One of the least explicable incidents of the Second World War was the
almost total surprise-strategic, operational, and tactical-that Germany
achieved over the Soviet Union at the start of the Barbarossa campaign.
Viewed in modern terms, in which the Soviet Union's intelligence
apparatus is sometimes viewed as all-seeing and all-knowing, the need to
know why this failure occurred becomes all the more interesting. Much of
the difficulty in accurately investigating the matter lies in the almost
visceral abhorrence the USSR had toward seriously analyzing many of the
events which occurred during the disastrous period between 22 June and 1
October 1941. Smith, an expert in intelligence matters, carefully
documents the amazing story behind the German success at surprising the
Soviets, and the latter's complete failure of their intelligence
apparatus. 31 photos. A Merriam Press World War 2 History.