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The Retreat: Hitler's First Defeat, by Michael Jones
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The gripping history of the ferocious turning point of World War Two, when Hitler's armies were halted on the Eastern Front
At the moment of crisis in late 1941 on the Eastern Front, with the forces of Hitler massing on the outskirts of Moscow, the miraculous occurred: Moscow was saved. Yet this feat of endurance was a prelude to a long and arduous retreat in which Soviet troops, inspired by deep beliefs in the sacred Motherland, pushed back German forces steeled by the vision of the Ubermensch--the iron-willed fighter. Supported by tanks and ski battalions, Soviet troops engaged in this desperate struggle in the harshest Russian weather.
Michael Jones draws upon a wealth of new eyewitness testimonies from both sides of the conflict to vividly chronicle this pivotal chapter in the Second World War as he takes us from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on the morning of June 22 through the counteroffensive that carried into the spring of 1942. From the German soldier finding his comrades frozen into blocks of ice to the Russian lieutenant crying with rage at the senseless destruction of his unit, the author shows us the faces of war when the Wehrmacht was repelled and the titanic and cruel struggle of two world powers forged the fate of Europe.
- Sales Rank: #949829 in Books
- Published on: 2010-12-07
- Released on: 2010-12-07
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.50" h x 1.20" w x 6.40" l, 1.22 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 352 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Jones's earlier Leningrad and Stalingrad established this British military historian's skill in conveying the human dimensions of the Russo-German War. His new narrative addresses the German sweep through Russia in the summer of 1941, its defeat at the gates of Moscow by a rejuvenated Red Army, and the massive Soviet counterattack that pushed the Wehrmacht to the edge of destruction. Jones makes a convincing case that the Fuehrer's "stand fast" order in December 1941 entailed unnecessary losses. Retreat, he argues, did not inevitably mean collapse. The point remains debatable. But there is no question of Jones's success presenting, in their own words, the growing conviction of the Germans doing the fighting that Barbarossa had been a compound mistake. "Does no one realize what it is like here?" asked one bewildered corps commander. Across the battle line, six months of atrocities demonstrated to the Russian people that whatever was wrong with the U.S.S.R., the Germans were not the solution. "I vowed to kill as many of them as possible," wrote one Soviet junior officer. His words are an epigram for an apocalyptic war, perceptively evoked here. 8 pages of b&w photos; 3 maps. (Dec.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
A military historian with particular expertise on the eastern front of WWII offers this grimly absorbing account of one of the battles that shaped the whole campaign: the German retreat from Moscow in December 1941. Already overextended and undersupplied, the Germans were in no position to resist a massive Soviet counterattack. The next two months were the stuff of nightmares for the soldiers on both sides, whose letters and memoirs have been exhaustively used to paint a horrifying picture of starvation, cold weather, nonexistent medical care, and a complete lack of compassion for opponents (two million Russian POWs died during this period). The Germans suffered an additional defeat, because Hitler believed that his No retreat! order saved his army from rout and from its defeatist generals. His assumption of the supreme command, fully equipped with vast arrogance and little skill, was another large stone that eventually helped build the tomb of the Third Reich. Sound and readable. --Roland Green
Review
Jones deserves full credit for the remarkable personal testimonies he has amassed. (The Sunday Times (UK))
A mass of first-person material that has been cleverly assembled to paint a striking picture. (BBC History Magazine)
A gripping account of the opening stages of Hitler's war of extermination against the Russians. . . . Jones tells the story of the struggle with verve and scholarship. (Andrew Roberts, author of Masters and Commanders)
A vivid, illuminating account. (World War II magazine (on Stalingrad))
A tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. (Herald (UK) (on Leningrad))
Most helpful customer reviews
59 of 61 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent Account, Great Narrative
By Aussie Reader
This latest book from Michael Jones covers the German offensive in 1941 to take Moscow, Operation Typhoon, and the subsequent Soviet counter-offensive, Hitler's first retreat. The author uses numerous first-hand accounts throughout the book, taken from German and Russian soldiers and Russian civilians.
The book is easy to read and offers a nice overview of this period but nothing too technical or in-depth, more of a general or popular historical narrative. There are a number of black & white photographs within the book that had been taken by the soldiers involved in this conflict.
Some of the first-hand accounts are quite graphic and quite a few I had not previously read before. Here are a few examples:
"Osadchinsky and his comrades reached a German forward position. `Before us was a scene of utter carnage,' he continued. `There were bodies of our soldiers, entangled in the barbed wire, and those of the enemy, littering the trenches, bayoneted or ripped apart by grenades.' Osadchinsky had fought the Germans with a burning hatred in his heart, and had shown their soldiers no mercy. But now, to his surprise, he felt a grudging respect for them. `They have followed the orders of their high command,' he thought, `and fought and died where they stood. What iron discipline! But what is the point of such senseless sacrifice? These men have shown real heroism - but I doubt whether their heroic deeds will ever be known or appreciated'."
From a German soldier: "There was the stink of frostbite, as men used the same bandage - pus-encrusted and stiff with scabs and rotted flesh - again and again. Some had long rags of blackened flesh hanging from their feet. It was snipped off. The bones were exposed, but with their feet wrapped in cloths and sacking, the men had to go on standing sentry duty and fighting......Everyone had diarrhoea, and one soldier was so enfeebled that he collapsed on the way to the doctor and froze to death. Older men developed rheumatism, and often screamed with pain. But we couldn't let anyone go."
