Fugate Bryan I. Operation Barbarossa: Strategy and Tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941

Presidio Press, 1984. — 464 p.Based on primary Russian and German sources, the author investigates Soviet strategy and tactics involved in the June 22, 1941 defense of their frontier against the Wehrmacht. This is an excellent book on German and Russian military tactics during the first year of the German- Russian war in 1941. It also takes a deep look at the overall strategic strategies employed by the combatants. A decent account of the opening months of Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Fugate tries to recast the old ideas about Operation Barbarossa by saying that Guderian, not Hitler, was largely responsible for the failure to defeat Russia in 1941, while also saying that the Russians were far better prepared for the German attack than historians previously believed. Of course, this book is highly dated, as it was printed at the height of the Reagan-era Cold War (the book offers many suggestions on how the Soviets would fight a war against the NATO alliance in Europe based on their actions in World War II). Still, the book offers some good battle descriptions, particularly the desperate German defense of the Yelnia "pocket." More of a historical curiosity now than an up-to-date history of the operation.