Fighting in Hell: The German Ordeal on World War II s Eastern Front - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 151070356X ISBN 13: 9781510703568

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

Fighting in Hell compiles four firsthand accounts detailing the German campaign on Russia during World War II. These documents were originally published by the US Army, who after the war commissioned German prisoners to detail their experiences during the war, in an effort to understand German war strategies and tactics.

The accounts presented here detail a never before seen perspective on the Russian campaign. The soldiers reveal how the soldiers sent to Russia were neither trained nor equipped to withstand the full fury of the elements on the Eastern front. The German war in Russia was so brutal in all its extremes that all past experiences paled beside it. Everything in Russia from the land, to the climate, to the distances and above all the people, were harder, harsher, more unforgiving and more deadly than anything the average German soldier had ever faced before.

One panzer-grenadier who fought in the West and in Russia summed it up best when he said In the West war was the same honorable old game; nobody went out of his way to be vicious, and fighting stopped often by five in the afternoon. But in the East, the Russians were trying to kill you all the time.”

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

About this title

Review:

Much of this book relies on eyewitness accounts, providing powerful testimony to the Germans’ lack of preparation for the harsh climatic conditions of the Russian winter.”
Military Machines International

For anybody with a serious interest in this particular struggle, [these reports] are an invaluable source of information coming from a primary and well-informed source.”
Military Modelcraft International

From the Back Cover:

On 22 June 1941, the German army invaded the Soviet Union, one hundred fifty divisions advancing on three axes in a surprise attack that overwhelmed and destroyed whatever opposition the Russians were able to muster. The German High Command was under the impression that the Red Army could be destroyed west of the Dniepr River and that there would be no need for conducting operations in cold, snow, and mud. They were wrong.

In reality, the extreme conditions of the German war in Russia were so brutal that past experiences simply paled before them. Everything in Russia -- the land, the weather, the distances, and above all the people -- was harder, harsher, more unforgiving, and more deadly than anything the German soldier had ever faced before.

Based on the recollections of four veteran German commanders of those battles, Fighting in Hell describes in detail what happened when the world's best-publicized "supermen" met the world's most brutal fighting. It is not a tale for the squeamish.

About this edition

• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 151070356X
• ISBN 13: 9781510703568
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292
• Editor: Tsouras Peter G.