Zenith Press

The Bloody Triangle The Defeat of Soviet Armor in the Ukraine, June 1941

by  Victor J. Kamenir

Reviewed By  Mike Hinderliter, IPMS# 45124

MSRP: $30.00 ISBN 13: 978-0-7603-3351-8 Review copy courtesy of Zenith Press - Website: www.zenithpress.com Format: Hardcover / 6 x 9 Pages: 336, 16 b/w photos. 11 maps Zenith Press has put out another fine book in their family of little known battles of World War 2. The Bloody Triangle refers to a triangle shaped area of land in the Ukraine between the towns of Lutsk , Dubno, and Brody where the first large scale tank battle between the German and Russians took place in the summer of 1941. When I say little known battles, I mean that this battle is overshadowed in history by the battle at Kursk. This book is divided into 3 main parts. Part 1: The Opposing Forces. Here the author explains the German and Russian forces. It covers the organization, disposition, types of armor; comparing the strengths and weaknesses between the two combatants. He also goes over the build up to the war, because at this time Germany and Russia have signed a non- aggression pact with one another. You can feel how Russia knows it is only a matter of time before they are invaded by Germany, and they are trying to buy time to build up their military to defend themselves. Part 2: The Border Battle. This section is when everything finally breaks loose and the invasion starts. The author goes into the timeline of the battle explaining what each unit is doing. What I liked about this book is that it doesn't just give you a bunch of boring facts. It has first hand accounts from people that were there on both sides, using their memoirs and other accountings about them. You almost feel like you can see what is going on as the battle unfolds. Some examples are when a Russian officer looks up and wonders where their air force is and then later he describes all of the planes that they see at one airfield, lined up and destroyed. It also describes the surroundings and what is happening in the area, such as shell shocked soldiers trying to get out because of the carnage, going so far as to discard their uniforms. Part 3: Appendices. There are 13 tables showing just about everything you would ever be curious about concerning this battle; Order of battle, Organization of units, Types of vehicles, Comparative strengths and unit symbols. There are also 11 maps showing unit positions on the different days of battle, notes, and a very thorough bibliography. I highly recommend this book. For a book with so many facts and unit numbers, it really kept my interest. I just kept reading to see what happened next. The author did very well telling the story in the words of the men that were there. For modelers this book would be good if you wanted to know which units were where, and for making sure you have the right unit markings. For gamers, this book would also be good because of the timeline and the tables comparing the different units. The maps would also help for recreating the battle and terrain. Thanks to Zenith Press and IPMS USA for the chance to learn about this overshadowed battle of the German invasion of Russia. This book is a great addition to my World War 2 reference section of my library.