S2 Actual reading list

Life and Death in Besieged Leningrad, 1941-1944 (Studies in Russian and East European History and Society)

John Barber

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Read Advanced intel Military history Logistics Technical warfare WWII Cold War Russia / USSR Logistics ISBN 1403901422

Palgrave Macmillan · 2005

From 1941-1944 Leningrad saw by far the largest-scale famine ever to occur in a developed society. This book examines the nature and consequences of the extreme conditions created by the German blockade of Leningrad between September 1941 and January 1944. Using declassified documents from Party and State archives in Moscow and St Petersburg and interviews with survivors, the authors have produced the most informed and detailed analysis to date of the impact of the siege on the lives and health of the people of Leningrad.

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Night Letters: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Afghan Islamists Who Changed the World

Chris Sands

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Read Advanced intel Basic intel Biographies Intel history Military history GWOT Guerrilla / COIN Russia / USSR Intel history Biography Strategy / theory ISBN 9781787381964

C. Hurst and Company (Publishers) Limited · 2019

In 1969, several young men met on a rainy night in Kabul to form an Islamist student group. Their aim was laid out in a simple typewritten statement: to halt the spread of Soviet and American influence in Afghanistan. They went on to change the world. 'Night Letters' tells the extraordinary story of the group’s most notorious member, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and the guerrilla organisation he came to lead, Hizb-e Islami. By the late 1980s, tens of thousands were drawn to Hekmatyar’s vision of a radical Islamic state that would sow unrest from Kashmir to Jerusalem. His doctrine of violent global jihad culminated in 9/11 and the birth of ISIS, yet he never achieved his dream of ruling Afghanistan. The peace deal he signed with Kabul in 2016 was yet another controversial twist in an astonishing life. Sands and Qazizai delve into the secret history of Hekmatyar and Hizb-e Islami: their wars against Russian and American troops, and their bloody and bitter feuds with domestic enemies. Based on hundreds of exclusive interviews carried out across the region and beyond, this is the definitive account of the most important, yet poorly understood, international Islamist movement of the last fifty years.

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Notes of a Sniper

Vasili Zaitsev

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Read Biographies Technical warfare WWII Russia / USSR Biography ISBN 0615121489

2826 Press · 2003

true story of one of the greatest snipers of all time, the hero of Stalingrad.

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Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East

Stephen G. Fritz

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Read Basic intel Advanced intel Military history Logistics WWII Cold War Russia / USSR Logistics Economics ISBN 9780813134161

University Press of Kentucky · 2011

On June 22, 1941, Germany launched the greatest land assault in history on the Soviet Union, an attack that Adolf Hitler deemed crucial to ensure German economic and political survival. As the key theater of the war for the Germans, the eastern front consumed enormous levels of resources and accounted for 75 percent of all German casualties. Despite the significance of this campaign to Germany and to the war as a whole, few English-language publications of the last thirty-five years have addressed these pivotal events. In Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East , Stephen G. Fritz bridges the gap in scholarship by incorporating historical research from the last several decades into an accessible, comprehensive, and coherent narrative. His analysis of the Russo-German War from a German perspective covers all aspects of the eastern front, demonstrating the interrelation of military events, economic policy, resource exploitation, and racial policy that first motivated the invasion. This in-depth account challenges accepted notions about World War II and promotes greater understanding of a topic that has been neglected by historians.

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SIGINT: The Secret History of Signals Intelligence in the World Wars

Peter F. Matthews

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Read Intel history WWII WWI Espionage Russia / USSR Intel history ISBN 9780752487342

The History Press · 2013

From MORSE to ENIGMA, ULTRA to PURPLE, Room 40 to Bletchley—the story of secret signals in both of the World Wars Communicating in the chaos of war is complicated, but vital. Signals intelligence makes it possible. In World War I, a vast network of signals rapidly expanded across the globe, spawning a new breed of spies and intelligence operatives to code, decode, and analyze thousands of messages. Signalers and cryptographers in the Admiralty's famous Room 40 paved the way for the code breakers of Bletchley Park during World War II. In the ensuing war years, the world battled against a web of signals intelligence that gave birth to ENIGMA and ULTRA, and saw agents from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, America, and Japan race to outwit each other through infinitely complex codes. For the first time, the secret history of global signals intelligence in the world wars is revealed.

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The Eastern Front, 1941-45: German Troops and the Barbarisation of Warfare

Omer Bartov

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Read Military history Logistics WWII Russia / USSR Logistics ISBN 9780333949443

Palgrave Macmillan · October 12, 2001

Based largely upon unpublished sources, Omer Bartov's study looks closely at the background of the German army on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. He describes the physical hardship, the discipline and morale at the front, and analyses the social, educational and political background of the junior officers who formed the backbone of the German army. Only with these factors in mind - together with the knowledge of the extent of National Socialist indoctrination - can we begin to explain the criminal activities of the German army in Russia and the extent of involvement of the army in the execution of Hitler's brutal policies.

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The German Air War in Russia

Richard R. Muller

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Read Advanced intel Military history Logistics WWII Air power Russia / USSR Logistics Strategy / theory ISBN 1877853135

Nautical & Aviation Pub. Co. of America · 1992

Dr. Richard Muller has produced a new interpretation of the longest continous air offensive waged by the Luftwaffe. He delineates the shifts in German air strategy as well as the relationship between operational art, aviation technology, and the strategy of the German air force's general staff.

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The Gulag at War: Stalin's Forced Labour System in the Light of the Archives

Edwin Bacon

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Read Military history Logistics WWII Cold War Russia / USSR Logistics Economics ISBN 0814712436

New York University Press · 1994

Throughout the Stalin era and after, the Gulag system of forced labor blighted the Soviet Union. Millions were incarcerated in its camps, some to be eventually released, many to die imprisoned and faceless. For decades, histories of the camp system have relied on the experiences of those who suffered within them for their main source of information. Though these accounts have been supplemented with officially sanctioned Soviet publications, the details of the forced labor system have for decades remained hidden by state secrecy. But with the collapse of the Soviet empire, the archives of the Gulag are now opening. Drawing on the archival records kept by Gulag authorities themselves, The Gulag at War traces the development of this system in the Soviet Union from 1920 through 1960. The volume describes the state's perceptions of the camps and their tasks and addresses long-held questions concerning the motives behind the system. Specific attention is given to the World War II years; the information found in the archives shows the importance of forced labor to Soviet, and therefore Allied, victory. The Gulag at War offers a close investigation of different aspects of camp life during this time, supplying data concerning the numbers and backgrounds of the prisoners, the economic tasks and achievements, the camp conditions, and the effectiveness of camp security which have previously been unavailable.

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The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare

Christian Brose

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Read Advanced intel Intel history China Russia / USSR Orthodox / theology ISBN 9780316533539

Hachette Books · Apr 21, 2020

For generations of Americans, our country has been the world's dominant military power. How the US military fights, and the systems and weapons that it fights with, have been uncontested. That old reality, however, is rapidly deteriorating. America's traditional sources of power are eroding amid the emergence of new technologies and the growing military threat posed by rivals such as China. America is at grave risk of losing a future war. As Christian Brose reveals in this urgent wake-up call, the future will be defined by artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and other emerging technologies that are revolutionizing global industries and are now poised to overturn the model of American defense. This fascinating, if disturbing, book confronts the existential risks on the horizon, charting a way for America's military to adapt and succeed with new thinking as well as new technology. America must build a battle network of systems that enables people to rapidly understand threats, make decisions, and take military actions, the process known as "the kill chain." Examining threats from China, Russia, and elsewhere, The Kill Chain offers hope and, ultimately, insights on how America can apply advanced technologies to prevent war, deter aggression, and maintain peace

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The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich

Donald Caldwell

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Read Military history Logistics WWII Air power Russia / USSR Logistics Strategy / theory ISBN 1853677124

GREENHILL · 2007

The Luftwaffe over Germany tells the story of one of the longest and most intense air battles in history. The daylight air struggles over Germany during World War II involved thousands of aircraft, dozens of units, and hundreds of aerial engagements. Until now, there has been no single book that covers the complete story, from the highest levels of air strategy to the individual tales of Fw 190s, Bf 109s and Me 262s in air combat against the American bomber streams. This work explores the German air defense system until its collapse in 1945. It examines the detrimental effect of Luftwaffe theory and doctrine on the German air arms ability to defend the homeland once the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive began in earnest. The hard-pressed Luftwaffe leadership attempted to cobble together an air-defense network while at the same time tending to the combat fronts in Russia and the Mediterranean. Units developed specialized tactics and weapons for dealing with heavily defended bomber formations, while senior commanders sought to construct an elaborate command and control system integrating radar, observers, anti-aircraft guns, and fighters. By mid-1944, they had lost the battle - but had exacted a terrible price from the Americans in the process. The product of a ten-year collaboration between two noted Luftwaffe historians, this work fills a major gap in the literature of World War II. The authors have examined original war diaries, logbooks, doctrine manuals, after-action reports, and interviews with many combat veterans to produce a richly detailed account. Illustrated with nearly two hundred photographs, as well as new maps and diagrams, Luftwaffe Over Germany is certain to become the standard work on the subject.

