Books Reviews

Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front 1944-45 – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Sep 17, 2012, 17:24 GMT

The terrible months between the arrival of the Red Army on German soil and the final collapse of Hitler\'s regime were like no other in the Second World War. The Soviet Army\'s intent to take revenge for the horror that the Nazis had wreaked on their people produced a conflict of implacable brutality in which millions perished.From the great battles that marked the Soviet conquest of East and West Prussia ...more

In September 1944, the Soviet Army finally entered German territory, flooding into its martial heartland of Prussia.  It was a fight to the death. The Wehrmacht was determined to fight for their country and reluctant to surrender. 

Hitler was ordering that everyone should fight on, and never give in.  The result was carnage. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died on both sides, while civilians were caught helplessly in the crossfire.  Towns and cities were destroyed and the impact on society was immense.  Nothing would ever be the same again. 

As one eyewitness commented "we had never before seen so clearly the law of war: 'you or me'.  It is not easy reading. Backed up by lots of eyewitness accounts, the story of this dreadful time is recorded in graphic detail. 

Buttar has definitely done his research in full. There are numerous contemporary black and white photographs and detailed maps showing the various plans of campaign. Military historians and all those interested in the Second World War will find this book fascinating.