Panzer Warfare on the Eastern Front Hardcover – May 1, 2012

I found this book to be interesting. It described the experiences of the soldiers that were actually in 6the action.

I read this book the first time in 1972 when it was published in Germany as Der Weg war Weit: Panzer zwischen Weischsel und Wolga. The English edition is an excellent translation, and includes five Appendices that the German edition did not have. They are: A, Comparative Rank Table; B, 4th Panzer Division Order of Battle; C, 9th Panzer Division Order of Battle; D, 11th Panzer Division Order of battle; and E, 16th Panzer Division Order of Battle. The Appendices and the translator’s notes on the page bottoms, make the English edition a much better reference source than the German edition, though the first-person accounts are identical in both editions. People who expressed disappointment with the book because it was not about tank battles were, probably, unaware of how a German tank division was organized. The Appendices, B through C, provide that information. The only small complaint I have is that neither the German edition nor the English have an Index. I think that is the case because German books rarely have an index, and this English edition is a direct translation and format copy of the original German. I gave it 5 stars because it provides accurate, personal accounts of the war on the Eastern Front. Dwight R. Messimer

...except this time Hell is frozen over!This is yet another excellent book from Stackpole. Truthfully, I'm only about 1/3rd the way through, as I like to milk these kinda books about the soldiers in the field over a period of time. Especially when every few pages is a different perspective of the same cesspool of difficult times these people had to live through. So far it's mostly mechanized (well...) infantry stories, with the occasional armored perspective, but it's from the grunt up to the divisional commander, so the book covers alot without getting into heavy logistic details.What is always nice about these - and most Stackpole books - is the descriptive narrative of these guys slogging their way through the horrible reality of war, and painting the day-to-day with individualism and the beauty that is the minds eye; iow, the trying to make sense of this giant monster of what life has given them, and the basic humanity which runs through us all. These are not some evil Nazis bent on taking over the world, these are your brother man fighting for survival with what life has given them, only with cool tanks and MG-42s and the olden days of World War II, and the simplicity of what was available to get the job done.Highly recommended if you like to be dropped in the hot seat over and over again, and can then put the book down and go get a cup of coffee, "excited" about the next time you get to pick the book up and feel the cold Russian air chill the back of your neck, bullits whizzing overhead, and the hard comfort of a Panzer tank churning it's way through the snow to Oblivion and beyond!

I had no trouble getting into this book, which contains wonderful, personal accounts of the German Panzer brigades' war on the Eastern Front in WW2. Putting aside any misgivings about the rights and wrongs of invading Russia in the first place, (without antifreeze!!?), these stories are very human narratives from ordinary German soldiers who had to bear the brunt of this titanic struggle. You quickly get some idea of the brutal and debilitating nature of the conflict with vivid descriptions of attacks, taking casualties, dealing with the appalling Russian winters in inadequate clothes and the sheer scale of the conflict, fighting on a 2,000 mile front, trying to get tank engines started on a morning when it's minus 50 degrees and you're freezing and hungry, crawling with lice. If you're not affected, you have a stone for a heart.There's humour too, the soldiers last defence against despair and rock-bottom morale.It doesn't lose sight of the Russian people either and their grievous suffering as their country was torn apart on the whim of a madman who had the example of Napoleon's demise with his Grand Armee before him, but ignored the lessons of history.I'd recommend this book, not just to war buffs or historians, but to anyone who finds the indominitable human spirit and our capacity for suffering fascinating reading.Strongly recommended. The copy editing is a little rough in places, ('drug' is the past tense of 'to drag'?!!!!!) but this gives the voices a realism and authenticity.

This is a very interesting book. Personal accounts of men who fought on the eastern front from the beginning of Barbarossa to the end in 1945.I have two complaints:#1: The title is a little misleading. The men portrayed in the book did all serve in panzer divisions. However, much of the stories took place in units that could have been in any type of division. For instance, the author, who provides probably 1/3 of the stories, served in a communications unit running wire between regiment and battalion HQ's. Don't get me wrong, his stories were fascinating, but weren't exactly panzer warfare. Many of the stories didn't involve tanks at all. Nevertheless, those stories were fascinating as well.#2: Quite a few grammar and spelling errors. nothing that stops you from understanding the stories, but I just don't understand why someone couldn't just read the book once and correct the errors before publishing.

This book is none of the best I have read on the Eastern Front. It focusses not on grand strategy but at individual contact level. The detail is very good and the many short stories and anecdotes make for gripping, and easy reading.There is not a great deal on tanks per se, but the tanks were supported by Grenadiers who feature highly.A good book.

A great step by step guide to the ending of the German assault of Russia ! A soldiers view of a retreat that left so many dead on both sides .

Really good read. Even better as it cost nothing on Kindle! WOuld recommend it anyway to any Military history fan.

An enjoyable exposure of war on the eastern front, easy to read and helpful for understanding the uselessness of conflict

when i see the word panzer i expect to be reading about tanks and tank men. The majority of the book concerns the motorized infantry and especially the signal corps, so mention of tanks & tank battles are rare and off-camera, like muffled engines heard from the other side of a forest. So i have to say that the book description & title are misleading. That said, the book contains some interesting first hand accounts of life in the soviet winter, deep in the forests where the cold was as much an enemy as the soviets, who for the most part seem under-trained and ineffective. The most moving passages are the accounts of the fall of Danzig, where the german tankmen, deprived of their tanks due to shortages of fuel & spares, try to supervise the evacuation of the city before the soviets arrive. The Soviets are painted as bloodthirsty & brutal, and we don't get a sense that the Germans were simply reaping what they had previously sewn. Grainy b&w pictures are included.