Black Cross Red Star -- Air War Over the Eastern Front : Volume 4: Stalingrad to Kuban 1942-1943

Black Cross Red Star #4

by Christer Bergström, Andrey Mikhailovich

Regarded as the standard work on the air war over the Eastern Front during World War II, Christer Bergström's unique Black Cross/Red Star series covers the history of the air war on the Eastern Front in close detail, with the perspectives of both sides. Based on a close study of German and Russian archive material, as well as interviews with a large number of the airmen who participated in this aerial conflict, it has established itself as the main source on the air war on the Eastern Front.

'Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 4' covers the air war along the entire Eastern Front during the period winter 1942/1943 through the spring of 1943, in great detail, with a balance between German and Soviet archive sources etc, and with many first-hand accounts.

Volume 4 is of the same size as the other volumes, and it also contains aircraft color profiles.

370 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2019

About the author

Christer Bergström works professionally as a teacher in English and Swedish history and is the author of several highly-acclaimed books on Second World War aviation.

Reviews

[Венцислав · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed, day by day thorough research of the air war over the Eastern Front. The book covers the period from the launch of Operation Uranus to encircle VI Armee at Stalingrad in November 1942 through to the end of March, 1943, as the Luftwaffe and the VVS KA were preparing for the huge summer air battles over the Kuban river and the Kursk - Orel salient. Bergstrom has clearly put a lot of effort to research both primary Soviet and German sources, including archives, unit histories, pilot memoirs and interviews with veterans. Some individual dogfights are reconstructed in detail.

In terms of print quality, the book is top-notch. There are maps in the beginning of each chapter, lots of high quality photographs, a small collection of beautiful color profiles by Jim Laurier, all on durable, glossy paper. No misprints anywhere, although several typos were present. I should note that it is a large and very heavy book but the binding is good, so it feels solid enough.

Absolutely essential for anyone interested in the Eastern Front or air warfare in general.

[Josh Gidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOOOOOOOOO good.
The only thing wrong with this book is that it will spoil you for any book you read on air combat afterwards. So much detail, such gripping accounts, so much commitment to accuracy; a real page-turner from pretty much start to finish. One of the best air combat books I've ever read; perhaps the best.