Book 148

Operation Barbarossa 1941 (3)

by Robert Kirchubel

Published 22 September 2003
The final volume in the "Barbarossa" trilogy, this title completes the account of the strategic intricacies of the German campaign against Russia. Robert Kirchubel examines the causes behind the German failure, including the inability to resupply troops or provide reserves, as well as the lack of decent German winter uniforms and transport. Full-colour artwork, maps and bird's-eye-views illustrate the campaign in detail, revealing how, despite lapses and flaws in Soviet defences, the Red Army was able to capitalize on every German weakness.

Book 163

Leyte Gulf 1944

by Bernard Ireland and Howard Gerrard

Published 8 March 2006
Experienced naval historian Bernard Ireland has written a highly readable multi-dimensional portrait of one of the most crucial battles of the Pacific war. Described as the 'greatest sea battle of all', the battle of Leyte Gulf comprised three major naval engagements at Samar, Cape Engano and Surigao Strait. Fought on the surface, under the sea and in the air, Leyte Gulf encompassed both the latest technology of warfare as well as the last major line action involving battleships. Intended by the Japanese as a Trafalgar-style decisive victory that would neutralise US naval power, the battle turned out to be quite the opposite - a crushing victory for the United States that opened their way to the Philippines.

Book 189

Sevastopol 1942

by Robert Forczyk and Howard Gerrard

Published 2 January 2008
In late July 1941, Hitler ordered Army Group South to seize the Crimea as part of its operations to secure the Ukraine and the Donets Basin, in order to protect the vital Romanian oil refineries at Ploesti from Soviet air attack. After weeks of heavy fighting, the Germans breached the Soviet defences and overran most of the Crimea. By November 1941, the only remaining Soviet foothold in the area was the heavily fortified naval base at Sevastopol. Operation Sturgeon Haul, the final assault on Sevastopol, was one of the very few joint service German operations of World War II, with two German corps together with a Romanian corps being supported by a huge artillery siege train, the Luftwaffe's crack VIII Flieger Korps and a flotilla of S-Boats provided by the Kriegsmarine. This volume closely examines the impact of logistics, weather and joint operational planning upon the last major German victory in World War II.