Battle For Moscow

[trespasser07]

Dear all

Could anyone recommend the best read for The Battle For Moscow in 1941? Ideally the story and not one mainly on battalion details etc.

Thanks!

[hucks216]

The Defence of Moscow 1941: The Northern Front by Jack Radey & Charles Sharp is a good book and shows how the Russians put a spanner in the works for the German offensive in October 1941.

I haven't read it but The Battle for Moscow by David Stahel gets good reviews.

[trespasser07]

Thank you I will have a look at this, has anyone got Seaton’s book also.

[Jeff Leach]

There still isn't any good operational account of the final German attack on Moscow and the Soviet counter-attack. Radey and Sharp's book covers part of the operation and is really good about showing how out-of-touch-with-reality the German command was. Stahel's books are essential in understanding the campaign but are more about the major factors that influences the Campaign than the details of it. The truth of the campaign is that it was a disaster because of the unbelievable arrogance of the German command. Seaton's works are fine but dated (same for Ziemke's work) and you should really read Stahel's work first.

For the first phase of the German attack (October) there is 'The Viaz'ma Catastrophe 1941' and 'Konev's Golgotha: Operation Typhoon Strikes the Soviet Western Front, October 1941'. The november attacks is Radey and Sharp. The December counter-attack you might try the Soviet General staff study but these usually only deal with details of a certain operation. In my opinion there is no book that cover the operational details of Soviet counter-attack in a satisfactory manner. For a general Picture you can try Seaton, Ziemke, Eriksson (Road to Stalingrad), Glantz (Before Stalingrad and When Titan's Clashed), even 'War without Garlands' and others. (Oh, forgot C. Luther's 'Barbarossa Unleashed')

In retrospect, Stahel would probably be the best to start with. You should read the whole series but it is the last two books that cover the Battle for Moscow. I feel the quality of these books goes down as the series progresses (the first in the series along with 'Stopped at Stalingrad' are probably the two most important recent books about the Eastern Front).

If you are looking for a feel of the Campaign from the common Soldiers you should probably start with the revised edition of 'Tram Stop, Moscow' which has (or is) to come out soon. There is a book 'Als Sanitätsoffizier im Russlandfeldzug' (bilingual English/ German), which is an excellent Picture book about the drive towards Moscow.

[Mori]

Little to add to previous comments.

For decision making at army/army group/OKH level, a mandatory read is Hürter, Hitlers Heerführer. That's probably the first book to make a clear demonstration how wrong decisions were made by army leadership - not by political leadership - while insisting on how much disagreement there were among top generals. The post-war FMS were systematic in erasing this part of the story and any book primarily based on FMS is thus outdated.

Stahel is a difficult case.
On the positive side, he rightly insists on conditions of the troops and on their behavior vs. civilians and PoWs, pointing the widespread war crimes by the German army. That's a dimension often left aside of military books.
Another positive is Stahel's use of primary sources, many that (almost) no one exploited before. (Just wondering how an author based in Australia manages to travels to Freiburg that often).

On the negative side, Stahel only tells the German side of the fights. Obviously he doesn't read Russian. The whole book is therefore completely one-sided, which is still acceptable when Germans hold the initiative but has daunting weaknesses when Russians counter-attack.

Another issue is the pace of writing. Stahel knows how boring descriptions of combat can be. Therefore he tells about one daily situation, then writes about (say) criminal instructions, supply etc., then tells about the combat situation of the day after. You can't follow what happens at a given point on the front, unless you skip pages...

[trespasser07]

Fantastic and comprehensive reply thank you! I will look at Mr Stahel’s works and possibly Seaton also.

Regards.

[Mori]

I should add that the book almost everyone refers to is Reinhardt, Die Wende vor Moskau. It was published in 1972 but it's very well researched (it really looks like a PhD, and that's a compliment).

I believe Stahel is the first author in 40 years going back to primary sources instead of quoting Reinhardt, yet without spoting much flaws in Reinhardt analysis.

[hucks216]

There is also The Retreat by Michael Jones which covers Typhoon and the aftermath. It is written in a style similar to Kershaw's War Without Garlands with the narrative of the campaign interwoven with first hand accounts. A good book but one more for those who only have a passing interest in the subject and don't want to be bogged down in the intricate details of the campaign. What I would refer to as a coffee table book, but still good for a read.