A detailed and fully illustrated account of the largest tank battle of World War II, the battle of Kursk on the Eastern Front. In the summer of 1943, the German launched Operation Zitadelle (Citadel), aimed at cutting off a large number of Soviet forces in the Kursk salient. This offensive resulted in the battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle of World War II. Kursk quickly became a fierce contest of attrition, as Wehrmacht and elite Waffen-SS Panzer-Divisions with their powerful Tiger and Panther tanks unsuccessfully tried to hammer their way through the intricate lines of strong Soviet defensive positions. What followed was unabated fighting for two weeks as German units were slowly and systematically ground down in a series of brutal armored battles. During this ferocious fighting the Red Army savagely contested every foot of ground, finally ending German invincibility forever. For the first time in its short history, the blitzkrieg concept had failed. The reverberations caused by the defeat at Kursk were immense, and never again did the German war machine go on the offensive in the East. Stiff defensive action was now the stratagem placed upon the dwindling Panzerwaffe right to the gates of Berlin. With comprehensive captions and text, Kursk tells the story of this dramatic battle using rare and unpublished photographs, maps, and highly detailed artist profiles. The book reveals the events leading up to the battle in the first half of 1943, and the build up of forces by both sides before their climatic showdown at Kursk. AUTHOR: Ian Baxter is a military historian who specialises in German twentieth century military history. He has written more than twenty books including Into the Abyss: The Last Years of the Waffen-SS, From Retreat to Defeat: The Last Years of the German Army on the Eastern Front, Operation Bagration - the Destruction of Army Group Centre 1944, Poland - The Eighteen Day Victory March, Panzers In North Africa, The Red Army At Stalingrad, and German Guns of the Third Reich, as well as contributing over 100 articles to a range of well-known military periodicals.
b/w and colour illustrations with several maps
