Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of Soviet Russia in June 1941, was the largest military operation in history. Hitler's fatal gamble, Barbarossa was a cataclysmic mistake. By the time Hitler's armies reached the gates of Moscow six months later, any prospect of his realizing his vision of a Thousand Year Reich had vanished. Drawing on hitherto unseen archival material, including previously untranslated German sources, Johnathan Dimbleby puts the bloodbath that was Barbarossa in its proper place inhistory, from its origins in the First World War to its impact on post-war Europe. Dimbleby covers the military, political, and diplomatic story from all sides. Using diaries and letters, dispatches and orders, this book provides vivid accounts of the men and women who fought on the front lines. Written with authority and humanity, Operation Barbarossa captures the monumental scale of the cataclysm, transforming our understanding of the Second World War and of the twentieth century. -- Adapted from book jacket.