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Recreates the harsh mountain warfare during the Wehrmacht's and Red Army's clash on the highest battlefield of World War Two.
List of contents
List of figures; List of maps; List of tables; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction: the path towards the top summits of World War II; 1. Russia's historical experience in mountain warfare; 2. Soviet preparations for war in the mountains; 3. First battle tests and the handicaps of selective learning; 4. Contest of follies: plan Edelweiss and the German offensive across the High Caucasus; 5. 'Not a step back!': the German mountain corps hits the wall; 6. The Soviet counteroffensive: a stalemate snatched from the jaws of victory; 7. Mosaics of mountain warfare: comparative military effectiveness in the High Caucasus; 8. Learning mountain warfare the hard way; 9. Lessons ignored: déjà vu at Tuapse (1942) and in the Carpathians (1944); 10. Disdain for military professionalism as a component of the universal Stalinist paradigm; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Alexander Statiev is Associate Professor of History at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. His extensive experience in mountain trekking, white water rafting and ski expeditions across five continents helped him assess the challenges to military actions in the mountains described in this book.
Summary
This is the story of the highest battlefield of World War Two, which brings to life the extremes of mountain warfare. The Caucasus Mountains became the battleground between elite German mountain divisions and the untrained soldiers of the Red Army, as they fought each other, the weather and the terrain.
Report
'Comprehensive, engaging and full of new material. Statiev's majestic new study is not just a scholarly work, it is an exciting read, which will endure as the definitive work on this neglected theatre of the German-Soviet war for a long time to come.' David Stahel, author of The Battle for Moscow
