Read review, 'Barbarossa 1941 An Atlas of German Army Situation Maps', Kevin BOYLAN

Kylie Newton

posted on 2 weeks ago — updated on 1 week ago

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Featuring original 1: 2,500,000-scale German military maps, this is a beautifully presented atlas of the 1941 Operation Barbarossa campaign.

Operation Barbarossa, Germany's surprise assault on the Soviet Union in June 1941, aimed at nothing less than the complete destruction of Communist Russia in a matter of months. It was the one period when the Germans had a chance of achieving victory – but the events of the campaign ultimately reversed the fortunes of the Third Reich.

This atlas uses the contemporary daily situation maps produced by the German Army's General Staff to provide a clear historical and geographical picture of one of the pivotal campaigns of World War II. These maps show the configuration of the front line and the locations of major Axis combat formations, as well as the deployments and movements of Soviet combat units as the German military intelligence understood them. The maps are supported by a detailed commentary summarizing and analyzing the operations depicted, tracing the day-to-day progress of the fighting on the Eastern Front.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Notes on the Maps

Theatre Overview Maps

Part One: Army Group North

Part Two: Army Group Centre

Part Three: Army Group South

Conclusion

Glossary of Place Names

Select Bibliography

About the Author

Index

Review

In brief, cartography is an art and I was expecting more from Osprey; I found the maps ok, it was the accompanying explanation that was, to me, lacking and an introduction that was somewhat biased against Germany, and whilst I am no supporter of Nazi ideology, I do like being presented with information and making my own interpretations.

P. 9 The prejudiced perspective "There is a danger that, by using the OKH maps as the lens through which we glimpse Operation Barbarossa, we risk falling into the error of seeing the entire conflict through German eyes. This has long been a problem in the West, where even professional historians have often adopted a German-centric perspective on the Nazi-Soviet conflict. This pro-German bias..." "Many neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and white supremacist groups celebrate German soldiers - and especially SS troops...".

There is some discussion about the hubris of German high command, Hitler being an amateur strategist, and constantly making changes to objectives, and the equally constant expectation that Soviet armies' collapse was imminent, only to be surprised by the Soviets' ability to raise new armies as required.

And something that only just occurred to me as odd was reference to Operation Barbarossa, not 'Operation Redbeard', or ''Unternehmen Barbarossa', but that is not unique to this title.

The maps themselves are large and clear, well printed and show a snapshot of action on the date given for that area, whether Army Group North, Centre, or South. You really do get a sense of the enormity of the task ahead for the Germans as they tried to defeat the Soviets, even if the single map lacks the overall context of where it is relative to a reference point, be it the next map, Moscow, or some other location.

The explanation that accompanies the map is brief, as you'd expect being limited to a page or less; trying to convey a strategic perspective of such a large conflict in a few paragraphs means there is not sufficient space for an in-depth understanding.

The conclusion is good, and summaries the struggle that Hitler and, by extension, Germany faced trying to defeat the combined might of Russia, Great Britian, and the United States, once the latter entered the fray.

Whilst a handsome book, only recommended to those that really need a volume of maps from the German perspective to accompany other books on 'Unternehmen Barbarossa' and the clash of two gigantic and opposing states.