This series of publications aims to fill the gaps in our history, highlighting in particular the significant roles played by black leaders form all walks of life.

Drawing from post-war reports commissioned by U.S. Army intelligence, World War II historian Steven H. Newton has translated, compiled, and edited the battle accounts of one of Germany's finest panzer commanders and a skilled tactician of tank warfare. Throughout most of the war, Erhard Raus was a highly respected field commander in the German-Soviet war on the eastern front, and after the war he wrote an insightful analysis of German strategy in that campaign.The Raus memoir covers the Russian campaign from the first day of the war to his relief from command at Hitler's order in the spring of 1945. It includes a detailed examination of the 6th Panzer Division's drive to Leningrad, Raus's own experiences in the Soviet winter counteroffensive around Moscow, the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Stalingrad, and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war. His battlefield experience and keen tactical eye make his memoir especially valuable for scholars, and his narrative is as readable as Heinz Guderian's celebrated Panzer Leader.

Here, for the first time, is the account of the essential part played by Jewish personnel in Britain's Fire Service during World War II. Ever civic minded, British Jews from all social backgrounds were pre-war volunteers to be trained for dealing with the expected mass bombing of cities by the Germans. After war was declared, by 1940/41, many younger Jewish men and women volunteered or were called up to the armed services, while many who were too old or unfit for the military stayed on with the Fire Service. A considerable number of Jewish men and women played a major role in the civil defense of Britain. Some won bravery awards, including the only George Cross - the highest civilian award for courage - won by a London Fireman during the war. Many gave their lives; this is their story. Through the use of archival material, books, and personal 'Last Voice' interviews, the book has captured part of this extraordinary contribution of daring, effort, and suffering. Numerous, never-before-published photographs illustrate and illuminate the text. *** Librarians: ebook available [Subject: History, Military Studies, Jewish Studies, World War II]

Challenging previous accounts, Megargee shatters the myth that German generals would have prevailed in World War II if only Hitler had not meddled in their affairs. Instead, he observes that the military's strategic ideas were no better than Hitler's and often were worse. 20 photos.

Detailed reports by German commanders: “Powerful testimony to the Germans’ lack of preparation for the harsh climatic conditions of the Russian winter.” —Military Machines International When their troops invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the initial success convinced the German high command that the Red Army could be destroyed west of the Dnepr River and that there would be no need for conducting operations in cold, snow, and mud. They were wrong. In fact, the German war in Russia was so brutal in its extremes that all past experience paled beside it. Everything in Russia—the land, the climate, the distances, and above all the people—were harder, harsher, more unforgiving, and deadlier than anything the German soldier had ever faced before. One panzer-grenadier who fought in the West and in Russia summed it up: In the West war was the same honorable old game; nobody went out of his way to be vicious, and fighting stopped often by five in the afternoon. But in the East, the Russians were trying to kill you—all the time. The four detailed reports of campaigning in Russia included in this invaluable book (Russian Combat Methods in WWII, Effects of Climate on Combat in European Russia, Combat in Russian Forests and Swamps and Warfare in the Far North) were written in the late 1940s and early 1950s as part of the US Army program to record the German strategies and tactics of World War II directly from the commanders. The authors were all veterans of the fighting they described, and frankly admitted that the soldiers sent to Russia were neither trained nor equipped to withstand the full fury of the elements. Fighting in Hell shows what happened on the ground, through firsthand accounts of the commanders who were there.