German Infantryman vs Soviet Rifleman: Barbarossa 1941 (Combat, 7)

Osprey Combat series does it again. The art work and pictures are excellent as always. The writing is informative, but because of the size always leaving you wanting for more. The best part of the whole (other then the illustrations) is that it debunks much of what the casual reader of the eastern front usually gleans from reading books that cover all of Barbarossa. The normal impression one gets is that the German Army carved through the Soviets like a hot knife thru butter. This book shows that on the small unit scale this was far from the truth. The Russian Soldier was a tough fighter poorly led who could not adjust to the quick changes that can occur in mobile warfare. The German victories were hard fought and sometimes a near run thing.

This book is great. The text is good concise and easy to read. The really unique cool thing about it is the point of view artwork. Flipping through it I was just kind of shocked when I saw them because I had never really come across anything like it. I will be getting more from this series after reading this one. I am interested and excicited to see how they did on the US Civil war infantry comparison they did.

This is the usual, thorough Osprey product one expects from this publisher. In addition to copious photos, excellent maps and great artwork, the written content of the book offers both the strategy and tactics of the first months of Operation Barbarossa.Included are accounts from both sides and vivid descriptions of the actions that took place in those fateful days. An excellent read and a very good reference source.

Interesting comparison of the infantry men in the German and Soviet armies on the eastern front.The book describes their backgrounds, training, and deployment.I think the book Ivan's War (2006, by Catherine Merridale) is much better for describing the Soviet soldiers, but it is also 200 pages longer than this one.

My son is one of the most sought after people for those needing info on any historical inquiry.His passion is military history.He rates this book as being one of the best for that subject.

As anticipated

Thank you!

Excellent head to head review of German and Soviet forces at the battle of Smolensk. I should have gotten a hard hard copy vs. the kindle version.