Book review: On a Knife’s Edge

Author: PRIT BUTTAR

Reviewed by: Duncan Evans

Buy your copy here.

Expert on all things Eastern Front related, Prit Buttar’s latest effort is subtitled: The Ukraine, November 1942 – March 1943. It basically takes up the story of the war in the East after Germany’s catastrophic defeat at Stalingrad. It was the job of Erich von Manstein to thwart the Red Army – which itself had suffered huge losses – and rebuild the shattered German forces.

It all starts with analysing just how prepared the German forces were for Operation Barbarossa. The rapid victories in Western Europe papered over cracks in war materiel production, the quality of the armour deployed and the lack of reserves.

Buttar is a good writer, so he explains the political manoeuvrings on both Russian and German sides well, mixing in personal diary entries from those involved in the fighting. The story goes through all the operations on the massive front as offensive and counter offensive ground down the troops on both sides. Although it’s only part of the story, it’s a richly detailed history worth reading for any student of the Eastern Front.

Buy your copy here.

• Osprey Publishing

• 468 pages • Hardback • £25

As reviewed in The Armourer January 2019

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