San Antonio College Library

The battle on the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945 was the single most decisive factor of World War II. Now, drawing on sources newly available since the collapse of the Soviet Union, historian and journalist Chris Bellamy presents the first full account of this deadly conflict. He presents a shocking picture of battle in which the traditional restraints of "civilized" warfare were shed. He makes clear how the Soviets quickly rallied against Hitler...

"In his quest for military glory, Benito Mussolini sent the Italian Eighth Army to the Eastern Front to help fight the Russians, only to have his forces routed within little more than a month of the launch of the Soviet counteroffensives of the winter of 1942-1943. The Cuneense, a division of mountain troops, was hit especially hard, with only a small percentage of its troops straggling back to Italy; the rest were killed in action or died of frostbite...

On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler launched the greatest land assault in history on the Soviet Union, an attack the Führer deemed crucial to ensure Germany's economic and political survival. Operation Barbarossa, as the assault was known, was Hitler's attempt to annihilate the Soviet Union in order to fulfill the Nazi desire for Lebensraum (living space) and to finally resolve the "Jewish question." What resulted was a devastating and barbaric campaign...