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Operation Citadel
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Books about Operation Citadel
Below are some books about Operation Citadel and the Battle of Kursk:
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By David L. Robbins
Bantam
Released: 2004-04-27
Mass Market Paperback (560 pages)
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One nation taking a desperate gamble of war.
Another fighting for survival.
Two armies locked in a bloody cataclysm that will decide history. . .
David L. Robbins has won widespread acclaim for his powerful and splendidly researched novels of World War II. Now he casts his brilliant vision on one of the most terrifying--and most crucial--battles of the war: the Battle of Kursk, Hitler’s desperate gamble to defeat Russia, in the final German offensive on the eastern front.
Last Citadel
Spring 1943. In the west, Germany strengthens its choke hold on France. To the south, an Allied invasion looms imminent. But the greatest threat to Hitler’s dream of a Thousand Year Reich lies east, where his forces are pitted in a death match with a Russian enemy willing to pay any price to defend the motherland. Hitler rolls the dice, hurling his best SS forces and his fearsome new weapon, the Mark VI Tiger tank, in a last-ditch summer offensive, code-named Citadel.
The Red Army around Kursk is a sprawling array of infantry, armor, fighter planes, and bombers. Among them is an intrepid group of women flying antiquated biplanes; they swoop over the Germans in the dark, earning their nickname, “Night Witches.” On the ground, Private Dimitri Berko gallops his tank, the Red Army’s lithe little T-34, like a Cossack steed. In the turret above Dimitri rides his son, Valya, a Communist sergeant who issues his father orders while the war widens the gulf between them. In the skies, Dimitri’s daughter, Katya, flies with the Night Witches, until she joins a ferocious band of partisans in the forests around Kursk. Like Russia itself, the Berko family is suffering the fury and devastation of history’s most titanic tank battle while fighting to preserve what is sacred–their land, their lives, and each other–as Hitler flings against them his most potent armed force.
Inexorable and devastating, a company of Mark VI Tiger tanks is commanded by one extraordinary SS officer, a Spaniard known as la Daga, the Dagger. He’d suffered a terrible wound at the hands of the Russians: now he has returned with a cold fury to exact his revenge. And above it all, one quiet man makes his own plan to bring Citadel crashing down and reshape the fate of the world.
A remarkable story of men and arms, loyalty and betrayal, Last Citadel propels us into the claustrophobic confines of a tank in combat, into the tension of guerrilla tactics, and across the smoking charnel of one of history’s greatest battlefields. Panoramic, authentic, and unforgettable, it reverberates long after the last cannon sounds. |
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By Robin Cross
Endeavour Media
Released: 2015-05-20
Kindle Edition (256 pages)
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It was the greatest armoured clash in the history of the world - and the decisive battle of World War II. Two vast armies engaged one another on land and in the air, in a conflict that included the most costly single day of aerial warfare of all time.
This was the battle of Kursk - a battle so terrible that even Hitler confessed it made his ‘stomach turn over’.
Citadel was the last great German offensive on the Eastern Front; its aim was to claw back the initiative after the surrender of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad in January 1943.
The location chosen by Hitler was the Kursk salient in the heartland of the Ukraine. The date was 5 July 1943, the codename ‘Citadel’. The Red Army, warned of the German plans by the ‘Lucy’ spy network in Switzerland, was prepared to defend the salient in massive strength and depth. Against its breakwaters Hitler launched his finest armoured divisions, only to see them mangled beyond repair.
No sooner had the German thrusts been contained, while within the tantalizing grasp of success, than the Red Army delivered a series of crushing counter-blows with were to drive the Wehrmacht back beyond the River Dnieper.
Characteristically, Hitler had gambled all on a throw of a single dice and had lost the initiative in the East - never to regain it.
'Citadel' provides a detailed picture of the Battle of Kursk, from the strategic tug-of-war waged within both high commands in the agonizing months which preceded the German offensive, to the first-hand experiences of the troops on the ground and the airmen flying over the blazing steppe as the battle reached fever pitch.
