Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941

David M Glantz

History Press, Sep 30, 2011 - History - 320 pages

On 22 June 1941 Hilter unleashed his forces on the Soviet Union. Spearheaded by four powerful Panzer groups and protected by an impenetrable curtain of air support, the seemingly invincible Wehrmacht advanced from the Soviet Union's western borders to the immediate outskirts of Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov in the shockingly brief period of less than six months. The sudden, deep, relentless German advance virtually destroyed the entire peacetime Red Army and captured almost 40 percent of European Russia before expiring inexplicably at the gates of Moscow and Leningrad. An invasion designed to achieve victory in three to six weeks failed and, four years later, resulted in unprecendented and total German defeat. David Glantz challenges the time-honoured explanation that poor weather, bad terrain and Hitler's faulty strategic judgement produced German defeat, and reveals how the Red Army thwarted the German Army's dramatic and apparently inexorable invasion before it achieved its ambitious goals.

About the author

David M. Glantz is a leading expert on the Eastern Front during World War II. He is the author of many books, including Armageddon in Stalingrad, The Battle of Kursk, and When Titans Clashed. He has served as chief of research for the U.S. Combat Studies Institute, and is the editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies. He lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's Invasion of Russia 1941
• Author: David M Glantz
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: History Press, 2011
• ISBN: 0752468421, 9780752468426
• Length: 320 pages
• Subjects: History / General; History / Military / General; History / Military / World War II