Product Description

Stalin's Red Army entered World War II as a relatively untried fighting force. In 1941, with the launch of Operation "Barbarossa", it joined battle with Hitler's army, the most powerful in history. After a desperate war of attrition over four years the Red Army beat the Nazis into defeat on the Eastern Front and won lasting fame and glory in 1945 by eclipsing the military might of the Third Reich. From the army's development prior to the outbreak of war in 1939 to the army's peak in 1945, every aspect of their force is examined here; the organizational structures, combat arms infantry, armour and mechanized forces, cavalry, airbourne and special forces along with a technical overview of infantry weapons, armoured vehicles and artillery, and support equipment. Fully illustrated with a comprehensive selection of archive photographs, charts and tables of organization, this is a useful source of reference for anyone interested in the armies of World War II.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #499896 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
Stalin's Red Army entered World War II as a relatively untried fighting force. In 1941, with the launch of Operation "Barbarossa", it joined battle with Hitler's army, the most powerful in history. After a desperate war of attrition over four years the Red Army beat the Nazis into defeat on the Eastern Front and won lasting fame and glory in 1945 by eclipsing the military might of the Third Reich. From the army's development prior to the outbreak of war in 1939 to the army's peak in 1945, every aspect of their force is examined here; the organizational structures, combat arms infantry, armour and mechanized forces, cavalry, airbourne and special forces along with a technical overview of infantry weapons, armoured vehicles and artillery, and support equipment. Fully illustrated with a comprehensive selection of archive photographs, charts and tables of organization, this is a useful source of reference for anyone interested in the armies of World War II.

About the Author
Steven J.Zaloga has written over seventy books on military history, specialising in Russian and Soviet military subjects. Leland S. Ness served as a Pentagon correspondent for international Defense Review and now publishes a newsletter for the ground defence industry. He is also a consultant in armour technology in the USA and Europe. Both authors live in the USA.

Customer Reviews

One of the best " army handbooks"
I've bought this book years ago and I use it very regularly. I have more army handbooks, but these remain in the cupboard most of the time. This title is different, and that is because of its approach. The first part of the book deals with the organization of the Red Army, and the second gives you descriptions and illustrations of the weapons that were used.

One of the difficulties with the Red Army is that its wartime organization remains vague. Large formations are usually mentioned in accounts of the war and they're identified in most maps. But particulary small formations are never mentioned in detail. Until I received this book I didn't know what the strength of a Soviet squad was, or what the organization of a Soviet infantry company looked like. This title tries to cover all that and more. For almost every level of organization of every type of Unit, mister Zaloga gives you the breakdown in officers, nco's and men, and their weapons (handweapons, but heavy weapons like tanks and artillery as well). The fact that you get the organizational breakdown down to section level is superb. This makes this book extremely useful.
In addition to this the book has at least one picture of all of the important weapons systems that were used by the Soviets during the war. This includes the initial period of the war, so you'll find pictures of a T-28 and a BA-10. The pictures include infantry weapons and artillery pieces as well. The only drawback is that the book doens't cover the supporting arms like signals and medics.
Because of all this I think this book rightly deserves five stars and is highly recommended to anyone interested in the Soviet army of WW2.

Good source of information for wargamers
The book comprises very detailed information about the different branches of the Red Army in IIWW, including not just the TOE's of the standard infantry or armour units but also less well-known paratroopers, ski, engineers, etc.

I found extremely useful for wargamers (like me) the detailed breakdown provided for these units (including number of men divided between officers, NCos or rank and file, SMGs, mortars, etc), the comments about the evolution of the units organisation through the war years.

Also remarkable the authors' rich comments about the different armour types, stating strenghts and weaknesses and the evolution of the armour doctrine through this period.

Note of caution: I'm not an expert and therefore cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided in the book. Having said that, one of the co-authors (Steven Zaloga) is a highly reputed and well known military expert on Soviet Army IIWW, with several dozens of publications over the past years. That should provide at least some comfort to readers about the quality of the book.

Bottom-line, 15 pounds seems to me good value for money specially compared to the standard Osprey's books on the matter.