Fully illustrated with maps, photographs and contemporary illustrations, this authoritative and informative book describes the different phases of the German campaign in Russia from the lightning Blitzkrieg to headlong retreat. The influence of terrain, climatic and weather conditions effected operations, and tested the strengths and weaknesses of the officers and men who fought on the Russian front. These personal narratives describe the Russian soldier, his equipment and his combat methods under a variety of circumstances and conditions as seen by the German fighting patrols, and include in-depth reports on tank battles, partisan warfare, combat in the Taiga and fighting across the frozen tundra. The desperate conditions of fighting men encircled by the enemy, suffering a lack of equipment and ammunition, and loss of officers, show the mettle of the German soldier at the smallest unit level. All the actions within this book are based on German source material and are fascinating reading to anyone interested in combat on the Eastern Front.