Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front (review)

Whilst there are many accessible English-language reference works of reasonable quality concerned with the Wehrmacht during World War II, there is still very little such material on the Red Army. Slaughterhouse attempts to cover both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, in addition to providing more limited material for other participants in the fighting on the Eastern Front, namely Finland, Hungary, Italy, and Romania. The absence of scholarly apparatus for almost the entire book means that this work is clearly intended primarily for a popular rather than academic audience, although many wargamers and enthusiasts would no doubt have preferred to have key sources for particular sections more clearly identified rather than just having a select bibliography for the whole book. The introduction, annotated chronology, and essay on forgotten battles of the Eastern Front take up almost 20 percent of the book and have been written by David Glantz. These provide useful introductory material for those who have read little on the Eastern Front. The remainder of the book is taken up with biographies of key figures, brief unit histories down to divisional level, unit organization charts for divisions and in some instances brigades, and brief details of principal weapons and weapon systems used on the Eastern Front.

There is much useful information in Slaughterhouse, and it will no doubt prove a handy single-volume reference work for many enthusiasts of one sort or another. The authors have been able to draw on the many works of David Glantz listed in the select bibliography to give credibility to materials on the Red Army, along with a few other works available in English. They also acknowledge the assistance of a range of individuals in the provision of materials about Soviet and other participants. However, if the select bibliography is taken as a guide, little direct use of Russian language materials has apparently been made in those sections not written by David Glantz. This is perhaps a partial explanation for the failure to tidy up and fine tune some of the material presented, a particular necessity in a reference work such as this. There are only six Russian language works listed in the select bibliography, all of which have minor errors or inconsistencies either in their transliteration or translation, which does not inspire confidence. In the end product the inclusion or omission of information at times seems almost arbitrary. This is no more apparent than in the weakest section, that on equipment, which should have either been omitted or made considerably more comprehensive. Whether specific items have been included seems somewhat hit and miss, with Hungarian tanks and British "Lend-Lease" armour included, but not Hawker Hurricane fighters and indeed much prewar equipment in use during the early stages of the war in the East. One can only conclude that the final product could have been a little more polished, even when making allowances for constraints of space.