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guido_the_nature_guide's review against another edition
3.0
The dry data (eg. the names of each reserve unit called up to buttress a particular sector) was thankfully leavened by the inclusion of the recollections of participants, officers and grunts, in both official reports and unofficial diaries, letters, or interviews. It was the latter that kept the book readable and interesting, and not just an accounting ledger. Although the first third of the book is pre-Kursk, it is important to place the battle in context; actually, I thought the same treatment could have been applied post-battle, with a little more exposition of subsequent events.
The book has some maps, but, at least for me, and especially if the reader is not otherwise familiar with the geography or the topography, to truly visualize the events it is helpful to have maps, maps, and more maps, from the large scale to the small. The book would have benefited from the inclusion of many more maps or diagrams.
And it is in this regard (maps) that I have my biggest complaint, and it has nothing to do with the book itself or the authorship. I read this on a Kindle, and while I thoroughly enjoy reading on this device, it is horrible for viewing maps, hence ill-suited for most history books. This is the case at least for the "e-ink" Kindles, but perhaps not an issue with the Fire.
The book has some maps, but, at least for me, and especially if the reader is not otherwise familiar with the geography or the topography, to truly visualize the events it is helpful to have maps, maps, and more maps, from the large scale to the small. The book would have benefited from the inclusion of many more maps or diagrams.
And it is in this regard (maps) that I have my biggest complaint, and it has nothing to do with the book itself or the authorship. I read this on a Kindle, and while I thoroughly enjoy reading on this device, it is horrible for viewing maps, hence ill-suited for most history books. This is the case at least for the "e-ink" Kindles, but perhaps not an issue with the Fire.
raghuiyer's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of the better operational books of the Second World War that I have read. The battle for Kursk has always been a fascinating one for me because of the size of the armies involved and magnitude of the repercussions to the Eastern Front( there was even a CoD level :) ) For one thing the book focuses on just the one battle, which means the ground is pretty much well tramped on by the time you get through reading about the initial skirmishing. Operational books tend to be very disconcerting for the casual reader and this is a nice exception. Secondly, this one tackles the logistics of the battle pretty well - there is a good amount of discussion on the resources involved - from their initial roles in initial deployments, their tactics, the overall strategy and the armaments involved. The book also does well in trying to present first hand accounts of combatants on both sides for the same battle. The book falters a little by spending up a little too much time in setting up the road to Kursk. It quickly walks over the Battle for Moscow and sundry operations up North which might give the false impression that these battles were distractions, which they were emphatically not.
Overall though, if you are a casual reader and have never read an operational book, I cannot think of any better introduction to that genre of military non-fiction.
Overall though, if you are a casual reader and have never read an operational book, I cannot think of any better introduction to that genre of military non-fiction.
aehsan's review against another edition
4.0
Perhaps a bit too much of the book is spent on setup and only half of it really s about Kursk. While not in the league of Anthony Beevors works or Max Hastings it's still accessible and a good read about a conflict so large in scale but on which such little has been written.
mightync's review against another edition
4.0
Though the battle at Kursk didn't start until half way through the book, it was a very well thought out narrative and, in fact, I enjoyed getting a little background information on the lead up to the Battle of the Tanks. I particularly enjoyed hearing descriptions of the fighting by the actual participants from entries from their journals and memoirs throughout the book. Once those tank battles started it became quite action-packed and exhilarating to read. This is the only book I've read about Kursk and it was so good that it will probably be the last.
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