List of figures; List of maps; List of tables; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction: the path towards the top summits of World War II; 1. Russia's historical experience in mountain warfare; 2. Soviet preparations for war in the mountains; 3. First battle tests and the handicaps of selective learning; 4. Contest of follies: plan Edelweiss and the German offensive across the High Caucasus; 5. 'Not a step back!': the German mountain corps hits the wall; 6. The Soviet counteroffensive: a stalemate snatched from the jaws of victory; 7. Mosaics of mountain warfare: comparative military effectiveness in the High Caucasus; 8. Learning mountain warfare the hard way; 9. Lessons ignored: déjà vu at Tuapse (1942) and in the Carpathians (1944); 10. Disdain for military professionalism as a component of the universal Stalinist paradigm; Bibliography; Index.
Recreates the harsh mountain warfare during the Wehrmacht's and Red Army's clash on the highest battlefield of World War Two.
Alexander Statiev is Associate Professor of History at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. His extensive experience in mountain trekking, white water rafting and ski expeditions across five continents helped him assess the challenges to military actions in the mountains described in this book.
'Comprehensive, engaging and full of new material. Statiev's
majestic new study is not just a scholarly work, it is an exciting
read, which will endure as the definitive work on this neglected
theatre of the German-Soviet war for a long time to come.' David
Stahel, author of The Battle for Moscow
'This remarkable book provides a highly-detailed and balanced
account of the fighting between the Germans and the Russians in the
Caucasus mountains in late 1942. It takes advantage of unique
access to archival sources. Beyond this, many valuable insights are
provided about mountain warfare in general, and the about military
culture of the Stalin era.' Evan Mawdsley, author of Thunder in the
East: The Soviet-German War
'This fine book will be of interest for historians of the Soviet
and the German war effort, but also for students of Soviet leisure
and Soviet tourism.' Mark Edele, European History Quarterly
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