War on the Eastern Front: The German Soldier in Russia 1941-1945

A grounds-eye view of the Wehrmacht's titanic World War II struggle against the Soviet Union . . . Dawn on Sunday 22 June 1941 saw the opening onslaughts of Operation Barbarossa as German forces stormed forward into the Soviet Union. Few of them were to survive the five long years of bitter struggle. James Lucas concentrates on the military experiences of German soldiers and reveals just what it was like to be numbered among their ranks. For the Germans this theater of war was unlike any other. They were faced with the unremitting hostility of the climate, the Soviet people, and even, at times, their own leadership. They saw epic battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk, and yet it was the daily war of attrition that ultimately proved fatal for Hitler's ambition and the German military machine. In a vivid account of the misery of war and its power to despoil both nations and individuals, James Lucas uncovers the full range of the German experience during this long and terrible campaign.