The Battle of Kursk by David M. Glantz, Jonathan M. House (1999, Hardcover, Illustrated)

'The Battle of Kursk', David M. Glantz and`Jonathon M. House, 1999, University Press of Kansas

The Battle of Kursk in July 1943 was a struggle of almost mythological scale and violence. It has been considered as one of the decisive battles of the Second World War; some consider it the real turning point of the war against Hitler. In terms of numbers of men, tanks, aircraft and artillery it was unquestionably one of the largest battles in history. When the battle finally ended the results for German strategy were distinctly catastrophic. After Kursk the German military would never again take the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front.

One of the strange ironies was that even though it was a great victory for the Soviet Union most accounts of the battle came from the German side of the struggle. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union quite a few of the Russian records of the battle were not available to historians. In 1999 David M. Glantz and Jonathon M. House co-authored what might be one of the definitive accounts of the Battle of Kursk. This book would draw heavily on Soviet records and offer an amazingly detailed telling of the battle.

I recommend this book highly for the serious student of the Eastern Front. The book will be a heavy read for some but worth the effort. Glantz and House consider every aspect of the battle without missing a detail. They thoroughly explain the daunting logistical problems faced by both sides. They also tell something of the relatively unknown human costs to the Russian civilians relocated before the battle. All of this is well documented and footnoted throughout the book.

They also shine the light of their research on the numbers associated with the battle. The Soviets created a near mythos about the battle in the decades after the war. The tank battle at Prokhorovka was long depicted as the largest armored engagement in history; this book examines the actual numbers involved. There is still no doubt that this was one of the biggest battles in history but this examination of the facts shows that some exaggeration did occur after the war.

The book also attempts to evaluate the total impact of the battle on the German war effort. It is easy to see how the battle exhausted German reserves, especially as German forces were stretched to cover the new front in Sicily and Italy, but Glantz and House also consider the implications both sides faced with the defeat of the German offensive. The Germans struggled with the fact they had lost the strategic initiative and the Soviets took on a new confidence with the fact that they had defeated the best Germany could throw at them.

If there is something I wished the book had gone into more depth on it would be the air operations associated with the battle. Kursk was to see some of the largest tactical air operations of the war. Records from both sides of the battle show that sometimes there would be as many as 500 fighters and ground-attack aircraft struggling over a relatively small area of the battle. The fact of the matter is that to cover everything with any greater depth would probably require this to be a multi-volume history. Glantz and House did very well for the space they used.

If you are interested in a serious, detailed history of this titanic battle then I heartily recommend this book.