Robin Cross places the battle firmly within the wider strategic context of the spring and summer of 1943, months in which Hitler and Stalin steeled themselves to take decisions which would decide the course of the war and the shape of the peace which followed.
Praise for 'Fallen Eagle':
"Mesmerising account of those final, bloody weeks of war ... Cross's account of the final hysterical days in his Berlin Bunker is masterful." Sunday Express
Robin Cross is a distinguished journalist and military historian whose books include VE Day: Victory in Europe, The Bombers: Strategy and Tactics and The US Marine Corps. |
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By David Schranck
Helion and Company
Hardcover (612 pages)
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After the defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler had lost his momentum and was looking for a way to regain it. Operation Citadel was the intended means to fulfill that objective. If successful, a number of Soviet armies would be destroyed and the front line shortened, allowing for a better disposition of troops and a chance to rebuild Germany's exhausted reserves.
This book provides comprehensive coverage of the operational events on both salients. It also includes critical analysis of both sides that points out errors of judgment or application that collectively had an important impact on campaign results. The book is highly annotated to give the reader additional sources to study and to provide additional perspectives to gain as complete an understanding of this critical campaign as possible.
Besides an extensive text, the book's key strength is its mapping - 32 full-page color maps are accompanied by 7 large foldout sheets of maps, also in color. Together these specially commissioned maps provide a remarkably detailed guide to the combat operations. Thunder at Prokhorovka is destined to become an important reference to the Battle of Kursk. |
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By David M. Glantz
Glantz, David M./ House, Jonathan M.
Paperback (485 pages)
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Immense in scope, ferocious in nature, and epic in consequence, the Battle of Kursk witnessed (at Prokhorovka) one of the largest tank engagements in world history and led to staggering losses—including nearly 200,000 Soviet and 50,000 German casualties—within the first ten days of fighting. Going well beyond all previous accounts, David Glantz and Jonathan House now offer the definitive work on arguably the greatest battle of World War II.
Drawing on both German and Soviet sources, Glantz and House separate myth from fact to show what really happened at Kursk and how it affected the outcome of the war. Their access to newly released Soviet archival material adds unprecedented detail to what is known about this legendary conflict, enabling them to reconstruct events from both perspectives and describe combat down to the tactical level.
The Battle of Kursk takes readers behind Soviet lines for the first time to discover what the Red Army knew about the plans for Hitler's offensive (Operation Citadel), relive tank warfare and hand-to-hand combat, and learn how the tide of battle turned. Its vivid portrayals of fighting in all critical sectors place the famous tank battle in its proper context. Prokhorovka here is not a well-organized set piece but a confused series of engagements and hasty attacks, with each side committing its forces piecemeal.
Glantz and House's fresh interpretations demolish many of the myths that suggest Hitler might have triumphed if Operation Citadel had been conducted differently. Their account is the first to provide accurate figures of combat strengths and losses, and it includes 32 maps that clarify troop and tank movements.
Shrouded in obscurity and speculation for more than half a century, the Battle of Kursk finally gets its due in this dramatic retelling of the confrontation that marked the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front and brought Hitler's blitzkrieg to a crashing halt. |
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By George Nipe Jr.
