Product Description

One of the least known stories of World War II, Operation Mars was a military disaster on an epic scale. Designed to dislodge the German Army from its position west of Moscow, it cost the Soviets an estimated 335,000 dead, missing and wounded men and over 1,600 tanks. But in Russian history books, it was a battle that never happened. It became instead another victim of Stalin's postwar censorship. This book offers an account of this forgotten catastrophe, revealing the key players and detailing the major events of Operation Mars. Using sources in both German and Russian archives, he reconstructs the historical context of Mars and reviews the entire operation from High Command to platoon level. Orchestrated and led by Marshal Georgy Kostantinovich Zhukov, one of the Soviet Union's great military heroes, the twin operations Mars and Uranus formed the centrepiece of Soviet strategic efforts in the fall of 1942. Launched in tandem with Operation Uranus, the successful counteroffensive at Stalingrad, Mars proved a monumental setback. Fought in bad weather and on impossible terrain, the ambitious offensive faltered (despite spectacular initial success in some sectors). Zhukov kept sending in more troops and tanks only to see them decimiated by the entrenched Germans. Illuminating the painful progress of Operation Mars with battle scenes and numerous maps and illustrations, Glantz presents Mars as a major failure of Zhukov's renowned command. Yet, both during and after the war, that failure was masked from public view by the successful Stalingrad operation, thus eliminating any stain from Zhukov's public image as a hero of the Great Patriotic War. For three gruelling weeks, Operation Mars was one of the most tragic and agonizing episodes in Soviet military history, Glantz's reconstructon of that failed offensive should fills a gap in our knowledge of World War II, even as it raises important questions about the reputations of national military heroes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1068034 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent study of a failed Red Army offensive.
Colonel David Glantz delivers another riveting study on the Russo-German war. Zhukov's Greatest Defeat is a study of a failed operation, attempted by the Red Army in 1942. Called Operation Mars, it was the bigger of the two great offensives planned for that year. The smaller operation was Operation Uranus, centred on Stalingrad. Operation Mars, centred on the Rzhev salient, was designed to first crush the German forces there and then to lead to the destruction of the German Army Group Centre. Operation Mars had more men, tanks and artillery assigned to it than Uranus. Once the offensives started, their courses diverged. Operation Uranus led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad, whilst Mars became a meatgrinder. Colonel Glantz sets the strategic scene, describes the preparations for the offensive and then describes the battles that made up Mars. The frustrations, complications, problems, courage of both sides and carnage are laid bare. In just over three weeks, the Red Army lost something like 300,000 men, hurling them against fixed, well-built, defences. Looming over all of this is Marshal Zhukov; bullying, cajoling, impatient for success, envious of his comrades' achievements and seeking to destroy the Fascist invader and the perceived menace to Moscow. This operation was his brainchild and he wanted it to succeed. Nothing could be allowed to get in the way - least of all the Germans. Throughout the book many well-known names crop up - Solomatin, Katukov, Model and Harpe to name a few. As the offensive had failed, the Soviet State swept it under the carpet. The courage and sacrifice of their soldiers was ignored. Only now has the operation been revealed. Overall, this is a very good book and deserves a place on anyone's shelf whose grasp of world war two history extends further than Normandy.

Impressively thorough research and very well written.
The book is a little hard going at first, but it rewards perseverance. It becomes engrossing after the first few dozen pages, and the author's research is absolutely astounding, when one considers that very little (if anything at all) is actually written about this war in other more popular works concerning the eastern front during WW2. Information about the battle that was fought at exactly the same time as this one, namely the battle of Stalingrad is easy to obtain. If however, the enquiring reader wishes to know what was happening in other sectors of the eastern front during the Stalingrad battle, then this is surely the book to read. The book is very detailed, but lots of maps are provided for assistance. Well recommended for the more serious WW2 enthusiast.

thorough study of little known campaign
Another excellent book from a great historian of the Red Army. This book really brings into focus the weaknesses of the Soviet forces, primarily the lack of flexibility in its commanders. The asset-curse of Zhukov's stubborness is shown as he continues to send men into the battle though the chance of breakthrough was quite obviously lost. This campaign is often overshadowed by the spectacularly successful Stalingrad offensive in the south and was brushed under the rug by the Soviets as it was a sound defeat.