In the summer of 1942, the Wehrmacht invaded the Caucasus in order to overrun critical oil production facilities at Maikop, Grozny and Baku. However, the Red Army stopped the Germans short of their objectives and then launched a devastating winter counteroffensive that encircled them at Stalingrad. Consequently, Hitler grudgingly ordered an evacuation from the Caucasus, but ordered 17. Armee to fortify the Kuban bridgehead and hold it at all costs in order to leave open the possibility of future offensives. On the other side, the Soviet Stavka ordered the North Caucasus Front and the Black Sea Fleet to eliminate the Kuban bridgehead as soon as possible. The stage was set for a contest between an immovable object and an unstoppable force. With the help of stunning specially commissioned artwork, this book tells the enthralling story of the impressive but strategically foolish German stand at Kuban, which tied down seven Soviet armies in a sideshow battle of attrition, which the Soviets dubbed 'the Kuban meat grinder.'

Much has been written of the titanic clashes between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army at Stalingrad. This volume tells the other, equally important half of the story of Fall Blau (Case Blue). Learning from their experiences during the sweeping advances of Operation Barbarossa a year before, Wehrmacht commanders knew that Nazi Germany's lack of oil was a huge strategic problem. Seizure of the Caucasus oilfields, which were responsible for 82% of the Soviet Union's crude oil, would simultaneously alleviate the German army's oil shortages whilst denying vital fuel resources to the Red Army. Whilst Army Group B advanced along the Volga towards Stalingrad, Army Group A, spearheaded by Ewald von Kleist's elite Panzerarmee 1 was to advance into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields of Maikop, Grozny and Baku. Featuring full-colour artwork, archival photos and detailed analysis, this book follows the vicious, intense fighting that characterised one of the most important campaigns of World War II.

With the German defeat at Kursk, the Soviet Stavka (high command) ordered the Western and Kalinin Fronts to launch Operation Suvorov in order to liberate the city of Smolensk. The Germans had held this city for two years and Heeresgruppe Mitte's (Army Group Centre) 4. Armee had heavily fortified the region. The Soviet offensive began in August 1943 and they quickly realized that the German defences were exceedingly tough and that the Western Front had not prepared adequately for an extended offensive. Consequently, the Soviets were forced to pause their offensive after only two weeks, in order to replenish their combat forces and then begin again. The German 4. Armee was commanded by Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici, one of the Wehrmacht's top defensive experts. Although badly outnumbered, Heinrici's army gamely held off two Soviet fronts for seven weeks. Eventually, the 4. Armee's front was finally broken and Smolensk was liberated on 25 September 1943. However, the Western Front was too exhausted to pursue Heinrici's defeated army, which retreated to the fortified cities of Vitebsk, Orsha and Mogilev; the 4. Armee would hold these cities until the destruction of Army Group Centre in June 1944. Operation Suvorov focuses on a major offensive that is virtually unknown in the West and which set the stage for the decisive defeat of Heeresgruppe Mitte in the next summer offensive.

Regarded as the standard work on the air war over the Eastern Front during World War II, Christer Bergström's unique Black Cross/Red Star series covers the history of the air war on the Eastern Front in close detail, with the perspectives of both sides. Based on a close study of German and Russian archive material, as well as interviews with a large number of the airmen who participated in this aerial conflict, it has established itself as the main source on the air war on the Eastern Front. Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 4 will cover the air war along the entire Eastern Front during the period winter 1942/1943 through the spring of 1943, in great detail, with a balance between German and Soviet archive sources etc, and with many first-hand accounts. It will be of the same size as the other volumes, and it will also contain aircraft color profiles. Following the publication of Volume 4, new and heavily updated editions of volumes 1, 2 and 3 will follow, and next the subsequent volumes (vols. 5 etc.) will follow. Large format, heavily illustrated, (aircraft color profiles in the British edition)! To be published in April 2019 ISBN 978-91-88441-50-8 Size 210 mm x 297 mm (large format) Illustrated throughout, many detailed maps. Retail price: US$49.99

Mauled at Stalingrad, the German army looked to regain the initiative on the Eastern Front with a huge offensive launched near the city of Kursk, 280 miles south-west of Moscow. Armed with the new Panther tank, Hitler and Field Marshal von Manstein were confident that they could inflict another crushing defeat on the Soviet Union. What they did not know is that the Soviets knew about the coming attack, and they were ready. This book focuses on the southern front of this campaign, which featured one of the biggest clash of armour of the warin the battle of Prokhorovka which involved over a thousand tanks. It examines in detail the tactics and mistakes of the army commanders as they orchestrated one of the bloodiest battles in World War II. Using campaign maps, stunning photographs and vivid artwork, this new study, a companion to Campaign 272 Kursk 1943: The Northern Front, examines whether that the German offensive was doomed from the start as it takes the reader through this titanic clash of armour.

This is the direct continuation of Volume 4 in the Black Cross/Red Star series. This volume covers the air war on the Eastern Front between March/April 1943 and July 1943, with the focus on the great air battles at Kuban and Kursk.

By the time Hitler declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941, he knew that his military machine was running out of fuel. In response, he launched Operation Blau, a campaign designed to protect Nazi oilfields in Romania while securing new ones in the Caucasus. All that stood in the way was Stalingrad.

In a new edition featuring a new preface, A World of Arms remains a classic of global history. Widely hailed as a masterpiece, this volume remains the first history of World War II to provide a truly global account of the war that encompassed six continents. Starting with the changes that restructured Europe and its colonies following the First World War, Gerhard Weinberg sheds new light on every aspect of World War II. Actions of the Axis, the Allies, and the Neutrals are covered in every theater of the war. More importantly, the global nature of the war is examined, with new insights into how events in one corner of the world helped affect events in often distant areas.

"Beginning towards the end of the Battle of Kursk, Retribution explores the massive Soviet offensive that followed Operation Zitadelle, which saw depleted and desperate German troops forced out of Central Ukraine. In this fascinating title, Buttar describes in detail the little-known series of near-constant battles in which a weakened German army was confronted by a tactically sophisticated force of over six million Soviet troops. As a result, the Wehrmacht was driven back to the Dnepr and German forces remaining in the Taman Peninsula withdrew into the Crimea. As the Germans withdrew, the horrors they had inflicted on occupied lands were gradually uncovered, from the "scorched earth" program to the mass deportations and executions of countless men, women and children. With an avenging Soviet army in pursuit, retribution was inevitable."--Amazon.com.

The Battle for the Caucasus (July 1942-October 1943) coincided in time with the Stalingrad and Kursk battles, and played an important role in bringing about a radical change in the course of the Second World War.In this book the prominent Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko, gives a stage-by-stage account of the heroic Battle for the Caucasus: the heavy fighting in the Don and Kuban steppes, the battles on the Stavropol Heights and in the foothills of the Caucasus, the defense of Novorossiisk, Krasnodar, Maikop, Tuapse and Armavir and the destruction of the enemy forces in the passes of the Main Caucasian Range.Signs of an impending turning-point appeared in January 1943 when divisions and then armies went over to the offensive driving the enemy out of Stavropol, Kransodar and the Kuban. Like a mighty mountain torrent the entire mass of Soviet troops swept the Germans out of the North Caucasus. It was a magnificent display of the power of Soviet arms, and the fraternity and friendship of the Soviet peoples.The author objectively examines every phase of the great battle and reinforces his conclusions with documents.