Product Description

In the spring of 1941, having abandoned his plans to invade Great Britain, Hitler turned the might of his military forces on to Stalin's soviet Russia. The German army quickly advanced far into Russia as the Soviet forces suffered defeat after defeat. With brutality and savagery displayed on both sides, the Eastern front was literally a campaign in which no prisoners were taken and no quarter was given.Although Hitler's decision to launch 'Barbarossa' was one of the crucial turning points of the war, at first the early successes of the German army pointed to the continuing triumph of the Nazi state. As time wore on, however, the Eastern front became a byword for death for the Germans - to be transferred to the front was the fate feared most by any member of Germany's armed forces.In "War without Garlands", Robert Kershaw examines the campaign largely through the eyes of the German forces who were sent to fight and die for Hitler's grandiose plans. He draws on German war diaries, post-combat reports and secret SS files, monitoring and serving German home-front perceptions and reactions to the course of the campaign, to provide an enthralling account of the campaign from the perspective of the ordinary soldier or junior officer.This original material, much of which has never before been published in English, sheds new light on operation 'Barbarossa', including the extent to which the German soldiers were genuinely surprised at the decision to attack Russia, given the well publicised non-aggression pact. The author also reveals hitherto unappreciated factors influencing the campaign's eventual outcome, including an analysis of the extent to which the Russian refusal to surrender if surrounded or out-manoeuvred broke the tempo of the German Blitzkrieg, mitigating the surprise tactics and the greater experience of the German forces. With interest in the Eastern Front at a new height, "War without Garlands" is a seminal account of the battle. It will be required reading for all historians of World War 2 and all those interested in the course of recent history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2015 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

About the Author
Robert Kershaw joined the Parachute Regiment in 1972 after graduating in History at Reading University, reaching the rank of Colonel. In between Regimental service he attended the Fuhrungsakademie - the German Staff College - at Hamburg and later spent a number of years with NATO and the Bundeswehr. He has seen active service during a number of tours of Northern Ireland, with the US VII Corps during the Gulf War and in Bosnia.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic Addition To The East Front Experience
How do I start this review ?
I guess the first thing would be the recommendation to buy it. The read is easy and flowing. Easy, in that it is gripping and holds you, flowing in that as a history piece, it never becomes stodgy or bogged down.I would also say that I found this book to be tremendous value at the price as well. 580 pages for a few pounds in paperback.

The book provides an account of the opening months of Barborossa and does not, unlike other books on 'Barborossa' then file off to the years after. This book sticks with the opening operation, and the German attempt to knock out the Soviet Union quickly and in a series of co-ordinated hammer blows. Where the book or Mr Kershaw differs from other titles is that, not only is there the strategic overview, but we also get accounts of selected tactical encounters (rather than the strategic), and many letters and diary entries from soldiers serving. Most of these eye witness accounts are German, but Soviet offerings are included as well. Mr Kershaw does not then fall into the trap of "Well Corporal so and so who was there said this, so this must be true". He keeps these entries purely as embellishment, and as colouring of the subject he is trying to impart.

Despite having read many books on the subject matter, this was the first I have seen to concentrate on one of the first German obstacles, Brest-Litovsk. I was surprised to find out just how tough a nut this was to crack. But the main thrust of the book for me was the highlighting of the German Army's massive and quite frankly, unprecedented victories that kept bleeding themselves dry, or as Mr Kershaw put it from the translated German "Victoring itself to death".

and this seemed to be the main problem. Despite inflicting 2.1 million irretrievable casualties on the Red Army over 6-8 months, German losses, though nowhere near as high were simply not replaceable in military terms. Tanks, soldiers, experienced officers as well as other equipments too, could simply not got to the Front quickly enough or in quantity enough, especially as the front got further and further away from the Western border.

Memorable highlights of the book for me would be:
The unimaginable tenacity required to keep fighting in the bitterest cold of -40 degrees at times !
Some of the indecision of the German High Command as to where the main schwerpunkt (point of concentration) should be.
The Russian command's regular ineptitude and lack of care of losses taken.
The pure violence exhibited by both sides on the enemy and civilians (yes both sides on civilians).
This truly was the Ali v Frazier contest of all wars.... nothing could ever be comparable, and though I hate to say it, puts the Western effort very much as a sideshow (read "Europe At War - Norman Davies).

If I had anything to say against the book, I would post two arguments. First, I would take issue with solely blaming Hitler for the things that went militarily wrong in the first year. I think the German High Command made a few indecisive mistakes before he intervened, and Alan Clark in his 'Barborossa' makes a good case as to where Hitler could actually be credited with helping to save the Wehrmacht in the winter of 41/42 by keeping it standing despite the winter rather than a suicidal retreat with millions of Soviets on their tails.
To be fair, I think Mr Kershaw swings on both sides of the coin on this one, and for me did not come down on one side or the other TOO obviously.

The other point I would make is that this book is for me, really an accompanament to perhaps a more 'clinical' history on the subject. What I mean by this is that there are other books that give a much more sterile miliary overview of the battles, and leave you in no doubt as to where each division and corps were. 'War Without Garlands' does not entirely attempt that because it enters other spheres of importance that come into the story, including the 'Human interest' stories that so enrich this tome. That being the case, I would have to say that this is not a completely purist Military overview of the campaign...... it has other depth to it that you will not read in other offerings.

A fantastic read ! The first I've read of Robert Kershaw's, and have now been moved to buy other books by him. Thanks Robert ;-)

Detailed combat history combined with an excellent read - unputdownable!
An outstanding account of the first six months of the Russo-German war from June 1941 onwards which I would heartily recommend to anyone interested in World War II and the Eastern Front campaign.

This book combines text on strategy and operations of Operation Barbarossa with an enormous amount of 'worm's-eye' view experiences of German soldiers, with a good balance of coverage.

I read this very readable book, over 550 pages, in only two sittings. Particularly interesting to me were the experiences conveyed in the text of the German army, firstly, in the period immediately preceding June 22nd 1941, the moment of invasion into Russia, and, secondly, of the German army infantry's progressive discomfort during its long distance march further and further into the Soviet Union. I am sure there are many other individual battle experiences that others will find interesting to read.

There are some very useful maps of strategic and tactical operations.

An index to these maps somewhere in the book would have been useful but this omission did not detract from my reading experience.

Superb
Its up there with Stalingrad by A Beavor. A fantastic read about the first 6 months of the Ostfront campaign.

Highly recommended.