World War II Database

Full Title: Operation Barbarossa 1941 (1) Army Group South

The invasion of Russia by Hitler in June of 1941 was one of Hitler's primary mistakes, which led to his eventual defeat and death at the hands of the Russians nearly four years later in the ruins of Berlin. Advancing into the depth of the Soviet Union, the invasion, under the codename of Operation Barbarossa, attempted to defeat the Soviet Union in a single campaign. With an enormous force at its disposal, the German army organized it into three army groups (north, center and south respectively), each aimed at a different target within the Soviet Union.

Due to the nature and scope of the invasion, when Osprey Publishing planned to cover this battle, they divided it into three books with each book representing each German Army Group. All three were written by author Robert Kirchubel with Army Group South coming out first in 2003.

While the book talks about its subject matter in generalized terms, it does an excellent job in presenting the fighting between German Army Group South and its Russian foes during the six-month campaign from June to December 1941. Main details of the military action include the savage frontier battles, the drive to the Crimea, the spectacularly and controversial success at Kiev and the eventual drive to within reach of Rostov. For those that have read other books in Osprey's Campaign series, you already know the outline in this entry. Still this and the other two books in the Osprey's Barbarossa series are a great way for introducing people who are interested in military history to the fighting that opened up the hellish Eastern Front of World War II.