Books: On Kursk/Prokhorovka/Whatever it's called these days.

Got a mate looking for decent modern work on the campaign/s in that area.
Must confess I'm rusty on it all so asking you chaps as I know there's a few obsessives about.
Pointed him at Glantz with a slight warning that he's sometimes not the most 'readable', and seem to recall Zaloga's been adding to the book heap quite recently but other than some old classics my mind's gone blank.

Anybody read anything good lately? Up-to-date with current historiography etc.?


Nearly bought this a couple of years back. Looked good but wasn't sure as I was in a shop and wary of the 'Mmmmm... Shiny' syndrome.
Demolishing the Myth

Cheers,
~A

 

Quite topical as part of my holiday reading has been Forczyk's 'Tank Warfare On the Eastern Front 1943-1945'. I haven't yet got to the Kursk part, but I did skip forward to read his chapter about the meaning and historiography of Kursk. He recommends ( as being most up-to-date ) George Nipe's 'Blood, Steel and Myth' and Zamulin's 'Demolishing The Myth'. I also enjoyed Robert M Citino's '1943 - The Wehrmacht Retreats' which had another stimulating overview, amusingly entitled 'the Incredible Shrinking Battle Of Kursk'.

 

I did get to the Kursk chapter of Forczyk, that is pretty long, and found it quite revealing, even though I'm usually not a huge fan of Forczyk, But that book is not Kursk specific and overall I liked his earlier 1941/42 book more. The 1999 Glantz/House book is still in my in pile, but it looks like for once he got a half decent map maker instead of attempting to render historical maps on an A5 page in black and white, and that, combined with his usual in depth research, should make it a great read (my issue with Glantz in not usually the text it's the maps), the edition I got was also very reasonably priced for a Glantz book.

 

Have read some 10 books about Kursk and must admit that Forczyk is good. That is my opinion.

 

Thanks, chaps.
Suggestions duly passed on.

 

I've just followed my own recommendations and in a post-Christmas what-the-heck-let's-treat-myself spirit, purchased both Zamulin's 'Demolishing The Myth' and Nipe's 'Blood, Steel And Myth'.

Obviously, I'm not that much of a speed-reader so can't offer a personal review. Zamulin's closely-packed book is available at reasonable cost but the Nipe book - well, I had to bite the bullet and pay more than my usual new-book budget. Glad I did, though - as an RZM publication it's a truly monumental and beautifully-produced work. Just browsing the illustrations, foreword and bibliography has made me want to press on immediately ; Nipe's easy style of writing has drawn me straight in.

I'd say that both books are essential additions to any Kursk shelf.

 

Via Gage from 2T,
Both Forczyk volumes in Kindle form currently a quid each on Amazon UK:
'41-42:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tank-Warfa...-1942-ebook/dp/B00OZ3HSNA/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
'43-45:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tank-Warfa...-1945-ebook/dp/B01I4UE4ZY/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8