Operation Typhoon Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941

In October 1941 Hitler launched Operation Typhoon the German drive to capture Moscow and knock the Soviet Union out of the war. As the last chance to escape the dire implications of a winter campaign, Hitler directed seventy-five German divisions, almost two million men and three of Germany's four panzer groups into the offensive, resulting in huge victories at Viaz'ma and Briansk - among the biggest battles of the Second World War. David Stahel's groundbreaking new account of Operation Typhoon captures the perspectives of both the German high command and individual soldiers, revealing that despite success on the battlefield the wider German war effort was in far greater trouble than is often acknowledged. Germany's hopes of final victory depended on the success of the October offensive but the autumn conditions and the stubborn resistance of the Red Army ensured that the capture of Moscow was anything but certain.

Introduction; 1. Contextualizing Barbarossa; 2. Operation Typhoon; 3. Viaz'ma and Briansk; 4. Carnage on the road to Moscow; 5. Bock's final triumph; 6. Exploiting the breach; 7. Weathering the storm; 8. Running on empty; 9. The eye of the storm; Conclusion; Bibliography.

David Stahel is an independent researcher based in Berlin. His previous publications include Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East (2009), Kiev 1941 (2011) and Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941 (2012).