The Reckoning

The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944

By: Prit Buttar

Narrated by: Richard Trinder

Bloomsbury presents The Reckoning by Prit Buttar, read by Richard Trinder.

'The Reckoning is vivid history, the tragic Eastern Front brought to life through the widest range of Russian and German sources I've ever read. Bravo.' – Peter Caddick-Adams, author and broadcaster

From critically acclaimed Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar, The Reckoning is a masterful re-evaluation of the fateful year of 1944, and how the Red Army irrevocably turned the tide of war until the final defeat within the heart of Germany itself was guaranteed.

The fighting throughout the Ukraine and Romania was brutal, with the German defence dogged and desperate. But for too long the Wehrmacht had relied on the superior combat prowess of its fighting men. What had not been taken into account, however, was that the Red Army would not only rely on its sheer size, but would fine-tune its fighting performance from its senior commanders right down to the individual soldier battling both fear and the elements to take each line, each trench, each inch of land.

Ultimately it is a story not of how the Germans lost, as is all too often told, but of how the Russians increasingly learned how to win.

©2020 Prit Buttar (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Can’t get enough of this narrative!

So informative, had it been written before 2022, surely would’ve been banned in the West.

Exceptional

As always, Buttar is extremely informative and descriptive. Leaving no details to obscurity, he brilliantly outlines what is possibly the most important defeat for the Germans in ww2. Bravo.

Engaging narrative, solid history.

A good history of the late Eastern Front, and some of the fictions that built up around the 'mythic' strength of Germany during the Second World War. The book includes plenty of primary resources, but does well at not taking them at face value. The author takes the time to apply the rigors of good historicity to the sources to divide what can be verified as true, and what was a more convenient narrative for the author of the primary resource. Soviet generals certainly had reason to mask failures in their dangerous, hyper-competitive system, and German generals were trying to shift blame for their actions and defeats during the war. It is in some ways a controversial piece for those who are married to older histories of how the Eastern Front was fought, but the book makes a thesis and defends it well. Overall, a good general history of the defeat of Army Group South.

Prit Buttar at his best

Prit Buttar always delivers. In each and every exacting work on the eastern front, be it WWI or WW2, he gives the reader the same satisfactory result every time. This is the very detailed account of the crushing defeat of Army Group South at the hands of the Red army in 1944. The details never cease to amaze and the casualties on both sides are shocking. This was the bloodiest fighting imaginable. A must read for any military history lover. Excellent narration to complete.

A Great Look for Road to the End of The War

The Eastern Front does catch much of my attention when studying warfare during the course of our history, it´s dinamic, mostly interest me and this material was of utmost importance to the build up my understanding of World War 2 and it´s contribution to military thinking.

Lots of numbers. Lacking “lived experience.”

Perhaps technically correct, therefore suitable for historians, but otherwise lacking dramatic description.

I like war history giving one a feel for the lived, subjective experience.

It’s decent

It’s not bad, it’s Prit Buttar after all but the guy reading it makes it almost impossible,idk why people think they need to do a different voice when saying something that a person in the story is speaking,like when he does a German or Russian voice,it’s atrocious,ppl like Ralph Cosham or Simon Vance almost never attempt it because they probably know it’s not necessary,don’t waste your credit on this

Pro-Soviet Revisionism

In the first chapter the author states his intention to "correct" established historical narratives about the Eastern Front. From then on he gleefully describes the Red Army heroically slaughtering their way across Eastern Europe, while wholesale ignoring their crimes against humanity, and portraying Nazis as mustache twirling cartoons.

The author's emotional involvement in the material, lack of objectivity, and opposition to established history slather the pages with the black (or red) mark of postmodern revisionism.

I wouldn't recommend this book to people interested in objective history but if you want to read about the glorious Red Army liberating Europe you may enjoy it.

No maps!

I'd heard that the maps in the book are a bit of a disappointment because they are in very small scale, but I would expect a .pdf download or something, so I could SEE them and decide for myself.