overwhelming and very informative at the same time
Reviewed in Germany on August 23, 2021Hennerz'96
A great military academic analysis
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2020Jikichiro Matsubara
Good quality and quick delivery
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2018