RZM Publishing
Hardcover (496 pages)
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George Nipe, author of "Last Victory in Russia" and "Decision in the Ukraine", has written a revealing and unprecedented re-analysis of the II.SS-Panzer-Korps' operations during the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Unlike all previous books on the subject, which refer almost exclusively to Russian accounts of the battle, "Blood, Steel and Myth" makes extensive use of original German source material. In so doing he convincingly exposes the conventional wisdom, which through its constant repetition over the years has assumed mythic status, as being fundamentally flawed and patently untrue. Based principally on Heer and Waffen-SS combat and intelligence reports from the southern sector of the Kursk salient, as well as the individual accounts of veterans, the book covers in detail the daily progress of Operation Citadel. With meticulous attention to detail the author illustrates the unfavorable circumstances and erroneous command decisions which doomed Germany's last major offensive in Russia irrevocably to failure. The personal notes, conversations and official orders of generals Hausser, Hoth, and Manstein are all closely scrutinized to shed new light on this much celebrated but incorrectly recounted clash of arms, with particular attention being paid to the "greatest tank battle in history" at Prochorovka. With "Blood, Steel and Myth" George Nipe sets the record straight with all the conviction of an Eastern Front historian whose veracity and impeccable scholarship have been proven time and again. "Blood, Steel and Myth" is heavily illustrated with hundreds of photos (many previously unpublished) and numerous maps to provide a strong visual component to this unique account of the Kursk Offensive's southern front. |
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By Andrew McGregor
Released: 2017-03-16
Kindle Edition (323 pages)
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With the onset of the Russian Spring Rasputitsa or ‘muddy season’, the German assault to the north of Army Group South grinds to a halt having completed the objectives of recapturing Kharkov and Belgorod. The thaw of snow adds to logistical problems, wheeled and tracked vehicles virtually unable to move on all but tarmacked roads. The front line across Russia now virtually mirrors that of the previous year before the drive on Stalingrad, Von Manstein having stunned the Red Army with a dazzling counterstroke or ‘back hand’ offensive, destroying several Russian Armies and perhaps resetting the balance as enemy offensives are reluctantly cancelled.
The Germans resupply, eager to maintain the initiative and drive further into the Soviet heartland. The Russians dig in, awaiting the next move of Axis forces, their own divisions heavily depleted and in need of resupply. ‘General Mud’ may have once again come to the rescue of the Red Army.
Before the Germans lies a large salient with Kursk in the centre of the Russian defences…destroying this ‘bulge’ will not only shorten the front line sparing up desperately needed divisions, but may once again prove to be the decisive blow that finally finishes the ‘Russian Bear’, or at least cripples it. With British Intelligence breaking the German codes…the Russians may even be forewarned.
Leutnant Hausser and a replenished squad, now attached to Grossdeutschland Division with Army Group South, will continue in a bitter struggle for survival as the Axis leadership deploy new tanks, assault guns, and ground attack aircraft for the forthcoming operation…factories in Germany now producing at a frantic rate to assemble the strongest force available.
Virtually all armoured vehicles and aircraft on the Russian Front will be deployed for the coming offensive…on the Axis side, nearly 800,000 men and 5,200 tanks will attack, faced by just short of two million Soviet soldiers and a similar number of armoured vehicles…the Germans could muster approximately 2,200 aircraft against the Soviet 3,000.
These were odds that would have favoured the Wehrmacht in the past, but this is 1943, approaching the third summer of campaigns in the east…opportunities have been squandered, some of the most experienced troops killed, the enemy more competent and with improved weaponry. The war is now turning ominously against the Axis states as heavy allied bombing begins to reap dividends and a deteriorating if not precarious situation in North Africa heads towards conclusion. More and more fighter aircraft are being transferred back to the Reich to protect industry.
The clock of war is ticking and time may be running out…could this be the final throw of the dice in Russia? Time is short for a final victory…perhaps too short.
The author aims to provide a thoroughly enjoyable and imaginative reading experience at an affordable price for the reader. The WW2 series is historically accurate, placing fictional characters in the maelstrom of war amongst accurate equipment and units. All three works from the author's World War 2 Stalingrad Series have achieved Best Seller status on Amazon in the UK and many more stories are outlined.
Imagination is personal, free and to be cherished.
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By Janusz; Piekalkiewicz, Janusz Piekakiewicz
Novato, California, U.S.A.: Presidio Pr
Hardcover
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By Robin Cross
Penguin Global
Released: 2005-05-16
Paperback (288 pages)
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Citadel was the code name for the German attack on Kursk in 1943 and marked the last major German offensive to be launched in the East. However, the advantage had swung towards the Soviet forces and they never let it go. The German thrusts were contained within tantalizing grasp of success, but the Red Army delivered a series of crushing counterblows that drove the Wehrmacht back over the Dneiper. Kursk was the greatest clash of armoured forces in history and the decisive land battle of WW2. |
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By Dennis E. Showalter
Random House
Released: 2013-08-27
Kindle Edition (368 pages)
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One of America’s most distinguished military historians offers the definitive account of the greatest tank battle of World War II—an epic clash of machines and men that matched the indomitable will of the Soviet Red Army against the awesome might of the Nazi Wehrmacht.
