Product Description

The German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 began World War II in Europe. The outcome of the campaign was a foregone conclusion. It pitted the newly modernized army of Europe's great industrial power against the much smaller Polish army. To further tip the scales, Germany signed a pact with the Soviet Union by which the Red Army would invade Poland two weeks after the German attack. If the outcome was predictable, its conduct was not. This book examines in detail the Polish campaign that introduced the world to a new style of warfare - Blitzkrieg.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #251626 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-14
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
Steven J. Zaloga was born in 1952, received his BA in history from Union College, and his MA from Columbia University. He has published numerous books and articles dealing with modern military technology, especially armoured vehicle development. His main area of interest is military affairs in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the Second World War, and he has also written extensively on American armoured forces.

Customer Reviews

A great book about a great tragedy
There is not so many books in English about the invasion of Poland and this one fills a little bit this void. Steven Zaloga described this story very well and with considerable detail, from the first shots of WWII fired at 4.55AM the 1 September 1939 against Polish fortified coastal post of Westerplatte near Gdansk by an old German battleship "Schleswig Holstein" to the destruction of the last division sized Polish force (Battle Group "Polesie" of general Franciszek Kleeberg) at battle of Kock the 5 October 1939. The book is well written, VERY well illustrated, with good maps and really good colour plates by Howard Gerrard (once again there is in this point an error on amazon page, crediting a certain Ramiro Bujeiro with the artwork..). The plate showing Polish cavalry (fighting on foot, because horses were used only to travel...) supported by armoured train "Smialy" resisting a German Panzer attack at the battle of Mokra (1.IX.1939) is particularly impressive. An air fight between a Polish PZL-11 fighter and two Stukas is also a great military artwork. This book once again precise two important points about this campaign: a) there was never a Polish cavalry charge against German tanks - this is a Nazi propaganda myth b) Polish air force was not destroyed on the airfields the first day (this is another Nazi propaganda myth), to the contrary, only some old and auxilliary aircrafts were hit - the bulk of Polish fighters and bombers fought a very busy war during the next three weeks, biting back the best they could. There is also a quite good description of Soviet invasion the 17 September 1939, which sealed the fate of Poland. The major Polish counter offensive at the battle of Bzura (9-21 September), which was the first bleeding nose Germans got in the WWII, is also well described.
All in all, this is a great book about a little known campaign. I recommand it warmly.

Excellent example of the Campaign Series
'Poland 1939: The Birth of Blitzkrieg' is an excellent example of the Campaign series of books from Osprey Publishing. Written by the consistently good Steven Zaloga (an expert on this campaign) the narrative is interesting, informative and flows nicely along. He comprehensively dismisses the myths of Polish lancers charging panzers and the destruction of the Polish Air Force before breakfast on the 1st of September.

The maps are very good, the detail on the 3D views is excellent, and the photographs are judiciously chosen. The colour plates are also good, although I would rather that the accompanying captions spoke more about the action shown rather than summarizing the information available elsewhere in the book.

A good Osprey Book
A good book in the series and it gives a good overview of the invasion in Poland and its place in the events of World War 2.

It adresses a few myths and explains in a satisfactory manner how this was the testing ground of the Wehrmacht - that the German Army did make mistakes, plenty of them, but learned its lessons very well. Zaloga brings the highlights to life and brings the rest of the invasion into light. He disbands the cavalry charging into panzers - a long lived nazi propaganda lie and shows that the Germans had not perfected their tactics. He also shows that part played by the French and British and the Soviet Invasion of East Poland is well covered.

All in all this is quite impressive and complete. And that within the framework of the Osprey series.