tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post1414474550850371737..comments2024-03-29T09:53:45.879-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: The Ukraine: ancient history reduxPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-80102555570929998892014-05-23T13:52:05.969-05:002014-05-23T13:52:05.969-05:00I'd add "Bloodlands." It looks at th...I'd add "Bloodlands." It looks at the entire region (bit of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus) from Stalin in the 1920s through the end of 1945. Very well written and grim as hell. <br /><br />LittleRed1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-39431339222876082122014-05-21T22:14:21.990-05:002014-05-21T22:14:21.990-05:00Military historians have debated the authenticity ...Military historians have debated the <a href="http://members.shaw.ca/grossdeutschland/sajer.htm" rel="nofollow">authenticity of <i>The Forgotten Soldier</i></a>. I don't feel qualified to say.<br /><br />Thanks for the other recommendations.Chas S. Cliftonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00923547685265741325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-1379200971029544812014-05-21T20:32:33.909-05:002014-05-21T20:32:33.909-05:00Red Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Jo...<i>Red Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Joseph Pilyushin</i> is well worth read. He fought at the Siege of Leningrad. Comrade Misfithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15404477636451308763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-47072030718008162382014-05-21T16:41:00.168-05:002014-05-21T16:41:00.168-05:00So the Suez Canal and the Middle-East had no stra...So the Suez Canal and the Middle-East had no strategic importance to the Axis?...<br />The Suez was certainly of enormous strategic importance to the Allies and to miss-call it tactical is to misuse the word.<br /><br />But put that aside, the North-Africa campaign was the first time that an significant Axis force - commanded by their most highly-regarded General - was thoroughly beaten in battle.<br /><br />It is also notable for being the first campaign in which the Blitzkreig signally failed.the Soviets (not all of them would be happy to be called "Russian" did great things, but let us not romanticise to the extent that we credit them with doing everything.<br /><br />"Firsts" in warfare are often small, as not every commander with the wisdom and imagination to employ a successful innovation has a whole Army at his disposal.PeterW.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-65239788151644250022014-05-21T10:18:22.245-05:002014-05-21T10:18:22.245-05:00Excellent links Peter, and there is NO question th...Excellent links Peter, and there is NO question that the war even today is as real as memory can make it to those folks.Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-87822135321535945812014-05-21T07:26:38.120-05:002014-05-21T07:26:38.120-05:00@PeterW: El Alamein wasn't the blunting of a ...@PeterW: El Alamein wasn't the blunting of a <i>strategic</i> German offensive - only a small-scale local <i>tactical</i> operation (involving three or four German and Italian divisions, as opposed to the scores of German divisions at Kursk).Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-30874338673938648462014-05-21T05:56:00.601-05:002014-05-21T05:56:00.601-05:00From the Russian POV this is a fair source: Ivan&#...From the Russian POV this is a fair source: Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 [Catherine Merridale]<br /><br />Reading it also explains the great limits placed on former soviet soldiers-and the lack of personal memoirs.<br />Glenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09826464928376433382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-54921290183987645612014-05-21T03:51:29.989-05:002014-05-21T03:51:29.989-05:00With respect.... I believe that a prior land defea...With respect.... I believe that a prior land defeat of a German campaign would be that of Rommel's Afrika Corps by British Commonwealth troops at El Alamein, in late 1942.<br /><br />Not on the same scale, of course, but still a "first".<br /><br />PeterPeterW.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-17116644771546970042014-05-21T00:23:54.255-05:002014-05-21T00:23:54.255-05:00Dan Carlin's "Ghosts of the Ostfront"...Dan Carlin's "Ghosts of the Ostfront" series is a great way to brush up on the WWII history of that region. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04245345365265060881noreply@blogger.com