While the Battle of Kursk has long captivated World War II aficionados, it has been unjustly overlooked by historians. Drawing on the masses of new information made available by the opening of the Russian military archives, Dennis Showalter at last corrects that error. This battle was the critical turning point on World War II’s Eastern Front. In the aftermath of the Red Army’s brutal repulse of the Germans at Stalingrad, the stakes could not have been higher. More than three million men and eight thousand tanks met in the heart of the Soviet Union, some four hundred miles south of Moscow, in an encounter that both sides knew would reshape the war. The adversaries were at the peak of their respective powers. On both sides, the generals and the dictators they served were in agreement on where, why, and how to fight. The result was a furious death grapple between two of history’s most formidable fighting forces—a battle that might possibly have been the greatest of all time.
In Armor and Blood, Showalter re-creates every aspect of this dramatic struggle. He offers expert perspective on strategy and tactics at the highest levels, from the halls of power in Moscow and Berlin to the battlefield command posts on both sides. But it is the author’s exploration of the human dimension of armored combat that truly distinguishes this book. In the classic tradition of John Keegan’s The Face of Battle, Showalter’s narrative crackles with insight into the unique dynamics of tank warfare—its effect on men’s minds as well as their bodies. Scrupulously researched, exhaustively documented, and vividly illustrated, this book is a chilling testament to man’s ability to build and to destroy.
When the dust settled, the field at Kursk was nothing more than a wasteland of steel carcasses, dead soldiers, and smoking debris. The Soviet victory ended German hopes of restoring their position on the Eastern Front, and put the Red Army on the road to Berlin. Armor and Blood presents readers with what will likely be the authoritative study of Kursk for decades to come.
Advance praise for Armor and Blood
“The size and the brutality of the vast tank battle at Kursk appalls, this struggle that gives an especially dark meaning to that shopworn phrase ‘last full measure.’ Prepare yourself for a wild and feverish ride over the steppes of Russia. You can have no better guide than Dennis E. Showalter, who speaks with an authority equaled by few military historians.”—Robert Cowley, founding editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History
“A fresh, skillful, and complete synthesis of recent revelations about this famous battle . . . As a myth buster, Armor and Blood is a must-read for those interested in general and military history.”—David M. Glantz, editor of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies
“Refreshingly crisp, pointed prose . . . Throughout, [Showalter] demonstrates his adeptness at interweaving discussions of big-picture strategy with interesting revelations and anecdotes. . . . Showalter does his best work by keeping his sights set firmly on the battle at hand, while also parsing the conflict for developments that would have far-reaching consequences for the war.”—Publishers Weekly |
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By Lloyd Clark
Atlantic Monthly Press
Hardcover (496 pages)
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On July 5, 1943, the greatest land battle in history began when Nazi and Red Army forces clashed near the town of Kursk, on the western border of the Soviet Union. Code named Operation Citadel,” the German offensive would cut through the bulge in the eastern front that had been created following Germany’s retreat at the battle of Stalingrad. But the Soviets, well-informed about Germany’s plans through their network of spies, had months to prepare. Two million men supported by 6,000 tanks, 35,000 guns, and 5,000 aircraft convened in Kursk for an epic confrontation that was one of the most important military engagements in history, the epitome of total war.” It was also one of the most bloody, and despite suffering seven times more casualties, the Soviets won a decisive victory that became a turning point in the war. With unprecedented access to the journals and testimonials of the officers, soldiers, political leaders, and citizens who lived through it, The Battle of the Tanks is the definitive account of an epic showdown that changed the course of history. |
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