Concord Publications

Battle in the East- The German Army in Russia

By  Gordon Rottman; Illustrations by Stephen Andrew

Reviewed By  Perry Downen, IPMS# 44000

MSRP: $13.95 ISBN: 962-361-149-8 www.concord-publications.com This book is one of the latest in a long list of books from Concord Publications. It is not a narrative of the action that took place on the Russian front, full of detailed unit movements, tactics, and strategy. Rather, it depicts the life of the German soldier as he took part in history’s largest invasion of one country by another. The book’s introduction provides a detailed organizational chart of the German infantry division at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941. A thorough description of each sub-unit’s role or responsibility is given. The introduction states, "It was the infantry division that bore much of the burden of the fighting on the Eastern front . . .." The remainder of the book illustrates this statement in photographs. Following the introduction, there are 138 photographs and 4 color plates on 52 pages. These photographs show the division’s various units in action and at rest. The text accompanying each photograph provides a clear description of the action captured by the photograph. There is none of the gore depicted we often see when reading about the war on the Eastern front. Four full-page color plates illustrated by Stephen Andrew are in the center of the book. These portray infantrymen in various uniforms during various seasons, some camouflaged and some non-camouflaged. Accompanying each drawing is a full description of the uniform and equipment depicted. This book, with its number and variety of photographs, is an excellent resource document. I can easily recommend this book to the modeler who specializes in light armor or German soldier figures. In addition, it can provide ideas to the modeler who likes to build life-like situations in dioramas. Finally, it is simply an interesting read for the student of military history. My thanks to Concord Publications Co. for providing this book to IPMS/USA and for giving me the chance to review it.

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