The invasion of the Soviet Union saw the Red Army’s vast tank fleets crushed by the outnumbered Germans. Fully illustrated and packed with data, this book explains how and why.

Contrary to popular belief, the largest tank battles of World War II were not during the Kursk campaign of 1943, but during Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. The Soviet tank fleet was enormous – about 24,000 tanks facing about 3,500 Panzers. But despite the gross numerical imbalance in their favor, the summer 1941 campaign was a disaster for the Red Army.

In this book, based on documents previously unpublished in the English language, world-renowned armor expert Steven J. Zaloga analyses why the Red Army performed so badly in Barbarossa. During the summer months, the Red Army lost about 15,000 tanks including most of its best new tanks such as the T-34s and KVs, and by winter, most of the pre-war arsenal had been lost. It was dubbed the “Tankoviy pogrom”: the Tank Massacre.

Illustrated with archive photos and meticulously detailed original illustrations, it examines the organization and doctrine of the Red Army in 1941 as well as the principal tank types, including information and illustrations on unusual and little-known types such as the multi-turreted T-28 and T-35 heavy tanks.