Author Prit Buttar published the book “Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943” in 2019. He has published nine books.

I categorize this book as ‘G’. By 1943 the Nazi hope of defeating Russia was over. This book tells of the struggle between the German Army Group South and the Russian Army. Throughout 1943, the Wehrmacht was slowly but steadily pushed back towards the West.

There was a lot of intense fighting all across Ukraine. Battles had earlier been waged towards the East as the German forces first advanced. Now, the front was headed in the other direction. Many towns and villages felt the impact of war once again. Many in Ukraine had welcomed the Germans when they first came in 1941. By 1943 they were solidly on the side of the Russians.

The German commanders had to face the onslaught of the Russian Army, the bitter winter, and Hitler’s often unreasonable orders. By this point, most Germans knew they were going to fail on the Eastern Front. Both supplies and morale had begun to dwindle. The Russian Army was no longer the easy prey they had faced in 1941.

I enjoyed the 21 hours I spent reading this 497-page WWII history. This is one of those histories that are a bit difficult to read. The book is full of details but a challenge. Because of the similar unit identifications, I sometimes became confused about which side I was reading about. I also had to keep a map handy as I read to understand where the action was taking place. I like the chosen cover art. I rate this book as a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

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AUTHOR

Prit Buttard is a British general practitioner and writer. He has written multiple history genre books covering WWI and WWII. He even authored a couple of novels. He did a five-year stint in the British Army as a surgeon and medical officer. He had an outstanding career and recently moved with his family to Scotland in 2017. You can find out more about Prit Buttard here and here.

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?

This book will appeal to anyone who enjoys the history of epic war-time battles. WWII history enthusiasts will find the information contained within its pages invaluable.

SYNOPSIS

Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943 tells the story of the Ukrainian front during WWII. Through exhaustive research, personal accounts, and eyewitness interviews Prit Buttard brings the epic conflict to life. The reader gets an account of the myriad of detriments effecting both sides. The Germans were better trained soldiers but lacked supply’s, replacement personnel, ammunition, they were unsuited to the environment, and much more. The Soviets were not well trained but had an inexhaustible amount replacement personnel, resupply, and factories that were beyond the reach of the German forces. They were also well suited to the environment. The German Army was also constantly being undermined by Hitler trying to micro-manage the conflict without possessing any concrete knowledge of what exactly was transpiring on the front. The Soviets didn’t experience the limitations that Hitler did as they were right there managing the battles as they went.

Prit describes the battles from the major confrontations to the grittier hand-to-hand personal battles. He gives an account of the Ukrainian people that were caught behind the German lines and the suffering they endured both during the conflict and as the Germans retreated. He does an excellent job of portraying the human conflict from all sides during this dreadful time in history.

Although the information was captivating, the book was a little disjointed due the different timelines between chapters. The reference material was also lacking in usable maps for the reader to follow along.

CONCLUSION

Prit Buttar does a great job of bringing this epic conflict into view. Even though the maps were somewhat useless, the story is one that needed to be told. This conflict tied up German forces, resources and time allowing Allied forces to win on other fronts. The loss of life on both sides is astronomical. The Soviets, through sheer manpower, overwhelmed the Germans and their limited supplies to force their retreat. Overall, an excellent read!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Prit Buttar, NetGalley, and Osprey Publishing for affording me the opportunity to review Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943.

Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943 is extensively detailed and well written. It was not an easy read but was very good. Five stars.

This is a very detailed book covering the bloody battles that took place in Ukraine, between the German and Soviet forces in 1943. Clearly the author has undertaken exhaustive research into the campaign from both perspectives. I particularly enjoyed reading the eyewitness accounts embedded into the timelines of the battles.
It is hard for any reader to grasp the enormity of the amount of deaths, particularly on the Soviet side. Clearly the Germans were the better trained soldiers, but were let down by lack of basic supplies. To compound their troubles, Hitler constantly interfered in tactics and overall strategy, despite having little knowledge of events actually taking place. By comparison, the Soviets had a virtually limitless supply of manpower coupled with the large weapon production factories being out of range of the German bombers. The fighting was relentless, with the German Army getting little respite.
I was previously unaware that Italian soldiers were embedded in the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. Although the author didn’t discuss their role or military performance to any great extent, it is clear that the Italians were understandably unsuited for this kind of warfare.
Some of the accounts of German atrocities against the civilian population are quite stomach churning. Having lived in Germany, it is hard to imagine that just a generation or two ago, their soldiers committed such appalling crimes against humanity. War crimes were commonplace on both sides, but from the Soviet perspective it was literally about ‘Retribution’
To summarise, I loved the book, my knowledge about the Eastern Front has increased immensely and I would recommend it to any military history buff or historian. I intend reading the author’s previous book about Stalingrad.

This is really solid history of WWII in the Ukraine, exploring both what the Soviets and Nazis did the country and how the Ukrainians resisted or were complicit.