Blood, Steel, Myth: The II.SS-Panzer-Korps and the Road to Prochorowka [Hardcover]

This has been a good year for Operation Citadel fans for three good books have been published. Mr Nipe's is the last book published and its one of the best that I've read. It competes quite well with Zamulin's "Demolishing the Myth" (= Myth), though Nipe's book is from the German perspective and Zamulin the Soviet perspective. The comparison gets even better for both authors choose to concentrate on the 2nd PzC. Nipe takes the offensive side of the SS Corps while Zamulin handles the defensive side where the Soviets try to stop the SS. I haven't studied Nipe's "Blood, Steel and Myth" (= Steel) as much as Zamulin's but I've read numerous engagements of fortified hills and villages that are common to both books. I can already tell the coverage of both books is very good and reach near equality with each other.

Steel, which has the same outside dimensions as "Last Victory in Russia" but has an additional 118 pages, opens with two introductory chapters which describes the legacy of Stalingrad, describing the losses the Germans suffered while they were forced back to the Donets River. You also learn about the Soviet Armies that did the pushing and which ones will ultimately be confronted in the summer. The second chapter details the officers and men of the three divisions making up the 2nd SS PzC. Some of the strengths and weaknesses are discussed among many other topics like preparations and deployments. The section was good but the Soviet General Staff Study translated by Glantz is more complete on the Soviet side in this area of prep and deployment. Special attention on the German side reminds the reader that German forces had still not fully recovered from earlier fighting in the year and that their panzer divisions were far from established levels. Hausser had far less than the 1000 or more panzers and assault guns legend claims he had. Hitler made things worse for Hoth when the dictator gave a battalion of Ferdinands to Model that were slated for the south.
On the Soviet side, it emphasized how the Red Army had greatly improved and enlarged their tank assets since 1941 along with having some of the toughest officers around. They would be going into this German offensive with a large plurality in tanks, guns and men. The fact that the Soviets had months to prepare defenses also tipped the advantage to the Soviet side. These chapters will give readers a decent backdrop when the campaign starts.

The rest of the book covers the fighting and is divided by chapters for each day. Each chapter concludes with a concise summary. The daily events are usually broken down by hour as well so the reader can have a clearer perception of battle events. It starts on 7/4 and ends on 7/17. This book has greater coverage than what the subtitle implies for the author does provide a daily summary of the activity of 48th PzC and 3rd PzC which provided flank protection for 2nd SS PzC. Each key division has its own section in the chapter; Mr Nipe is trying to make this book, with all its many facets, as easy as possible to follow. This book is easier to follow than "Myth" and the Kursk book by David Glantz though thats a very good book also. The infantry corps on the extreme flanks receive little coverage and there are a few instances of the panzer divisions on the flanks receiving modest daily attention as well.
Much of the time the engagements are discussed at division/regiment level but in a few instances battalion or even company level is covered. Much of the book covers the ground action but coverage of the air operations for both sides are also included.

Though this book is German centric, Soviet defenses and deployments are well covered but not to the same depth as the German side. You will know which rifle division or tank brigade or corps the Germans are going up against. You'll also learn other things like why 7th GA put up such strong resistance against 3rd PzC. The level of detail is comparable to the author's two earlier works. Mr Nipe does a nice job describing the operational movements and engagements as well as the targets and objectives. Key officers and men are also mentioned for the contributions made in leadership or bravery to each specific engagement. Strachwitz, Peiper, Wittmann, Frey, Decker and many others are discussed. The author also discusses the tactical errors the Germans made that would cost them dearly. The capture of Cherkasskoe and the loss of so many panzers by GD on the first day are good examples.
The author also points out instances where the Germans were also uncoordinated during maneuvers whether between ground/air operations or between divisions that caused many casualties and slowed their progress. He also shows the "fog of war" where events were constantly changing and where if you had pivoted left instead of right or if you waited an hour or a day to attack a certain objective the results would have been much different. The simplicity and clarity of this narrative will give readers a chance to see Operation Citadel from the German perspective more accurately.
As the story of the offensive unfolds, the author sometimes pauses his narrative to discuss and explode myths, misconceptions and falsehoods that have evolved over the decades. Items like how many and types of panzers the SS Corps or 4th PzA had. When it was decided and why the SS turned toward Prokhorovka or the number of tanks the 5th GTA and the SS deployed on the 12th and how many were destroyed. Issues concerning 24th PzC and the number of panzers it had and why it never fell under Hoth's control are also covered.

