On 2009-09-26 Dave Schranck, Anaheim Ca wrote: People will either love this book or hate it. Some will find it intriguing while others find it boring. The book is highly German-centric and some will like that and some won´t. Mr Haupt presents the movements and engagements of AGC from beginning to the end of the war. While its not the most comprehensive secondary source I´ve found of AGC, it does have tactical coverage not found in other books and when you add the info in those other books (Erickson, Glantz, Hinze as well as Mr Haupt´s companion books and others) to this book, you can have a fairly comprehensive understanding of the war from the German perspective.
The author begins his book describing the battlefield that the German invaders will try to conquer. The second chapter describes the opening deployment and the rest of the book will discuss the rise and fall of the Army Group as it struggles toward Moscow then falls back to its homeland where it will desperately fight to retain Berlin. One aspect that you clearly see in the first few months of the war is that despite the impressive victories at Minsk, Smolenisk, Bryansk, Vyazma and elsewhere, the Germans were paying too high of a relative price for those victories in men and equipment. Even by the end of August 1941, you could see that the Germans could not withstand a lengthy war of attrition.
There are a number of useful maps and excellent photos to help the reader follow the narrative. The maps are in German and in some instances present a language problem when trying to decipher towns. There is also an extensive Appendix that includes Order of Battle and other useful stuff that adds to the book. There is no Index which is disappointing. Even more disappointing there is no Notes section to study or verify author´s comments. Wherever possible when the need arises, I will try to confirm facts or figures with books by David Glantz or John Erickson.
In each encounter, the author tries to present all the participants, usually at regiment or higher level, for the German side (but is less thorough for the Russian side) and other pertinent facts. Regarding the Order of Battle, it was rarely static. Hitler would move divisions into and out of AGC fairly often. The author would keep you updated to the major changes throughout the book. Also, some authors may say a battle was fought near Smolensk but it was really at nearby Yartsevo, Mr Haupt will say Yartsevo.
Though I enjoyed this book for its tactical detail, its not my main source. I still prefer David Glantz but if your interests are in the tactical arena and you´re a collector then you should still consider adding it to your collection. If you enjoy reading Anthony Beevor, Anthony Read, Eric Hammel or Stephen Ambrose then perhaps you won´t like this volume.. And summed up by saying Good Coverage of Army Group Center. Currently Army Group North: The Wehrmacht in Russia 1941-1945 has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
Army Group North: The Wehrmacht in Russia 1941-1945 can also be found in the following searches:
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. claimed After long years of studying sources and literature, Werner Haupt presents the military history of one of the larger theaters of World War II. The completion of the history of ´´Army Group North´´ is the result of the author´s utilization of all German and Russian literature, as well as those combat diaries and documents of the committed troop units that are available in German archives. In addition, the author was assisted in clearing up several questions by the advice of former members of the army group - from commanders to drivers. This series by Werner Haupt will continue with a volume each on Army Group Center and Army Group South. The author served in the German Army as a soldier and officer in the northern sector of the Eastern Front during the Second World War. He is also the author of Assault on Moscow - 1941 (available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).
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