When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler (Modern War Studies) New edition Edition

by David M. Glantz (Author), Jonathan M. House (Author)

81 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0700608997

ISBN-10: 0700608990

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By the time Pearl Harbor had ripped apart America's peacetime pretensions, the German blitzkrieg had already blasted the Red Army back to the gates of Moscow. Yet, less than four years later, the Soviet hammer-and-sickle flew above the ruins of Berlin, stark symbol of a miraculous comeback that destroyed the German army and shattered Hitler's imperial designs.

Told in swift stirring prose, When Titans Clashed provides the first full account of this epic struggle from the Soviet perspective. David Glantz, one of the world's foremost authorities on the Soviet military, and Jonathan House present a fundamentally new interpretation of what the Russians called the "Great Patriotic War." Based on unprecedented access to formerly classified Soviet sources, they counter the German perspective that has dominated previous accounts and radically revise our understanding of the Soviet experience during World War II.

Placing the war within its wider political, economic, and social contexts, the authors recount how the determined Soviets overcame their initial disasters to defeat the most powerful army ever assembled. As they vividly show, this truly was war waged on a titanic scale, sweeping across a half-million square miles from Moscow to Berlin, featuring monumental offensives and counteroffensives, and ultimately costing both sides combined a staggering forty million casualties.

Their work offers new revelations on Soviet strategy and tactics, Stalin's role as supreme commander of the Red Army, the emergence of innovative and courageous commanders in the crucible of combat, numerous previously concealed or neglected military operations, German miscalculations on the road to the Red capital, the effect of D-Day and the "second front" on the Soviet effort, and the war's devastating impact on the Soviet economy and civilian population.

An essential volume for anyone interested in World War II or Soviet history, When Titans Clashed will change forever how we look at one of the greatest military confrontations in world history.

When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler (Modern War Studies)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Until now the Soviet-German conflict of WWII has been told largely from the German point of view. This authoritative account, based on newly released Soviet studies, emphasizes the Russian version of events. It reveals, to a greater degree than previously known, how unprepared the Red Army was and how the leadership gradually gained in competence during the Moscow and Stalingrad campaigns. The authors describe how the Werhmacht eventually lost the ability to conduct a general offensive on a wide front while the Soviets learned to focus overwhelming force on a narrow front such as the Kursk salient, where the Red Army finally seized the initiative. The book conveys the colossal scope and scale of the five-year struggle and puts the military aspect in a wider perspective, showing, for example, how the Red Army's defense against the invasion gave the Communist leadership legitimacy. Glantz is an editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies; House teaches history at Gordon College in Georgia. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"When Titans Clashed represents by all and any reckoning a book whose time has come. The authors' clear and vigorous narrative leaves no doubt about the key decisions and the critical encounters in these massive engagements."—John Erickson, author of The Road to Stalingrad "A compelling narrative of an epic conflict. No other work has answered with greater authority the lingering historical question—how did the Red Army defeat Nazi Germany?"—Von Hardesty, author of Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power, 1941–1945 "Exceptionally authoritative and exceptionally readable. The cogent assessments of Red Army commanders are not to be missed."—Russell F. Weigley, author of The American Way of War "Certain to become the standard reference on the most important campaign of the Second World War."—Richard R. Muller, author of The German Air War in Russia "Corrects longstanding misconceptions and puts a human 'face' on the 'faceless' Soviet army."—O. A. Rzheshevsky, Chief, Department for Studies of the Twentieth-Century Wars, Institute of World History, Moscow "Indispensable."—Dale R. Herspring, author of The Soviet High Command, 1967–1989

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Product details

Series: Modern War Studies
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas; New edition edition (December 1, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0700608990
ISBN-13: 978-0700608997
Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
Average Customer Review: 81 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1636 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Military
- #5758 in Books > History > Military > World War II

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Top customer reviews

Excellent one volume treatment

ByThomas Reiteron August 15, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a relatively brief book--290 pages of text (plus notes, appendices, etc.) in the paperback version, but provides a very good concise history of the war in Russia, describing organizational and doctrinal changes in the Red Army as well as military operations. The maps are also good, and include an amount of detail appropriate for the descriptions of military operations in the text. Also, while you can't call the text scintillating, the book is clearly written and not a chore to read.

