MARK HEALY

In July 1943, Hitler launched Operation Zitadelle, the last German offensive on the Eastern Front. It was an attempt to shorten the German lines by eliminating the Kursk salient and was designed to result in the encirclement of the Red Army. In reality, the German tanks came up against impenetrable Russian defences: minefields, artillery and anti-tank emplacements, spread through lines 250km deep and manned by Russian troops whose actions often verged on the suicidal. The greatest tank battle in history, Operation Zitadelle assured the Nazis defeat and was the swan song of the German tank arm.Involving over 9,000 tanks, 5,000 aircraft, 35,000 guns and mortars, 2.7 million troops and 230,000 casualties, the Battle of Kursks scale and barbarity eclipsed all other clashes in Europe. In this book, historian Mark Healy gives a clear, concise account of those dramatic days in 1943.

Few battles attract interest so much as the Battle of Kursk. Operation Zitadelle, the code name given by Hitler to the Wehrmachts last offensive on the Eastern Front in July 1943, has acquired an almost mythic status as one of the greatest clashes of armour in the history of warfare. Long been depicted as the the swan song of the German tank arm by virtue of the huge tank losses experienced by the Germans; the reality, in light of the emergence of new information proved it to be anything but, with historians previously accepting without question exaggerated Soviet accounts of the battle. For all the resources devoted to this operation by the Germans, Zitadelle was an abysmal failure; and whilst they were not outfought by the Red Army at Kursk, they were out-thought by commanders of outstanding quality. Zitadelle describes the German and Soviet tactics and explores the realities of the battles on sodden ground that culminated in the defeat of the panzers and the Soviet advance on the Reich.

Builders of the Pyramids and most ancient of all the powers of the biblical world, the Egyptians remain one of history's most fascinating and enigmatic peoples. During the New Kingdom era, Egypt reached the peak of its power, wealth, and territory. Through the intensive military campaigns of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1490-1436BC), Palestine, Syria, and the northern Euphrates area in Mesopotamia were all brought within the New Kingdom. Mark Healy outlines the history, organisation and dress of the New Kingdom Egyptians in this volume packed with accompanying illustrations and photographs, including 12 full page colour plates by the ever popular Angus McBride.

En el verano de 1943, el Ejército alemán preparada una ofensiva a gran escala. Su ataque tenía como objetivcercar y atrapar de Kursk. Así, el III Reich tendría el camino expedito para una campaña decisiva que dejara la URSS fuera de la guerra. Pero los sovieticos habian convertido el saliente en una casi inexpugnable masa de posiciones defensivas. En el choque que siguio, los sovieticos desangraron a las unidades acorazadas alemanas y, despues, tomaron la iniciativa. Su contraofensiva fue el principio de un avance general que acabaria en las ruinas de Berlin.