Bagration 1944: The destruction of Army Group Centre (Campaign)

by Steven J. Zaloga

Book Overview

Osprey's overview of the most calamitous defeat of the German armed forces in World War II (1939-1945). On 22 June 1944, three years to the day after Germany's 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1855324784
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.9" x 0.2" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

As Good a Coverage as Can be Expected in an Osprey Book

This book was given five stars not because it was perfect but because its probably as good as you'll get in 91 usable pages minus pages allocated toward photos, maps and illustrations. The battle coverage on the Northern, Southern Shoulders as well as at Mogilev was thin and I'm sure was the victum of page limitations. The first chapter, "Origins of Battle" gives a brief history of the eastern front in 1943 and the first part of 1944 to explain how the front line was formed by June of 1944. It explains the slow but inevitable push westward by the Russians at Kursk, Orel, Kharkov,Kiev, Korsun, Nevel and the Crimea. In Opposing Commanders , the author gives bios on Hitler, Model and Busch on the German side and Stalin, Rokossovsky, Bagramyan, Chernyakovsky, Zakharov on the Russian side. The chapter on Opposing Armies was good. It briefly describes the size and condition of the two enemies. It can quickly be seen the advantage the Russians have going into this battle. The Germans are at a greater disadvantage by the restrictions placed on them by Hitler and his lapdog, Busch. Model soon replaces him as CO of AGC. It also contains an Order of Battle which is very helpful. Opposing Plans was the weakest chapter in the book. Due to poor intelligence, the Germans believed the main Russian offensive for 1944 would be in the South, in Northern Ukraine. The AGC sector was considered to be where the Russians would have disruptive offensives but nothing of major scale. On the Russian side, Mr Zaloga explains the many diversions, deceptions that were undertaken to fool the enemy. It was also explained the great effort made by the Russians to be prepared logistically and tactically for the launch. For the longest time the Germans were fooled; it was approaching June when recon squads discovered the heavy concentrations of Russian troops. The Russian air force was also diligent in downing or subverting the Luftwaffe from discovering the true scale of activity prior to the battle. A preliminary launch of Operation Bagration happened on June 22, 1944 with a full scale launch the next day. The summary of battle action covering Vitebsk in the north, Orsha, Bobruisk on the front lines and Minsk and the Berezina River to the west in late June and July was good.The author works his way west to Lvov and the Vistula River in late August. As mentioned above there is some battle coverage missing but its due to lack of pages. There are five 2-D maps and three 3-D maps which were very good and helped placed the narrative. In the 2-D maps, the first and last concern the front line of the whole east front at the beginning and close of the campaign respectively.The second map is restricted to the battlefield of the campaign at the start. The third map is a timeline map culminating on July 10th. The fourth map is the battle for Lvov. The 3-D maps are of Orsha, Minsk and Magnuszew on the Vistula River. There is an Aftermath and Chronology section that consumes five pages. Ther

Excellant Background Source

This is a good high level book of the campaign. And is very usefull to anyone who maybe using it as a gaming resource. Not totally detailed but gives good information on the OOB and other usefull items.

The destruction of german army group center

An excelent book that splains every movement in the russian offensive and shows many maps with references. excelent for beginners and historians.

Everything a Osprey Campaign book should be

This is an example of how good Osprey books can be and sets a standard of excellence. At the time of the Normandy landings far greater things were about to happen on the Eastern Front when a titanic clash commenced with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Byelorussian and 1st Baltic Fronts of the Soviet Union attacked Army Group Centre and in just 2 months Army Group Centre had ceased to exist. Just like with the Normandy landings the Soviet Armed forces had acted out a brilliant deception plan "Maskirovka" aimed at convincing the Germans that the attack would come against Army Group Ukraine. This was so successful that Army Group Centre was stripped of most of its tank, mobile and reserves to reinforce Army Group Ukraine. This was followed by a cascading series of offensives reminiscent of the German Success of Barbarossa, except now it was the Russians turn to show who was the master. A conflict and campaign of a scale hard to imagine is presented here neatly in less than 96 pages providing the big picture in a very streamlined volume. 5 good maps and 3 good birds eye 3-D battle maps bring the text to life and all are very relevant. Zaloga has done a brilliant job of presenting this crucial Campaign of World War 2 and shows how good Osprey Campaign books can be at their best. Now several other reviewers have pointed out that the book is too short to do the subject justice and considering that Osprey now has several books on the Normandy landings and 3 on Barbarossa this is in a sense true. But this book is an excellent source book on the much overlooked Eastern Front and is a genuine Campaign book and will give you a very clear picture of how Army Group Centre was destroyed.

Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany- the beginning of the end.

A good study of the defeat of Germany in Belarus, which ultimately led to the end of the Third Reich. The book has a nice collection of photos and diagrams of the campaign. It includes studies of the main military leaders, both Soviet and German. What I found of particular interest was the coverage of Lend-Lease equipment used by the Red Army. This had been downplayed by both the Soviets and the West during the Cold War, but the book clearly shows that Sherman tanks, Studebaker trucks and other US equipment were liberally used by the Red Army and did play a part in the ultimate victory. Operation Bagration has often been overshadowed by the other significant German defeat of 1944, the failure to halt the Anglo-American landing in Normandy. A significant event such as Operation Bagration, obviously needs to be covered and to given its due importance.