Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944 Hardcover – January 7, 1997

excellent read, well done

I haven't read any of Paul Carell's books in several years, and had more or less written him off as being too German-biased. However, as explained below, I really enjoyed this book and have revised my opinion of Carrell to some extent.First, the book's primary strength is the many interesting anecdotes about combat on the Russian Front; mainly from the German side of course but also some from the Russians.Second, the book as decent maps which generally include the right level of detail to follow the action.Third, while Carrell is most definitely very German-biased, he is less so than many other German-focused authors. For instance, Carrell generally names the Soviet units/commanders opposing the Germans (not just the "Reds" or "Russians" like other authors) and gives occasionally gives credit where credit is due to the Red Army rather than saying that all of their success was due to overwhelming numerical superiority, etc.I would actually give this book four and a half stars for the following two drawbacks:a) Carrell doesn't include any footnotes. I understand his reasons for not doing so, and his accounts appear to be based on conversations/interviews with, and diaries of, German veterans, but a lack of footnotes is one of my pet peeves about historical works (please disregard this criticism if you don't care about footnotes...); andb) Carrell's praise of certain generals, particularly Manstein and Schorner, is more than should be expected from an objective historian.

This book is for anyone wanting a tactical and strategic account of the said war with a flair a readability. Scorched Earth does more for the German side then the Soviet side, as the original audience was the German public. The writer was in the SS as a simple google search will show, but it isn't at all slanted toward the NSDAP view of the Russians. Carrel praises the Russian soldier for his inhuman effort. There is even a part where Carrel pays a tribute to the Soviet Commissar's efforts. It isn't really know in the west that commissars were responsible for feeding and clothing troops and suffered equal or more casualities then their respective troops. The readability is also excellent because Carrel uses soldier's accounts to describe an engagement. It's the real thing, not a blan description from traditional history books. I highly recommend it.

Great book, outstanding writer, he takes you from the trenches to the general's desk with ease. I enjoyed it a lot...!!!

THIS IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THE EASTERN FRONT, BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO IT? I OWNED THIS BOOK [ HARD COVER ] BACK IN THE LATE 70'S. ALMOST EVERY PICTURE IN IT WAS IN COLOR & THE BOOK ITSELF WAS MUCH LARGER IN SIZE. I PROBABLY SOLD THIS VERSION ALONG WITH OTHERS TO GET $$$ FOR UNIVERSITY.NOW I HAVE THIS MINIATURE VERSION THAT COULD ALMOST FIT IN A LEVI'S BACK-POCKET. MAN THINGS CHANGE! SMALLER [ BUT NOT IN CONTENT ], BLACK & WHITE PHOTO'S ONLY, & AT A MUCH STEEPER PRICE. TALK ABOUT CUTTING ALL CORNERS, LITERALLY & COMING OUT WITH THIS MUCH INFERIOR VERSION.* AND AS ADVERTISED, IT IS NOT 600 PAGES.

This book is in excellent condition. It was everything that they said it would be when posting it on the Internet. I will trust this source in the future.

Paul Carells' Hitler Moves East and Scorched Earth are the two best accounts of the Russo-German War written. No military history library should be without them. They are concise and well written. From the headquarters of Hitler and Stalin to to Landser in the trenches a vivid account of this terrible struggle is followed in well balanced detail.

Along with its sister book Hitler moves east they are still the best most enjoyable and informative books on the Eastern front hands down and it's not even close