Kursk: The Greatest Tank Battle (Great Battles) - Hardcover

In July 1943, the German Army launched what proved to be its last great offensive on the Eastern Front. Kursk is a comprehensive history of the last time that Germany held the strategic initiative in the war against the Soviet Union. Once that initiative was lost, the course was set for the eventual destruction of the Nazi state by a vengeful Red Army. Kursk shows how a bitter struggle developed between the German and Soviet forces which sucked huge numbers of tanks and men into a small area, becoming the greatest armoured battle of the war. The Red Army of 1943 was very different from the force that reeled before the German onslaught in 1941, and its newfound professionalism and greater numbers wore down the attackers until all their momentum (and the battle) was lost. The final chapter discusses the full implications of the battle for the Germans and Russians. The book's authoritative text is complemented with detailed maps that explain the troop movements that took place during the battle. It also includes appendices with information on orders of battle, losses and equipment. Kursk is an expert account of the moment when the Nazi state lost the initiative against the USSR and how the course was set for the eventual destruction of Nazi Germany.

M.K. Barbier is Associate Professor at Mississippi State University. She was formerly the Olin Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of International Security Studies at Yale University.