In 1940, fresh from the success in France, Hitler turned his attention to the East.

In this concise e-guide, Geoffrey Jukes explains what led to Hitler''s decision to instigate the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) and offers a concise account of the campaign that followed. The Germans expected to conquer Russia in only four months, but at Stalingrad and then Kursk the Russians fought back.

At a human cost of 27 million Soviet lives Hitler was forced into a humiliating retreat and Russia emerged from the war as a super power ready to take on the capitalist world.