HISTORY:
** From the moment Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, code-named Operation Barbarossa, Hitler was fixated on the capture of Moscow. Yet his fear of exposing the flanks of the German Central Front led to costly diversions north and south at Leningrad and Kiev, delaying the assault on the Russian capital. When the Battle of Moscow – Operation Typhoon – finally began on 30 September, the Panzerwaffe was already weakened while Soviet forces had fortified their defences and reinforced their lines.
Spanning a 370-mile front, 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies in the north and 2nd Panzer Army in the south surged towards Moscow in a vast pincer movement with hundreds of tanks and assault guns in tow, relying on the familiar tactics of Blitzkrieg. But what followed was no lightning war. Instead, German tanks and infantry were dragged into a gruelling battle of attrition during the coldest recorded winter of the twentieth century. Snowbound and under-supplied, with entire units freezing to death, the offensive ground to a halt before the gates of the capital.
Tanks and Armour in the Battle for Moscow offers a compelling visual account of the Panzerwaffe’s doomed advance on Moscow, drawing on over 130 rare and unpublished wartime photographs. Through detailed captions and expert narrative, it follows the campaign from its faltering restart in the spring of 1942 to the bloody Rzhev-Sychyovka offensive and beyond, charting how the Germans lost the initiative on the Eastern Front. By early 1943, any hope of capturing Moscow had vanished, and a protracted retreat westward had begun – one that would not end until the Reich itself lay in ruins. **
** Quoted from the back cover of the book and the Pen & Sword website.
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books has released Tanks and Armour in the Battle for Moscow as part of their Images of War series of books. It is a 96-page softcover book, 6.75 x 9.75 inches in size. Included with the text are black and white photographs. The book has a 2026 copyright, a publication date of June 1, 2026, and the ISBN is 978-1-03612-277-5.
CONTENTS:
Chapter One
- Invasion Unleashed
Chapter Two
- Operation Typhoon
Chapter Three
- Road to Disaster
Chapter Four
- First Rzhev-Sychyovka Offensive
Chapter Five
- Aftermath
Appendix One
- German Order of Battle
Appendix Two
- Russian Order of Battle
THE TEXT:
Author Ian Baxter provides a well written and informative text detailing combat between German and Russian forces during Germany’s drive on the Russian city of Moscow during World War II. There are a total of 15 pages of text, not including the page titled “About the Author” or Appendix One and Appendix Two. The remainder of the book is dedicated to the photographs and the captions associated with them. The text goes into very specific detail in all areas as outlined on the contents page, please refer to the contents listing that I have provided for the subjects that are covered in the book. Even with the limited number of pages of text, Ian Baxter goes into great detail with a no-nonsense type of writing and discusses the various aspects of Operation Typhoon, the German plan to capture Moscow and destroy Russian military forces in the area. Details of the operation that are discussed are things such as the dates of actions and their locations, military units and their military commanders and the number of personnel, tanks, field guns and howitzers, armored and soft-skinned vehicles available, key locations involved, the various types of weather and how it affected German movements, and also things such as delaying actions employed by the Soviet forces such as placing booby traps and laying mines. Also discussed is the result of the fighting and the number of losses on both sides of the conflict including personnel, tanks and other vehicles and equipment and how effective the resupply and reinforcement measures were. I feel that Ian Baxter has covered the fighting during Germany’s drive on the Russian capital city of Moscow well and has provided the information in an easy-to-read format which the detailed oriented reader will benefit from. Ian Baxter doesn’t use what I refer to as fluff writing where a large amount of non-essential extra text is provided just to help fill the pages. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
There is a total of 132 black and white photographs included in this volume. There are no color photographs featured. Author Ian Baxter chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject of the book. The majority of the photographs are of German tanks and armored vehicles. Soviet armor that has been destroyed or captured by the German forces is also shown Other images show subjects such as tracked prime movers, staff cars, howitzers and field guns, as well as horse drawn equipment such as supply wagons and field kitchens. Also shown are things such as dress and combat uniforms, different types of camouflage techniques and the various types of weather and road conditions that had to be dealt with. Most of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few of them are somewhat blurry and a few of them appear to be too dark, while others appear to be too light. This can be typical for the period of history being discussed, and the quality of the photographs is of no fault of the author, and they do not take anything away from the book. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be of great interest to anyone interested in German and Russian tanks and other vehicles and armor that were utilized during Operation Typhoon in World War II due to the details they contain.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs nicely. The captions go into very specific detail as to the actions taking place, dates and locations, specific type of tank, vehicle artillery piece, etc., individual’s names and military rank, if the picture shows Wehrmacht or Luftwaffe armor, vehicles and personnel, military units, and other such information. As I read through the captions, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. I did notice that the caption for a photograph on Page 48 is incorrect. It states that soldiers struggle to move a stranded vehicle, and it also states to note the divisional symbol painted on the vehicles left fender. The picture is of a German staff car driving down a street, not stranded, and only a portion of the left rear fender is visible, and it contains no markings. Even with the mentioned error, Ian Baxter’s captions are helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
CONCLUSION:
As with the other volumes of the Images of War titles from Pen & Sword Books, I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains a well written informative text, many subject specific photographs, well detailed captions and more, all detailing the German and Russian tanks and other vehicles and armor that were utilized during the battle for Moscow during World War II. As with the other Pen & Sword Books titles, I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal military reference library.
Pen & Sword Books’, Tanks and Armour in the Battle for Moscow, is also available digitally. A digital copy may also be purchased through:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
PRICE:
UK £14.99 / US $24.95
https://www.casematepublishers.com/
This book, from Pen & Sword Books, was provided to me by Casemate Publishers. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.
