Into the Reich

The Red Army’s advance to the Oder in 1945

Prit Buttar

$62.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Osprey
01 February 2026

History; Second World War; Land forces & warfare; Battles & campaigns

Enriched by extraordinary first-hand accounts, this is a fascinating history of the dying days of the Third Reich as Stalin sought to consolidate his own empire.

In January 1945, the Red Army launched a powerful offensive across the Vistula River to drive the Wehrmacht out of Poland, with the intention of securing a start line for an operation that would ultimately result in the capture of Berlin and the end of the war. But, as Prit Buttar expertly reveals, there were other issues at play. Stalin was determined to push the boundaries of the Soviet Union further west, restoring land lost by the tsars and securing vast industrial and mineral wealth. While negotiations took place between the Allied powers regarding the fate of Poland, the Red Army burst through the German lines, liberating Auschwitz even as the SS drove concentration camp inmates onto frozen roads in a series of death marches.

The Wehrmacht staged a desperate fight back with their last major armoured offensive on the Eastern Front. Launched in February 1945 from the German-Polish border, it forced a halt to the Soviet forces on the banks of the Oder before the rush to Berlin. Written by an acknowledged expert on the Eastern Front and packed with first-hand accounts, this is the definitive account of the strategic goals, both military and political, of Stalin, his generals, and their armies as they raced into the Reich, and of the German forces who stood in the way.

By: Prit Buttar
Imprint: Osprey
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 238mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 42mm
Weight: 693g
ISBN: 9781472866998
ISBN 10: 1472866991
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 01 February 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

SUBECT TO CHANGE: proposed structure of the book is as follows: · Introduction · The two armies and their dispositions; Soviet plans for the offensive · The commencement of the assault on 12 January · The collapse of German defences and the isolation of XXIV Panzer Corps · Nehring’s wandering pocket and the rescue of XXIV Panzer Corps by the Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps; the dismissal of Saucken · Konev’s advance to Krakow; the liberation of Auschwitz; the death marches · The diversion of Konev’s forces into Upper Silesia and the defeat of the German 17th Army · The conquest of Pomerania and the advance to the Oder · Operation Sonnenwende · Conclusions

Prit Buttar is a retired doctor who has written extensively on the Eastern Front in both World Wars. His books have been translated into Polish, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish, Italian, Hungarian, and Chinese. An established expert on the Eastern Front in 20th-century military history, his most recent titles include a critically acclaimed two-volume series on the siege of Leningrad.

Reviews for Into the Reich: The Red Army’s advance to the Oder in 1945

""Into the Reich is the definitive account of the strategic goals of Stalin, his generals and their armies, and of the German forces who stood in their way."" --ARMORAMA