Buttar, Prit Meat Grinder. The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942-43

The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign "The Meat Grinder". Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It was simply a vast tract of forests and swamps in the heart of Mother Russia that has been largely ignored by Western historians, until now.
Prit Buttar, a world expert on the Eastern Front during World War II, reveals the depth and depravity of the bitter fighting for the Rzhev Salient in this astonishing new history. He details how the long-ignored region held the promise of a renewed drive on the Soviet capital for the German Army - a chance to turn the tide of war. Using both German and Russian first-hand accounts, Buttar examines the four major offensives launched by the Red Army against the salient, all of which were defeated with heavy losses, exceeding two million killed, wounded or missing, until eventually, the Germans were forced to evacuate the salient in March 1943.
Drawing on the latest research, the book provides a new study of these horrific battles but also examines how the Red Army did ultimately learn from its colossal failures and how its analysis of these failures at the time helped pave the way for the eventual Soviet victory against Army Group Centre in the summer of 1944, leaving the road to Berlin clear.

Prit Buttar, an expert on the fighting on the Eastern Front during the Second World War, reveals the depth and profundity of the fierce battles for the Rzhev Front in this astonishing history. He describes in detail how the long-ignored region promised the German Wehrmacht a renewed advance on the Soviet capital - a chance to turn the tide of the war. Using first-hand German and Russian reports, Buttar examines the four major Red Army offensives against the front line, all of which were repulsed with heavy losses of more than two million killed, wounded or missing, until the Germans were finally forced to evacuate the front line in March 1943.
Drawing on the latest research, the book provides a new study of these terrible battles, but also examines how the Red Army ultimately learnt from its colossal mistakes and how its analysis of them at the time helped to pave the way for the eventual Soviet victory against Army Group Centre in the summer of 1944, clearing the way to Berlin.