Kursk 1943: The Tide Turns in the East

by Mark Healy

Osprey's examination of the Kursk campaign of World War II (1939-1945). In the summer of 1943 the German army stood poised for a major offensive. The attack was aimed at the Kursk salient, which the Germans intended to isolate, trapping large numbers of Russian troops and paving the way for the decisive campaign to knock the Soviet Union out of the war. By the time of the attack, the Russians had turned the salient into a mass of defensive positions. In the following decisive clash, the Soviets bled Germany's vital Panzer forces white and finally took the initiative. The counter-offensive which followed began an advance that would end in the ruins of Berlin.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, World War II, Military History, Russia, Nonfiction, Germany

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kursk 1943 is a nuts and bolts retelling of the tank battle between German and Russian forces in WWII. Unfortunately, I tend to enjoy compelling narrative more than nuts and bolts.

[Steve Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best account of Kursk I’ve read, but as Osprey books go, not the worst. I think some of the photographs of the battle could have been replaced with more extensive maps of the various areas of conflict. The wargaming chapter at the end is the second I’ve encountered in the last month, and that too could have been eliminated to provide room for more exposition of the battle itself. For wargaming, I’d consult a wargaming book.

[Bruinrefugee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent overview of a key turning point in WWII. I have the older version of this, so don't know if it's been updated, but it gives a good sense of what happened without getting bogged down in too much detail. Kursk always seems to have an epic scope even as it reflected a scaling down of the E. Front in some ways, but the books occasional details don't necessarily convey that.