Meat Grinder

The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43

De: Prit Buttar

Narrado por: Nathan Osgood

Bloomsbury presents Meat Grinder by Prit Buttar, read by Nathan Osgood.

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 has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.

In this book, Prit Buttar, a leading expert on the Eastern Front, reveals the depth and depravity of the bitter fighting. He details how the region held the promise of a renewed drive on Moscow for the German Army – a chance to turn the tide of war. Using German and Russian first-hand accounts, Buttar examines the major offensives launched by the Red Army against the salient, all of which were defeated with 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 study of these horrific battles but also examines how the Red Army did learn from its colossal failures and how its timely analysis of these failures helped pave the way for the eventual Soviet victory against Army Group Centre in the summer of 1944, leaving the road to Berlin clear.©2023 Prit Buttar (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing

Title true to its word!

Very in depth and highlights the grind from both perspectives. Well researched! It felt
To grind at times but imagine being there and it highlights its futileness of the battle. I can say by the end of listening to it I was able to imagine the writers words in a geographical perspective.

true grit

you are there! from detailed action to explanation of strategy, this book transports you to WW2

well done

a must for any WW2 history buff well read nice balance telling both sides

Detailed recounting of German-Russian battles.

Narration is clear but formal and stilted.

Rendering may be too detailed and scholarly for those wanting a more basic overview.

Recommended for serious students of WW2.

Excellent

Pritt Buttar does a fantastic job with WWII Eastern Front narratives. He does great work balancing higher strategy with personal experiences to bring this history to life. I’ve listened to probably half a dozen of his Eastern Front books and they are all very good. The Russo-German war largely decided the Second World War because of the scale of the fighting and the losses incurred. Pritt Buttar makes a critical contribution for western readers on this key historical subject.

A totally absurd effort in racist German Bashing with some grudging respect for the German soldier and German Army.

If you can get past the ridiculous and relentless racist ranting against the Germans, there is a story here about the incredible battles fought in the Rzhev salient. And unfortunately for the incredibly biased author, the Germans were the winners by a huge margin inflicting countless hundreds of thousands of losses on the Soviets with the Red Army making virtually no gains. We are talking about 600,000 or 800,000 Soviet dead with losses 1/5 or 1/4 of that for the Germans.

But to get to that part of the story, the listener is forced to endure nonstop for literally hours, ranting about the “Hitlerite hordes,” “fascist invaders,” “nazi plunderers,” etc, etc, etc. One is left to believe that Stalin, the Soviet Union or the Red Army are just a bunch of innocent playground children pounced on by the nazi monster. It’s pathetic is what it is. It’s something right out of the communist propaganda playbook. SPARE us pppppplease!!!

Stalin was a millionaire mass murderer before the Germans ever crossed the dividing line and had brutally attacked and subdued small countries like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland. And even before then, Stalin had mass murdered 3 to 4 million of his own people including most of the country’s general staff officers. Anyone that feels pity for these diabolical murderers is a total fool. Because in winning, the Soviet people were stuck with the same homicidal dictator and regime for another 8 long years. And a somewhat less ruthless regime for a lot longer than that.

excellent

excellently narrated history of an oft forgotten critical battle that had cost both sides dearly.

Zzzzzzzzz

OMG! This narrator could put a soldier on Pervitin to sleep. I have read and listened to many of Mr. Buttar’s books and am a huge fan, but I couldn’t keep listening to this narrator! He pauses at weird times and doesn’t seem to know the subject at all. What a waste! With another narrator this could be an excellent addition to Audible’s Prit Buttar library, but not with Mr. Is good at the mike.

Another quality study by Prit Buttar

Yes , the narrator sounds better suited for reading Huck Fin and he had at least two different pronunciations of Wehrmacht . Oh well, not that bad .


If you are a fan of Buttar’s other work this has the usual quality : interesting overall analysis on front and back end , a sea of details and stories for most of the book .

Truly outstanding book

An excellent deep dive into a criminally forgotten battle. Excellent storytelling as usual for Mr. Buttar’s books.