An engrossing history of the desperate battles for the Rzhev Salient,
a forgotten story brought to life by the harrowing memoirs of German and
Russian soldiers.
The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient
during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast
losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though
millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not
have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It was simply a vast
tract of forests and swamps in the heart of Mother Russia that has been
largely ignored by Western historians...until now.
Prit Buttar, a world expert on the Eastern Front during World War II,
reveals the depth and depravity of the bitter fighting for the Rzhev
Salient in this astonishing new history. He details how the long-ignored
region held the promise of a renewed drive on the Soviet capital for the
German Army - a chance to turn the tide of war. Using both German and
Russian first-hand accounts, Buttar examines the four major offensives
launched by the Red Army against the salient, all of which were defeated
with heavy losses, exceeding two million killed, wounded or missing,
until eventually, the Germans were forced to evacuate the salient in
March 1943.
Drawing on the latest research, Meat Grinder provides a new study of
these horrific battles but also examines how the Red Army did ultimately
learn from its colossal failures and how its analysis of these failures
at the time helped pave the way for the eventual Soviet victory against
Army Group Centre in the summer of 1944, leaving the road to Berlin
clear.
