Completing the most comprehensive and authoritative study ever written of the Soviet-German war, Erickson presents the vivid and compelling story of the Red Army's epic struggle to drive the Germans from Russian soil.

Documents: p. 365-405. Includes bibliographical references (p. 345-358) and index.

A major new history of the Second World War by a prize-winning historian We remember World War II as a struggle between good and evil, with Hitler propelling events and the Allied powers saving the day. But Hitler's armies did not fight in multiple theaters, his empire did not span

'A terrific read ... McMeekin is a superb writer' David Aaronovitch, The Times 'Gripping, authoritative, accessible and always bracingly revisionist' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'Impressive ... A new look at the conflict, which poses new questions and provides new and often unexpected answers to the old ones' Serhii Plokhy, The Guardian

In the interwar period, Red Army commanders headed by Tukhachevskii developed a new doctrine of mobile warfare and 'deep operations'. The military requirements of armaments and industrial production in the event of war was a central parameter in Stalinist industrialization. Based on recently opened Russian archives, the book analyzes military