Red Army Into the Reich

By Simon Forty, Patrick Hook, Nik Cornish, and Reviewed by Devin L. Davis

Article published on: September 22, 2024 in the Fall 2024 edition of Army History

Read Time: < 7 mins

Casemate, 2021

Pp. 256. $37.95

World War II saw mass destruction and the introduction of mass logistics and warfare on a scale that had not been seen yet in military history. Although historians have researched and discussed the demarcation of the Axis and Allied powers many times, the historical prevalence of the so-called Western Allies and Eastern Allies is often overlooked. In this case, the Western Allies refer to the Soviet Union and the Red Army specifically. The numerous campaigns and battles fought from the Red Army’s perspective are often overlooked and not discussed compared to the D-Day landings at Normandy or the Eastern Allies’ push across the Rhine. Simon Forty, Patrick Hook, and Nik Cornish set out to research, examine, and present the everyday armchair historian with an accurate, precise, and well-illustrated look into the operations on the Eastern Front.

Their collective work, titled Red Army into the Reich, was published in 2021 by Casemate. It is an excellently researched and illustrated timeline of the Soviet Union’s advance toward Berlin in 1944 and 1945 and the birth of early Cold War tensions. Although this work does not encompass all campaigns and countries of German occupation, it provides a masterful overview of each in references and text, as well as vivid color illustrations and maps.

The introductory narrative sets the stage for not only Adolf Hitler’s initial failures during the initial invasion of the Soviet Union but also discusses the efforts made by the Soviet Union to change the tides of war on the Eastern Front. The German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe’s use of the Blitzkrieg, or Lightning War, against Poland was not unknown to the Soviet Union. Although Hitler had planned for a march toward Moscow, the Red Army eventually would surround the eastern side of Berlin utilizing their version of the Lightning War.

The introduction also contains an in-depth and well-constructed overview of many facets of the Allied war effort that not only affected the Western advance into Germany but also the Eastern advance by the Red Army; for instance: the importance of partisan warfare and the introduction of Lend-Lease in June 1941. The final pages of the introduction also play a vital role in the readability of the narrative by providing numerous pages on key military and political figures. An overview of the German and Soviet leaders helps the reader understand the greater context of each operation that follows in the subsequent chapters. The book also contains an overview of weaponry, a key element not only in setting the narrative but also in emphasizing the sheer scale and size of each campaign that was orchestrated to bring down the Third Reich.

After the introductory narrative flows a sequence of campaigns that each could encompass an entire standalone published work. The Red Army advanced through many countries on their drive toward Berlin—for example, Poland, Hungary, the Balkans, and eventually Austria. Although each of these countries have a vast history in World War II, the authors meticulously included the historical foundation needed to under-stand each nation’s impact on the Red Army. The authors did a superb job at keeping the narrative clear and concise to provide the greatest overview of each campaign or country and its impact on the conclusion of World War II.

The principal value in this work is in the illustrations that are provided throughout, both within the narrative as well as outside of the narrative. Campaign maps, such as the map of coastal batteries along Norway as part of the Atlantic Wall, are paramount to understanding the Red Army’s quest toward gaining the northern advantage. Campaign and fortification maps are included throughout, as well as an abundance of images of key military leaders, military weaponry, and location images during the war and postwar. These images do a great job of projecting not only the brutality of war on the Eastern Front but also the scale at which the war was fought.

Overall, Red Army into the Reich is a well-written, well-illustrated, and pleasing read that I could recommend to almost anyone. The illustrations help the ease of reading, and the clear timelines help the reader follow the war easily, without any confusion of dates or Army group positions. This book could be viewed as inadequate or controversial by some because of its lack of historical references, and its abundance of illustrations. However, both are an added benefit and help paint a more vivid picture of the war for the reader.

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