The Soviet Tank that Paved the Road to Victory
Prototypes – Pre-Series – KV-1 – KV-2
And the German KW I/KW II Beutepanzer Captured Tanks
Previously, the Soviet KV (Kliment “Klim” Voroshilov) series of heavy
tanks was described in many Western sources as being a slow and
cumbersome sidekick to the T-34, and that it had only limited influence
on combat during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet
Union in 1941. However, based on the most recent research, such a view
can no longer be considered feasible today. Over recent years, the
author has undertaken a completely updated and unbiased assessment of
the KV and its true role on the battlefields of the Eastern Front.
Analysing new findings, it can now be claimed with certainty that the
KV’s legacy has been severely underestimated. Consequently, this book is
the author’s fully updated and completely fresh take on a legendary
Soviet tank design that came as a total surprise to its enemies, which
slowed down the German advance under the most adverse circumstances and
to such a degree that it laid the foundation for Soviet victory four
years later.
The author goes as far as to say that the KV’s role on the Eastern Front
of 1941 had, in many respects, similar tactical and emotive impacts on
the enemy as the German Tiger tank did on the Western Allies in Normandy
in 1944.