Overview

Today the Russian state declares that there are three sacred battlefields in its Motherland where ‘victory’ changed the course of the nation’s history: The first is at Kulikovo. At this location Dmitry Donskoy’s troops defeated the Mongols in 1380. The second is at Borodino, where in 1812 Russian troops headed by Mikhail Kutuzov slowed Napoleon’s Grande Armée before Moscow. The third is at Prokhorovka. it was here on 12 July 1943 that the most critical tank battle of World War II took place. The battle saw the annihilation of Hitler’s elite Panzer force in the largest armoured clash in history, a defeat that left Hitler with no alternative but to halt Germany’s offensive against the Kursk salient (Operation Citadel). This victory at Prokhorovka allowed the Soviet troops to turn the tide of the war and ultimately march on Berlin. Thanks to numerous archival discoveries, this book will be the first to conclusively prove that this narrative is nothing but a myth.

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9781472859082

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Reviews

Ben Wheatley joins a very select crew of superb historians who have turned the received wisdom on its head. He has transformed what we thought we knew about history's greatest tank battle. This is a fearless commitment to scholarship, to analysing the evidence wherever it may lead. -- Dan Snow The Battle of Prokhorovka has attained an almost holy status in Russian narratives of the war, celebrated not only as a victory but as a monumental and decisive engagement. In this book and the underlying research Ben Wheatley provides wholly persuasive empirical evidence that the familiar story of the battle is wrong. His findings speak for themselves and his clear, calm prose and evident respect for the Red Army serve only to make them more compelling. -- Oliver Moody, Berlin Correspondent for 'The Times'

Ben Wheatley joins a very select crew of superb historians who have turned the received wisdom on its head. He has transformed what we thought we knew about history's greatest tank battle. This is a fearless commitment to scholarship, to analysing the evidence wherever it may lead. * Dan Snow * The Battle of Prokhorovka has attained an almost holy status in Russian narratives of the war, celebrated not only as a victory but as a monumental and decisive engagement. In this book and the underlying research Ben Wheatley provides wholly persuasive empirical evidence that the familiar story of the battle is wrong. His findings speak for themselves and his clear, calm prose and evident respect for the Red Army serve only to make them more compelling. * Oliver Moody, Berlin Correspondent for 'The Times' * Wheatley reveals the truth about the Battle of Prokhorovka in July 1943, the greatest armoured clash in history : it was indeed an operational victory for the Soviets, but it came at a huge cost and - contrary to popular belief - utterly failed to destroy Hitler's elite panzer force. * Saul David, historian, novelist and broadcaster * A remarkable new history of the largest tank battle of the Second World War and key moment in the 1943 Kursk campaign. This is fundamental reading for anyone wanting to understand operations on the Eastern Front, it will become a template for undertaking battlefield history. * Dr Marcus Faulkner, Department of War Studies, King's College London *

Author Information

Ben Wheatley is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of History, University of East Anglia and a former Teaching Fellow at the Defence Studies Department, King’s College London.

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