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

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

109 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0700608997

ISBN-10: 0700608990

Why is ISBN important?

Other Sellers

from

Other Sellers

See all 7 versions

Used: Good | Details

Sold by CashDoh

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Saturday, April 2 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Or fastest delivery Wednesday, March 30. Order within 23 hrs 16 mins

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.

David M. Glantz
160
Paperback
24 offers from $14.79
Richard Overy
287
Paperback
69 offers from $2.39
Stephen G. Fritz
121
Paperback
16 offers from $29.97
Glantz
133
Paperback
23 offers from $7.85
David M. Glantz
28
Hardcover
26 offers from $20.94
Alan Clark
205
Paperback
60 offers from $1.93

David M. Glantz
160
Paperback
24 offers from $14.79
Richard Overy
287
Paperback
69 offers from $2.39
David M. Glantz
143
Paperback
34 offers from $2.24

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Back Cover

"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

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Univ Pr of Kansas; New edition (December 1, 1995)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0700608990
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0700608997
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.34 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,090,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #912 in Military History (Books)
- #11,104 in World War II History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
109 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

David M. Glantz
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
David M Glantz is a former US Army intelligence specialist with a unique knowledge of the Russian army and Russian military history. His WHEN TITANS CLASHED is the standard single volume account of the war in Russia.
See more on the author's page
Jonathan M. House
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

5 star		65%
4 star		21%
3 star		6%
2 star		5%
1 star		3%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Thomas Reiter

Excellent one volume treatment

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2015

Verified 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.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Erin

Great strategic walk-through of the war

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2015

Verified 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.

Helpful

Mike

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

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2015

Verified 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.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Kausik Nandi

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

A very authentic and extensively referenced work.

Siddharta60

Ottimo ma di parte

Reviewed in Italy on June 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

La narrazione degli eventi è ben fatta. Il giudizio di essi risente invece di una partigianeria evidente. Quando i tedeschi resistono sono fanatici, quando lo fanno i sovietici sono eroi. Le brutalità commesse dall'armata rossa sono appena nominate e imputate ad indisciplina, quando invece furono incoraggiate dal regime e da "intellettuali" come Erenburg; comportarsi come i nazisti vuol dire che si è allo stesso livello, quindi i sovietici sono da condannare senza se e senza ma per quello che fecero. Che lo abbiano fatto per vendicarsi non toglie uno iota alla condanna, anzi. D'altronde che comunismo e nazismo siano alla stessa stregua lo ha sancito il Parlamento UE. L'autore sostiene che l'uomo che ha sconfitto Hitler dovrebbe essere Stalin o Zhukov e non Eisenhower, come titolò una rivista. Ebbene forse dimentica che la guerra fu dovuta alla complicità di Stalin con Hitler: ora facciamo diventare Stalin il liberatore dopo che fu complice con Hitler di aver messo in catene l'Europa? Comica è poi l'affermazione secondo cui la stragrande superiorità materiale con cui i sovietici travolsero i tedeschi era "percepita", in quanto ottenuta sguarnendo altri settori...quando poi vedendo le tabelle delle forze contrapposte si vede che la superiorità era effettiva e reale. E fu solo grazie a tale superiorità che i sovietici sopraffecero i nazisti, e malgrado ciò, subirono perdite spaventose, incomparabilmente più alte di quelle degli eserciti angloamericani, evidenziando una disastrosa carenza di professionalità degli Ufficiali, dal macellaio Zhukov in giù.

Translate review to English

Vishnu

David M Glantz has done a great research on this subject

Reviewed in India on April 27, 2015

Verified Purchase

WWII Eastern theatre is a broad subject encompassing numerous operations. David M Glantz has done a great research on this subject. In this book, the dynamics of the war are brought to the reader on the strategic level not going deep into individual operations. For example the Battle of Stalingrad, the most important battle in WWII, is dealt in a single paragraph. Some repetitions regarding 'deep operations theory' of Red army could have been avoided. This book also is more of how soviet Military doctrine underwent changes in due course of the War. Overall this book is good for beginners to have a broad idea on a strategic level of operations in Eastern theatre.

cosimo bracci torsi

La guerra a est

Reviewed in Italy on October 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

Un libro molto interessante per capire l'incredibile performance di produzione industriale, di organizzazione militare e di sviluppo del pensiero strategico dell'URSS e dell'armata rossa dopo i disastri del,40 e mostra la ben diversa dimensione (anche diversissima natura) della guerra a est e ovest. Un poco troppi i dettagli di dispiegamento delle unita' militari.

Translate review to English

AEhere

Indispensable

Reviewed in Spain on June 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

David Glantz es uno de los mejores conocedores del desarrollo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial entre la Alemania Nazi y la Unión Soviética. A diferencia de otros historiadores occidentales, Glantz no se limita en sus fuentes a las memorias a posteriori de von Manstein y Guderian, sino que incorpora numerosos archivos desclasificados tras la disolución de la URSS a los que ha tenido acceso.

La obra comienza analizando la situación militar durante el período de entreguerras en bastante detalle, lo que permite entender los eventos posteriores más fácilmente. El vocabulario es adecuado al tema, y el pasado militar del autor se deja notar en la facilidad con la que explica decisiones militares y otras situaciones que desconciertan visiblemente a otros autores.

La única pega es que para una correcta lectura del libro es a menudo necesario un mapa para seguir el desarrollo de las operaciones de mayor escala, ya que los continuos cambios de dirección de los diversos frentes pueden resultar difíciles de seguir para quién no tenga un suficiente conocimiento de la geografía local.

One person found this helpful

Translate review to English

See all reviews

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

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the Back Cover

About the Author

Product details

About the authors

David M. Glantz

Jonathan M. House

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries