Download or read book Steel Storm written by Tim Ripley and published by Chartwell Books. This book was released on 2012-01-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SS Steel Storm is an account of the battles of the Waffen-SS panzer divisions of the East from the recapture ofKharkov in early 1943, when I SS Panzer Corps prevented the total collapse of Army Group South, to the last desperate attempts to hold the Red Army before Berlin in 1945. During this period the Waffen-SS panzer divisions fought a string of battles that are arguably the finest defensive actions of modern warfare. They certainly bear comparison with Napoleon's campaign of 1814 or the First Battle of the Marne in 1914. SS Steel Storm looks at the story from different angles: the use of offensive tactics during defensive battles: the deveopment of German tank and armored fighting vehicle technology; and Waffen-SS unit flexibility that was able to exploit changing tactical situations to the full. SS Steel Storm also explodes a number of myths that have sprung up since the end of World War II, such as the claim that the Waffen-SS panzer divisions were equipped with large quantities of Germanys best tanks. With the aid of full-color maps plus 170 photographs of Waffen-SS soldiers and tanks in the field, this hardcover reference book provides a unique account of a little-known, but crucially important aspect of Germany's war on the Eastern front.