This book is another offering of the Casemate illustrated Series and in this case deals with the destruction of the German Army Group South by the Soviet forces. The book offers five color maps, one for each section/area where the two armies fought. In addition, you will find 20 commanders’ profiles. Both sides are given 10 commanders each involved in the conflict. The book describes 5 main battles and each has the order of battle for both the Soviets and the Germans. Finally, there are 13 profiles for equipment used during the battle by both the Germans and Soviets.

As in every book of this particular series you will find a timeline of events at the beginning of the book, starting with the retreat of the Army Group South to the Dnieper River during August, 1943, and ending with the participation of the Soviet Army in the Silesian and Prague

Operation in February, 1945. The book is divided into 9 sections, the aforementioned Timeline of Events, Epilogue, Further Readings and an Index. The introduction or "Prelude' to destruction is given in a concise and clear form. The Germans by this time (08/1943) were overextended, had experienced too many casualties, and the Sixth Army had surrendered at Stalingrad.

The following chapter describes the Soviet Forces, and gives a small profile of each of the Soviet commanders involved in the conflict between 1941 and 1945. This is followed by a chapter dealing with the German Forces and the commanders involved in the conflict during the same span of time. The first battle described in the book is the Battle for the Dnieper, which ran from August through December, 1943. The second offensive is from January through May 1944 and includes the Dnieper-Carpathians offensive. The Battle for Crimea is considered next and this battle extends from April through May, 1944.

The destruction of Army Group South continues with the offensive of Lvov-Sandomierz, which extends from July through August, 1944. This battle is followed by the Vistula-Oder offensive from January through February, 1945. The final defeat of Army Group South took place in March, 1945. The Epilogue talks about the staggering losses on both sides. It includes men and equipment as well as how the Soviets learned from their mistakes and applied these lessons to be able to defeat the Germans. It also touches on how the Germans fought against the Soviets’ massive numbers in equipment and personnel and how they tried, as may, could not maintain the structure against such an overwhelming enemy.

I found the book interesting and informative. I learned much more than I knew about these events.

I would like to thank Casemate Publishers for allowing me to review this book.