One issue that was covered in "Myth" but not here is the pros and cons of the route chosen for 48th PzC and the new Panther Brigade. The rugged and sometimes marshy terrain in Vorskla/Pena River sectors was a bad choice for a Panzer Corps and especially one with nearly 200 Panthers having mechanical problems. Mr Nipe describes the terrain difficulties of the sector but doesn't explore alternative routes. Vatutin expected a heavier response from the Germans east of the Donets which had better lanes of travel for panzers.
Quotes from prominent historians like David Glantz as well as fragments from primary documents are interspersed throughout the book. These sidebars, which are usually more operational in nature than personal, are helpful but are not as plentiful as you'll find in "Myth".
In the final chapter, "Myths and Conclusions" among other issues points out and destroys the myths that have grown in popularity. He also compares the Reserves that were available for both sides. The Germans, in reality, didn't have reserves while Vatutin could fall back on Konev's Steppe Front. Konev still had four armies, four corps and an Air Army left which could have been used if Prokhorovka had fallen to LAH. That never happened so Konev's forces were used on the major counteroffensive.

There are 11 gray maps. Four maps are double page so you may consider 15 maps in all. There is a map for each day for 48th PzC and 2nd SS PzC. These maps are large and cover not the entire battle range but just a little more than just the area of that day's advance. These maps carry almost all of the key hills and villages discussed in the narrative as well as the key deployments for both sides. These are some of the best and most useful maps you'll find. They will help you follow the tactical progress of the offensive as well as helping the reader determine where the hard fighting centers were situated which were along the defensive belts that were built prior to the offensive. For some reason the 3rd PzC had minimal coverage on these maps. The areas of Shakhovo and Rzhavets were incomplete. "Demolishing the Myth" has a good map of 3rd PzC advancement. I had a little trouble reading the German spellings but it does appear that several key villages located along the southern bank of the Psel that SSTK had to capture were missing. In this instance, "Myth" maps can supply those villages. You will find that both books have areas of coverage that will supplement the other book and is a good reason to have both books if you're an avid fan of the campaign.

There are 312 photos and the gallery is excellent in showing key German officers, soldiers, panzers and battlefield destruction.
The Appendix is also noteworthy for its useful information. It includes an abbreviated Order of Battle for both sides (Myth's OBs are more extensive on the Soviet side), panzer breakdown by division and type, SS Division organization, a Panther profile, German casualties, and mini profiles of 58 SS officers who fought in the operation. It closes with a Glossary and Rank Compairson. End Notes and a Bibliograpy of Primary and Secondary sources are included. The Bibliography is not as lengthy as I imagined but its replete with noted historians. A useful Index completes the book.

Mr Nipe has spent years studying the critical battles in the sectors north and south of Kursk and his three books are excellent examples of that hard work. For approximately eight months of 1943, the author covers the critical battles at Kharkov early in the year and follows that with his latest book in the southern Kursk salient. His third book covers the important German defensive in the Mius/Mearla Rivers sector, southwest of Belgorod, of late July, August period which was a critical period after Citadel was canceled. The combined trilogy is most informative and insightful to the serious student.

Mr Nipe's new book, even though some of the "new", myth busting information presented had already been discussed by Zamulin and Lloyd Clark in their new books, presents an overall nice package that includes pertinent operational historiography that's insightful and easy to follow, helpful maps and great photos. This would make a solid learning tool and great collector item for all Citadel fans and is highly recommended.

This is the best war book I have ever read. The Battle of Kursk is a facinating battle that I will never tire of exploring by either reading or gaming. Except for mislabeling the caliber of the KwK 40 L43 of the PzKw IV F2/G as L42, and forgetting the Guards designation after a few Rifle Divisions the book looks almost perfect.

By approaching the battle day-by day and unit by unit you really get to understand the flow of the battle. Each chapter also begins with a map that brings to life what you are reading. There are many great pictures throughout the book, and they are all in the right places as you are reading.

I have read many books about this battle. Some were written when there was a lack of historical records availabe such as Paul Carell's Scorced Earth, which I still love. However, Historian George N. Nipe has shown that the Prochorowka tank battle between the railway embankment and the River Psel only involved the tired LSSAH against five tank bridgades of the 18th and 29th Tank Corps. There were no SS Panthers, four SS Tiger's and less than 50 PzKw IV long. What a tremendous stand by the LSSAH after one week draining combat just behind them.

The next round of books written on the battle of Kursk will require the authors to do historical research, or be laughed at. The SS Panzer Corps never had the strength on Day 1 of the offensive that for the last 60 years we have been hearing they possessed on that fateful 12 July 1943!

I am not going to bore you with the technical and historical details of this book, but to sum it up in a short paragraph, this book is a masterpiece. Having collected a voluminous WW2 library of books over the years, I can without hesitation, claim this as one of my top 10 books from that period. The battle of Kursk has always been my main area of fascination, and having read Glantz's book and the H&C book about the 3rd Panzer Army at Kursk, I was very interested to see this release about the 2. SS role at Kursk. With hundreds of high quality pictures (many never before released), and dozens of strategic maps of the area, this book can not only be recommended for the Kursk and WW2 scholar, but also the Lehman and even fellow modelers. Get this RZM release while you can! Kudos to Nipe and RZM for their "bible" about the 2. SS at Kursk.