While not intended as criticism, I want to make clear what this book is not, so that potential readers have correct expectations:
1) This is not a book ala Paul Carrell or Steven Ambrose who include lots of personal anecdotes;
2) This book focuses on almost entirely on military, rather than diplomatic/political issues.
3) Given its brevity, the book only spends a few pages describing even the largest military operations, such as Stalingrad or Bagration--if you're looking for detail, you'll want a different book.

For a general overview of the war in Russia, I would still recommend Erickson's two volumes, but together they are more than 1100 pages of text, so if you're looking for a much shorter one volume treatment this would be a good solution.

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The overview parts are good, but the book is mostly a detailed play by play of unit movements

ByMikeon November 3, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I got this book after reading an in-depth post debunking the myth of the Red Army throwing human waves at the superior but outnumbered Germans.

It satisfactorily explained the Soviet operational level of warfare and multiple reorganizations throughout the war and how it allowed them to achieve victory despite tactical failures.

However, the vast majority of the book is simply a play-by-play of Russian operational moves - "this [division/corps/army] moved here and fought [this German unit]", over and over. The few maps there are are excellent in terms of an overview of the operations, but there are insufficient maps (or the ones that are there are at insufficient detail) to really actually follow the action. There are loads of town names that are used as references for the movements that do not appear on any map.

Typically, I like this style of narrative, but maybe I need it to be at the tactical level (e.g. Stephen W Sears's books on US Civil War battles).

That said, I still found myself with a desire to continue reading it, though it waned by late 1945 and I had to force myself to finish it. I struggled between 3 and 4 stars for this review, but just the fact that it was such a well-researched book made me go 4.

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Great strategic walk-through of the war

ByErinon January 2, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I just finished reading this book and absolutely loved it. I was familiar with some of the names of the battles but didn't know how they all fit together into the larger campaigns or what the strategies were by the armies - this book is perfect for clearing that up.

It is a high level, big picture, overview of the entire war in the east from 1941 through 1945. The divisions, corps, and armies are the main characters of this book, and battles are discussed only insofar as they relate to the big strategic picture. Look elsewhere if you want to know what happened at Stalingrad or Kursk or Moscow, but if you want to understand what those battles meant to the war then this book is perfect. Glantz also included several chapters and appendices detailing the Wehrmacht and Red Army's training, organizational structures, leaders, tactics, and strengths, which I found very enlightening as someone only just starting to learn about the Eastern Front. This information is not going to satisfy all interest or answer all questions, but it supports the text very well. The generals involved are also only covered in sparse detail, so you'll want to get additional books to better understand why certain names keep popping up throughout the campaigns.

I would definitely recommend anyone seriously interested in WWII get their hands on this book. It won't tell you everything you want to know, but it will show you how everything was related and is a great introduction to the Eastern Front and giving you names of people and battles to research further. It is definitely for readers who already understand the basic concepts of military organization (divisions, corps, etc.) and the basic history of the war - not an entry level book, but one that is easy to read if you are interested in high-level strategy.

I am 100% satisfied with this book. That said it would have been nice if there were more maps included, especially local maps of some of the battles or fronts. The current maps are great but I found myself flipping pages often to check back with the map, and a few of the cities referenced in the text weren't on the maps, which was frustrating.

Bottom line, this is a gem of a book and one I am extremely happy to own.

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INVIGORATING ACCOUNT

ByVictor Lazloon March 24, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Another one of David Glantz's works which I have read with great vigor and undivided attention! Glantz once again unveils his expertise on all things Soviet/ Red Army and the Eastern Front in general, accompanied by informational charts on orders of battle, illustrations, and various data on armour and aviation which played vital roles in finally forcing the Nazis out. Only one minute bone to pick with Mr.Glantz: on page 9, he mentions that the Russian MS-1 tank was based on American tank designer Walther Christie's creation: NOT TRUE. The MS-1 was practically a Soviet mirror-image copy of the old French WW-I era FT-17 infantry tank. It didn't last long in the Russian inventory and never really saw any action--the MS-1 was phased out sometime in the late 1920s. Glantz probably MEANT TO SAY that the tank based on Christie's design was actually the BT-7 light tank series, which made its debut in Spain fighting alongside the Spanish Republican forces, and even against the Japanese in Manchuria before Operation Barbarossa finally threw the USSR into the Second World War on June 22, 1941. All that said, I higjhly recommend this work to those readers with profound interest on military tactics and strategy onthe Eastern Front and WW II buffs, like myself, in general!!