Product Description

A significant postwar memoir written by one of Germany's best field commanders and a brilliant panzer tank general.

German general Erhard Raus was one of the most talented commanders to fight on the Eastern Front in Russia, where he was eventually appointed to army group command in early 1945. By the time the war ended, Raus had established a reputation as one of the German army's foremost tacticians of armored warfare, which made him a prized capture by U.S. Army intelligence. In American captivity, Raus wrote a detailed memoir of his service in Russia. His battlefield experience and keen tactical eye makes his memoir especially valuable.

The Raus memoir-now translated, compiled, and edited by prominent World War II historian Steven H. Newton-covers the Russian campaign from the first day of the war to his being relieved of his command at Hitler's order in the spring of 1945. It includes a detailed examination of Raus's 6th Panzer Division's drive to Leningrad, his experiences in the Soviet winter counteroffensive around Moscow, the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Stalingrad and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #312304 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-01
• Released on: 2005-02-01
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
"A vivid account of operations and an insightful study." -- Foreign Affairs

About the Author
Steven H. Newton is Professor of History at Delaware State University. His previous books on World War II include Kursk: The German View and Retreat from Leningrad.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful New Title on German Operations
The name Erhard Raus will not register to many students of WWII, but the general saw as much action on the Eastern Front as any officer I know of.

Raus entered Operation Barbarossa in command of a brigade in the 6th Panzer Division, and ended the war as the head of an Army Group. He learned the art of tank tactics under fire. After he was captured he penned an extensive memoir (while the war was still fresh in his mind). Although pieces were used by American intelligence, they were often heavily edited and incomplete. Here, for the first time in print, is Raus's complete memoir. In a word, it is extraordinary.

The memoir was located, pieced together, and translated and edited from the original German by Steven Newton (Professor of History, Delaware State University). Raus was as good a writer as he was a tank commander. Simply put, this is extraordinarily well written, although it assumes at least a working knowledge of the war in the East and the structure of the German military.

Raus discusses the offensive battle in Army Group North during the drive for Leningrad, the offensive against Moscow, his role in Manstein's abortive effort to relieve Stalingrad (oddly, Manstein is not found in the index though is mentioned often), and the final defensive battles back into Germany, where Raus was relieved of command by Hitler in March 1945. Hasso von Manteuffel (who also is absent from the index) assumed his command, ending Raus's 40 years of military service. Raus's writing is often personal, always perceptive, and offers a hands-on knowledge that was obviously fresh in his mind when he wrote.

Newton provides an enlightening Introduction to this memoir and a date-oriented resume of Raus's career, which appears as an appendix. Thirteen maps are included (they are good but not great).

Panzer Operations should be read and owned by every WWII tank and East Front student everywhere. Run, don't walk, to your local book store (or order on line) and pick up a copy. With his work getting this manuscript into book form, Dr. Newton has proven once again why he is widely considered one America's foremost military historians.

should be mandatory reading at all military institutions
Steven H. Newton has compiled one masterful book and rescued one of the most vital documents of wwii. Austrian born Erhard Rauss along with Erwin Rommell are the two top tacticians of all time. His daring approach for dealing with the massive soviet assaults on the eastern front by withdrawing his main battle line and supporting elements to alternate positions prior to the devastating artillery bombardments preceeding the main thrust has got to be one of the most innovative concepts in wwii warfare. Requiring pinpoint timing and nerves of steel this operation was both extremely difficult to assimilate and execute and sadly was not generally adopted by other commanders. Another highlight was 6 Panzer's actions during the attempt to relieve the German 6 Army trapped at Stalingrad. Rauss' bold, creative use of his lone division (23 Panzer was too weakened to be of any offensive use) has got to be considered the single most outstanding feat of wwii, (second only to the extrication of Army Group Caucasus from the jaws of encirclement and annihilation by Manstein, in my opinion the single most difficult operation of wwii) that a single German Panzer division wreaked such destruction and havoc against overwhelming russian numbers that it almost succeded singlehandedly in extricating 6 Army, confirms once more that it was numbers and NOT quality that brought about allied victory in wwii. This action caused the russians to open a new front that necessitated the withdrawal of 6 Panzer. His defensive exploits at Belgorod and Kharkov caused the russians (all the way up to Stalin) to rethink their whole offensive approach and must be labeled amongst the most skillfully executed operations of the war. He adds fresh and expert analysis of kursk and the final defensive battles in the east.

This book is a Master Class in tactics at all command levels and a treat to any future commander of military forces. The tactical and strategic concepts are as fresh and useful today as they were back then. Rauss is a master of economy of movement in battle and it shows in his writing too, which flows precisely, entertainingly and is easy to assimilate. I urge you the reader to get a copy now of this soon to be scarce classic work.

Very Good, But...
This is a very good book on operations on the Russian Front. Raus was clearly a very gifted commander, and his descriptions of his numerous successful operations (both offensive and defensive) are very interesting, as he discusses the risks associated with the various courses of action he could take, why he chose a particular course of action, and the results.

Raus was involved in a very wide variety of actions, from the attack toward Leningrad, forcing a passage on a troop-train through partisan-infested forests, attacks attempting to relieve Stalingrad, the Kursk offensive, and the defense of East Prussia. Once the Germans shifted to the defensive, Raus' "trademark" tactic was the flexible defense, in which he was (at least according to his testimony) very successful and which probably explains the interest of the US Army in his writings after the war.

This book is very good, but I'll mention a few reasons why I only gave it four stars, so you can judge for yourself:
--Raus rose from a relatively junior officer at the outbreak of war with Russia to an Army commander by the end of the war. While I was very interested in his descriptions of the small unit actions in the first part of the book, my interest waned as he became more senior, and I found his accounts of his actions as an army commander fairly dull.

--While Raus was clearly a very gifted commander, the book makes it sound like his unit was always succesful--all failures occurred under other commanders on other parts of the front (note that Raus never says this, it is just an impression that arises from reading his accounts).

--Maps are pretty sparse.

--I didn't find Raus' descriptions of his Russian opponents very objective--he basically describes them as very brave, tough, clever (in a sneaky sort of way), and prone to atrocities, with only their massive numbers saving them. Maybe this is the way it was, but I don't think Raus gave the Russkis enough credit.

TMR