Three maps are supplied within the text of a basic nature, but enough for the reader to have a general idea of the major locations mentioned and the major offensive movements. Overall this is a good and enjoyable (if you can say such a thing about a horrific conflict of this nature) book to read and offers a decent general narrative account for anyone who has not previously read about this period of history.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
An admirable heartfelt story of human tragedy and triumph.
By Dave Schranck
There are two main aspects to this story. The secondary issue is the general operational overview of Operation Typhoon and the subsequent Russian counter offensive. The primary aspect are the hundreds of anecdotal experiences of soldiers, officers and a few civilians who try to overcome their fears and stay alive during a war that was on a scale that hopefully mankind will never have to experience again.
Though rating the book five stars, from my perspective, the book could have been better by building a more coherent or complete picture of the operational aspects of the campaign. (without going into infinitesimal detail) With greater coverage of the operation the reader could not only benefit from the many first hand experiences that were presented but also get a greater appreciation of the true scale of Operation Typhoon. There was so much that was left out but this aspect wasn't the author's main concern. He wanted to portray the human condition and did this very well and hence the five star rating. (If more of the operational side of Operation Typhoon is desired, the excellent books by Robert Forczyk, David Glantz, Albert Seaton, or Robert Kershaw are available.) Even still, the author does a great job of blending the two aspects into an engaging yet informative story of the first year of the war. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr Jones accumulated the hundreds of personal experiences first then built the operational aspects of battle around the personal.
The book's introduction describes Napoleon's failed attempt to capture Moscow and his disastrous retreat from the capital nearly 130 years earlier. The author, throughout the book, will also describe the influence this French defeat will have on Hitler and to a smaller extent on Stalin.
After the introduction, the main story begins in October 1941 with the launching of Operation Typhoon and the significant defeats of Russian armies at Bryansk and Vyazma, and continues with the push to Moscow, the subsequent counterattack in December and will conclude with in the spring of 1942 with the relief of the Demyansk pocket and the destruction of the 2nd Shock Army at Lyuban.
Much of the action and personal comments involve the northern flank of AGC in the Kalinin, Klin, Volokolamsk, Moscow Canal sector. Guderian on the southern flank also receives some coverage but not nearly as much. The key German officers discussed are Hoepner, Reinhardt, Kluge, Guderian, Halder, Hitler and a few other generals. The story is clearly German centric; the primary source documents, diary entries and interviews are from the German side.
The author delivers the thoughts and feelings of the men in the trenches: the jubilization and pride of victory like with the German victories of October and early November or the Russian victories in December. You'll read about the growing doubt and apprehension in late November and early December with the German advance is halted and the fear and humiliation of the Wehrmacht in later December when the Russians launched a surprised offensive that couldn't be stopped. You will also see the emotions of both sides to be quite similar. The Russians would be fearful when losing but would be over confident when winning, just like the Germans. The decisions from above made from these emotional perspectives attenuated the results on the battlefield. You will also read how the sub zero temperatures impact the German attempt to defend themselves and the number of panzers, trucks and guns were lost during their retreat. You will also see how the lack of foresight and empathy by the OKH will make it worse for the soldiers.
There are also a few maps and photos, a scholarly Notes section, Bibliography and an Index.
This story opens a door into the horrors experienced in war and will show you how luck can save a person's life or put you in a position that will take your life. It will show how some survived the whole war without injury and how some went into battle for the first time and lost their life. There is much to think about in this book and its highly recommended to all who are interested in WWII.
42 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
Okay for Beginners
By M. Pitcavage
Michael Jones has yet to live up to the expectations raised by the excellent analysis in his earlier book on Stalingrad; The Retreat, which covers the Soviet 1941-42 winter counteroffensive, is his second attempt to reprise the earlier success.
However, unlike his book on Stalingrad, this book will not be very useful to serious students of history. It is mostly a well-written, "fun" read for the military buff in the sense of an impressionistic account. As an earlier reviewer has noted, there is far too little operational detail for the reader to actually understand the military actions described in the book, and the maps are too few and too bad. This is why I say that the book is essentially impressionistic, because the nuts and bolts of the military operations are sadly lacking.
For the casual reader, what will be the most interesting is Jones's use of German language unit histories and "second-tier" military memoirs (ones by figures not deemed important enough to warrant a translation into English, essentially). These provide details that would add to other entry-level accounts of the counteroffensive before Moscow. There are some Soviet sources in the book, too, which are still always welcome.
I found the most irritating thing about the book to be its lazy and neglectful citing of source material. There are no footnotes or endnotes, merely some partial references for each chapter at the end of the book. I soon discovered that whenever I flipped to the back to try to find the source for an assertion or fact that I was bound to be disappointed. This serious lack is also one of the things that makes it far less useful for serious readers and students. I really don't understand why the author couldn't be bothered to do standard citations.
As an entry level book for the casual reader of military history, The Retreat might be a good christmas gift. Unfortunately, I believe that Jones is capable of much more than he actually delivered here.
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