Osprey- Soviets Tanks at Kursk 1943

Book Specifics

Author: William E. Hiestand

Illustrators: Henry Morshead & Edouard A. Groult

Price: $20.00

ISBN: 978-1-4728-6144-3

Softcover, 48 pages with 40 photos and 12 color profiles of various tanks at Kursk

What's Inside

As is typical of the New Vanguard series from Osprey, there is a wellspring of information in a neat small package. The text is filled with pertinent information on one of the most outstanding tank battles in WWII, from the Soviet armor perspective. Interspersed throughout are a half dozen charts containing lists of Soviet tank and mechanized corps and tank and self-propelled gun strengths at Kursk, among other things. The chapter are as follows:

• Introduction
• Organization and Doctrine
• Technical Factors
• The Campaign (broken up into three operations: Zitadelle, Kutuzov, and Rumyantsev
• Aftermath
• Battle Analysis
• Further Reading
• Index

The Organization and Doctrine chapter breaks down into doctrine and force structure, training and tactics, and the Soviet tank force at Kursk. Photos are one to two to a page and vary in quality and size-- some being small and darker and difficult to pick out much detail, and others are larger and crisper and more well lit. 

The Technical Factors section is broken down into vehicle types- Soviet medium, light, and heavy tanks; Lend-Lease tanks; and self-propelled guns. Many of the prominent examples of these tanks are featured as color profiles in the book- with captions adding details to the profiles. One two-page color spread (essentially the front cover image) illustrates the 5th Guards Tank Army attacks at Prokhorovka on July 12, 1943.

The Campaign section gives a thorough break down of the operations and performances from both sides. The book concludes making the point that the Germans, while better trained and with better tactics and communications between tanks, were unable to match the replacement abilities of the Soviet side. The Soviets definitely suffered higher losses at the hands of the better guns of the Panzers early in the battle, but these were easily replaced by factories spitting out vast numbers of tanks and the innumerable amounts of men coming from the Motherland. In the end, Germany did not have the ability to fight the war of attrition on equal terms. 

Conclusion

This is a concise book on one of the more interesting tank battles in the war- and the coverage of the unique Soviet designs mixed with Lend-Lease Lees, Matildas, Stuarts, Churchills, and Valentines is quite in-depth. I was intriqued to learn about the number of Soviet AFVs that were build atop Panzer III chassis as well. With the book due out in mid-December, this is an excellent book to add to your holiday wish list. 

Highly Recommended for anyone interested in Soviet tanks present in one of the most vital tank operations of the Eastern Front.

Thanks goes out to Osprey Publishing for this review sample.

Reviewed by Michael Reeves, AMPS Albany

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