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The Soviet Home Front, 1941-1945: A Social and Economic History of the USSR in World War II

John Barber

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Read Logistics Economics WWII Cold War Russia / USSR Logistics Economics ISBN 0582009642

Longman · 1991

Nowhere else was World War II as bloody and destructive as it was in Eastern Europe, and of all nations it was the Soviet Union that paid the highest price for victory. The scale of death and destruction is hard to comprehend even today. Its consequences were to shape Soviet politics, and the shape of the postwar world, right through to our own time. How Soviet society responded to the threat, and survived the reality, of this most terrible of wars is the subject of this powerful and impressive survey.

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The Spy in Moscow Station: A Counterspy's Hunt for a Deadly Cold War Threat

Eric Haseltine

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Read Advanced intel Biographies Cryptography Intel history Cold War Espionage Russia / USSR Orthodox / theology ISBN 9781250301161

Thomas Dunne Books · Apr 30, 2019

The thrilling, true story of the race to find a leak in the United States Embassy in Moscow--before more American assets are rounded up and killed. Foreword by Gen. Michael V. Hayden (Retd.), Former Director of NSA & CIA In the late 1970s, the National Security Agency still did not officially exist--those in the know referred to it dryly as the No Such Agency. So why, when NSA engineer Charles Gandy filed for a visa to visit Moscow, did the Russian Foreign Ministry assert with confidence that he was a spy? Outsmarting honey traps and encroaching deep enough into enemy territory to perform complicated technical investigations, Gandy accomplished his mission in Russia, but discovered more than State and CIA wanted him to know. Eric Haseltine's The Spy in Moscow Station tells of a time when--much like today--Russian spycraft had proven itself far beyond the best technology the U.S. had to offer. The perils of American arrogance mixed with bureaucratic infighting left the country unspeakably vulnerable to ultra-sophisticated Russian electronic surveillance and espionage. This is the true story of unorthodox, underdog intelligence officers who fought an uphill battle against their own government to prove that the KGB had pulled off the most devastating penetration of U.S. national security in history. If you think The Americans isn't riveting enough, you'll love this toe-curling nonfiction thriller.

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Tiger Tanks at War

Michael Green

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Read Advanced intel Military history Logistics WWII Armor Russia / USSR Logistics ISBN 9780760331125

Zenith Press · February 15, 2008

The first prototype for the Tiger tank was set to be ready for Hitlers birthday on April 20, 1942. The Henschel Company, competing with Porsche, produced the superior model, and by August of that year the formidable Tiger-or Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. H. -was in full production. This book takes us behind the scenes with the Tiger tank, reviewing the full history, the design and mechanics, and the mixed record of this machine, which was designed to outgun its Russian counterparts. Military writer Michael Green offers a close-up account-accompanied by photographs, diagrams, and maps-of how the Tiger tank operated, how it was armed, and where it succeeded brilliantly, as well as where it failed miserably. His book fills a fascinating niche in the history of military technology, and of the impact of technology on history itself.

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Victims of Yalta

Nikolai Tolstoy

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Read Intel history Military history Economics Logistics Basic intel WWII Russia / USSR Logistics Economics ISBN 0684156350

Gorgi Books · 1979

Stalinova "vojevůdcovská" nezpůsobilost vehnala v průběhu druhé světové války do německého zajetí miliony vojáků. Jeho nelítostná decimace všech vrstev národa, dokonce celých komunit, vedla generála Vlasova k rozhodnutí vytvořit armádu, která by ze dvou zel - Stalin a Hitler - porazila nejprve to větší, kterým se mu jevil Stalin. Stalin například po celou válku nepřistoupil k haagským konvencím o zacházení s válečnými zajatci a svým odmítavým postojem tak nepřímo způsobil tragický osud zajatců. Kromě vlasovců se proti bolševismu postavil také národ kozáků. Další skupinou stojící proti Stalinovi byli někteří příslušníci rozsáhlé bílé emigrace, jejichž potomci se mnohdy narodili již na Západě. Vedle nich se na konci války ocitlo v britském zajetí mnoho protikomunistických Jugoslávců. Více než dva miliony těchto lidí byly v letech 1944-1947 násilně navráceny do Sovětského svazu - podle dohod, jež Britové a Američané se Stalinem stvrdili na konferenci v Jaltě - v rozporu s řadou britských zákonů a ustanovení mezinárodního práva. Osudem těchto ubožáků byla buď okamžitá smrt zastřelením po návratu, či pomalejší umírání v táborech Gulagu. Vyvázli jen nemnozí......

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