Interesting but immanently biased

books:

	• Scorched Earth: The Russian-German War 1943-1944 Paul Carell Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1994 - 600 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Loved it

I first read this book in high school. They had it in the school library, and I didnt have any money to buy anything much less a book, so I think I took the book out for most of the 3 years I was in that school! (Now I own it). The book was that good. Here's a book that combines military history (movements of units) with the "human element" of war, better than any book I ever read. It makes for great reading. Not as detailed as Glantz's books, but fine reading nonetheless. Wish Carrell had written a book on the period 1944-1945.
Just a note. The book is indeed "pro-German". If you're still harboring a grudge, or have strong feelings against Germans to the point where you don't want to read such stuff, don't read the book.
I love Scorched Earth. Hey, I have to read it again, I'm due!

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Interesting but immanently biased

Although Paul Carell's (or Paul Karl Schmidt, Gunther Grass mentioned about him in his book "my century" as a dilusional war reporter cum writer at the expense of WW II)book has immense readability , readers should be careful to rely on the information and assumption he put in the book. It is not because he was working in the propaganda organ during the war. It is because he was one of those myth makers in post-war Germany that propagated and largely succeeded the rehabilitation of both Heer and Waffen SS intentionally or inadvertently.
I don't want to deny that Schmidt had a griping narrative skill that was obvioiusly horned during the war,yet his ultimate thesis through all his books has glaring fault; He is prone to blame the ultimate defeat of Wehrmacht to Adolf Hitler. According to him, victory would have been viable and even possible only if Hitler had followed Manstein & co, even after the debacle of Stalingrad. I gave it 3 star since I throughly enjoyed it but in no way I can give it more than 3 star as a military history book.

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Scorched Earth

I thought I was buying a regular book of Scorched Earth, but this book was a premium edition with superiour materials, binding, and printing, very pleased.

Not too biased

I read the book with the other's reviews in mind that this book is fairly biased in favor of German. However, when I read, I didn't feel the bias, if it exists, is stronger than that of a typical book describing eastern front from German's perspective. Very nice book with a lot details of compaigns neglected by the mainstream military history books.

WWII Eastern Front

"Scorched Earth" by Paul Carell (pen name for Paul Karl Schmidt, 1911-1997) is a retelling of climactic battles on the WWII Eastern Front unabashedly from the German perspective. The tide was turning or had turned against the Wehrmacht by then, with the Allies gaining in power by the day while German reserves in manpower and matériel started to shrink at an accelerated pace. Unlike the general run of war books, Carell informs that there is more than just "Germans," he introduces the reader to from where in Germany units were raised, e.g., the Hessian 20th Panzer Division, the Saxon 223rd Infantry, the Silesian 11th Panzer, the Rhineland 72nd Infantry, the Bavarian 1st Mountain Division, etc. Carell's sources are predominantly German from archival documents to personal interviews, which, considering the final result in May 1945, at times presents a less than clear assessment of an engagement. Carell states in the 1994 edition preface that even with the opening of archives after the collapse of Soviet Communism, his account in the first publication in 1971 "remains valid." In all, if the German rather than the Soviet (or by extension the Allied) perspective is sought, "Scorched Earth" fills the bill.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The classic! This new edition of Paul Carrell's eastern front study picks up where Hitler Moves East left off. Beginning with the battle of Kursk in July 1943, Carell traverses the vast expanse of the Russian War, from the siege of Leningrad and the fierce battles of the norther front, to the fourth battle of Kharkov, and the evacuation of the Crimea, a withdrawal forbidden by Hitler. The book ends in June of 1944 when the Soviet Armies reach the East Prussian frontier.Hundreds of photographs, situation and campaign maps, complete index, and comprehensive bibliography, add to this impressive account. This edition includes a new preface by the author.

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