Battle of Kursk 1943 (ePub)
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Series: Images of War
File Size: 14.8 MB (.epub)
Pages: 160
Illustrations: 300 B & W photos
ISBN: 9781783038282
Published: 19th September 2011
The greatest tank battle in world history, known as Operation CITADEL, opened during the early hours of 5 July 1943, and its outcome was to decide the eventual outcome of the war on the Eastern Front. A highly collectable addition to the Images of War series, Battle of Kursk 1943 is a superbly illustrated account of this pivotal battle of the war on the Eastern Front, when the Germans threw 900,000 men and 2,500 tanks against 1,300,000 soldiers and 3,000 tanks of the Red Army in a savage battle of attrition.
Unlike many pictorial accounts of the war on the Eastern Front, the book draws upon both German and Russian archive material, all of which are rare or unpublished. The images convey the true scale, intensity and horror of the fighting at Kursk, as the Germans tried in vain to batter their way through the Soviet defensive systems. The battle climaxed at the village of Prokhorovka, which involved some 1,000 tanks fighting each other at point-blank range.
During this vicious two week battle the Red Army dealt the Panzerwaffe a severe battering from which the German war effort was never to recover. The Battle of Kursk finally ended the myth of German invincibility.
…the choice of pictures is interesting, and there is a good selection of less common vehicles, including several pictures of armed half-tracks.
History of War
The 144 page book is profusely illustrated throughout with many rare photographs from Russian and German sources, and while Kursk is known as a tank battle, there are many photos contained within the book showing the various support and other types of vehicles involved in the battle. This is a great addition to the renowned ‘Images of War; series and well worth checking out.
Military Machines International, December 2011
A part of the "Images of War" series. Hans Seidler draws on rare and previously unpublished photographs to describe, from the German perspective, the course of this most decisive of battles. The photographs, with their descriptive notes, illustrate the wide range of equipment used and the scale and ferocity of an offensive from which the German war machine never recovered
Pegasus Archive
About Hans Seidler
Hans Seidler is an avid collector of rare wartime images. He is the author of Hitler’s Tank Killers and cooperated with Ian Baxter on Barbarossa (both published by Pen and Sword in the Images of War Series). He can be contacted through Ian Baxter who lives near Chelmsford.