Images Of Kursk by Nikolas Cornish

[Wolfkin]

Has anyone seen or read this book? It is called Images Of Kursk and it is by Nikolas Cornish. It is available through Chapters up here in Canada. I was thinking of ordering it but will not if it is not worth it. Any comments?

Cheers,

Wolfkin

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Hey Jonny, I thought that a French publisher was due out with a three volume set of Kursk pictures. OOPS! I found the ad. RZM imports has out the first two of six kursk books, authored by Remy Spezzano, an made up of photographs from "28 rolls of newly discovered combat film taken by six SSKriegsberichters". Vol. 1 is 115 pages and vol. 2 has 120. Try: http://www.rzm.com
Best Regards, David (P.S., I don't know where that French thing came from...)

[Frederick L Clemens]

I just took a look at the rzm site. It appears that the standard format for the series will be 88 photos and 115 pages per each volume, retailing for 34.95. Sounds a bit pricey so I wonder why they decided to spread it out over six volumes?! Are they just capitalizing on the "get the whole set" mentality? It seems like they could do the same number and size of photos in half the number of volumes (230 pages each), perhaps for 49.95, greatly reducing the overall cost of the set to $150 from the current $210 for all six volumes. But I suppose they are betting on more people snapping up the first couple at 34.95, thereby getting hooked into the series.
By the way, the description of the photos as being "28 rolls of newly discovered combat film taken by six SSKriegsberichters" is great hyperbole. These photos have been publicly available at the National Archives since at least the early 1980's when I first looked at them. In fact, they have been published before (late 70's, early 80's) in smaller format in a relatively unknown book which I see now and then at militaria shows.
RZM Imports contribution is to have cleaned up and reprinted the photos in a larger, more useful format rather than to have "discovered' an unotherwise "lost treasure"! They should just stick to bragging about what they have truly done rather than trumpeting a false claim.

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Point Well Taken F.L.! I too was surprised at the page count.
And I agree that there wasn't a necessity to spread it out over six volumes (except to further gouge us!). RZM does deserve credit for the quality of some of their latest releases, but, like you, I don't see that as giving them carte blanc to over-price their new work. Best regards, David

[Jason Pipes]

Actually, I have been working with RZM on some aspects of these books and they aren't simply cleaner, better prints of already existing images - one of the corner stones of their being published is to present them with an incredible amount of detail regarding their location, unit, place, time, event, etc. RZM is working with experts in many fields on indentifying as much as possible about EVERY photo and not simply publishing them with one sentance captions. That is why there will be 88 photos on 115 pages. The books aren't being published for the model making crowd that simply needs shots of tanks and vehicles but for those with a deep interest in knowing all of the details of each photo. That takes a lot of research and time to come up with. As far as I am aware, RZM is also using photographic material that has not already been accessed as well.

[Frederick L Clemens]

Jason, I think everybody appreciates the work put into most RZM books and that is what they should emphasize - not claims of "newly-discovered" material which is more rightly described as "neglected" material. The archives are full of such neglected treasures. It is really a matter of someone taking the time to research, publish, and market them...not so much a matter of "discovering" them.
Good luck to RZM in this six volume series but I am skeptical that it will really fly in this expensive format. Soft-cover maybe, but 88 photos and 115 pages for $34.95 is a lot, unless they are printed in gold type - hee,hee!

[Jason Pipes]

Well, I am pretty sure that at least some of the photos they are publishing in the Kursk set are previously unpublished. They are also doing others that will involve the same. I have also spoken to them about publishing some of my own photos in such a manner and the photos in question I have ARE previously unpublished.

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Hi Guys! Jason, as a matter of marketability I have to agree with F.L. I accept your comments and I don't under-estimate the time and effort that must be spent to place 60 year old pictures in the proper prospective. But as a product, a six volume set at $34.95 is a risky proposition. Think of it in regards to the "Panther" series of books by A.J. Press. The initial three volumes were a little pricey. Now, when I see the last two at the dreaded modeller's conventions, prices and interest in the series has dropped dramatically.
All of this is only to say that perhaps a three volume series, even at a slightly increased price, might have been a better prospect in terms of selling ALL of the volumes.
Best Regards, David

[Wolfkin]

Hey guys!

Actually, I didn't know about that 6 volume set! But, thanks for letting me know, I will have to check them out, if they are worth it.

The book I was referring to is actually just a one-shot deal, so to speak. Here is an amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 06-6973437

It seems that there are a lot of books on Kursk out there! Let's hope they avoid the usual myth/legend of the "300 destroyed German tanks at Prokhorovka, including 100 Tigers" stuff that I am so tired of hearing.

On that note, has anyone heard about the new Prokhorovka book that is going to be out soon? It is by Chris Lawrence of the Dupuy Institute. Sounds like it could be good!

Cheers,

Wolfkin

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Well Wolfkin, I haven't run across this book before. However, (and this is just me), for $13.97+ shipping, I'd take a chance. I'd note that from the format, I wouldn't expect crystal clarity in the pictures. Just a hunch and I could well be wrong. Cheers, David

[Wolfkin]

Thanks David!

Yes, can't go wrong with the price, even though it will be about $20 or so Canadian, that is still good!

Cheers,

Wolfkin

[Frederick L Clemens]

Hey guys!
On that note, has anyone heard about the new Prokhorovka book that is going to be out soon? It is by Chris Lawrence of the Dupuy Institute. Sounds like it could be good!

I have been working with Chris over the past year(he lives closeby), mostly providing material from German records, correcting translations from previous authors, and also doing detailed biographical research on Panzer-Brigade 10 and the Panther battalions.
I believe Chris's book, still in manuscript stage, will be the best and truest account one can find. He has gone to the primary sources for BOTH the German and Russian forces. That is the only way to see through the distortions of propaganda and personal bias. The result so far has been a thorough rewriting of the battle, such that reading previous accounts (Glantz. et al) is almost painful on account of the errors one now sees in those books.
I noted on the RZM site that George Nipe is also writing a new Kursk book. Unfortunately, his previous works suffer from overreliance on the formula of German primary sources compared with Soviet propaganda. That still results in biased conclusions, even if it seems an improvement over the older formula of German memoirs compared with Sov propaganda. If he uses the same approach for Kursk as he did in "Decision in the Ukraine", then his book will likely be inferior to Chris's.

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Hi F.L. an interesting issue though is how much, exactly, can an author (even using primary sources) keep their own political agenda out of a text. I say this particularly about the battle of Kursk, which, IMHO, Western authors have sought to portray as some sort of German victory. I note with some cynicism the tons of paper used to examine the Southern prong of the German attack, resulting in the tank battle at Prokhorovka contrasted with the negligible amount of work done on Model's Northern attack or the Soviet counter-offensive.
Best Regards, David

[Uncle Joe]

But hasn´t access to Russian archival data diminished lately? Glantz told me that some Colonel Sverdlov was instrumental in getting the stuff Chris Lawrence has and since Sverdlov´s death things have gone backwards again?

Jukka Juutinen

PS: How do you rate the Decision in the Ukraine (Nipe)?

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Hi Jukka, long time no talk to! Personally I liked "Decision in the Ukraine" and think it's a good book to own. Not because of its coverage of Prochorvka but because of the very interesting chapters on events on the Southern pincer after that battle. Now we all know Nipe has his...point of view, but it's a darn good read.
Best Regards, David