The Red Army’s leading operational theorist in the 1930s, Georgii Samoilovich Isserson was the mastermind behind the “deep operation”—the cornerstone of Soviet offensive operations in World War II. Drawing from an in-depth analysis of Isserson’s numerous published and unpublished works, his arrest file in the former KGB archives, and interviews with his family, this book provides the first full-length biography of the man. The bulk of the narrative deals with the flowering of his intellectual talents from 1929 through 1941. Additional chapters deal with Isserson’s arrest and his remaining 35 years, 14 of which were spent in labor camps and internal exile.

Richard W. Harrison lives in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania. A former investigator with the Department of Defense’s POW/MIA office in Moscow and an independent researcher, Harrison has also taught Russian history and military history at the college and university level.

Richard W. Harrison
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 411
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, 4 diagrams, charts, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4897-5
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5667-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
Note on Transliteration and Place Names      viii
Foreword by David M. Glantz      1
Preface .      3

1. Youth and Early Military Service      7
2. .Maturation      28
3. The Deep Battle      60
4. The Deep Operation      90
5. The Deep Operation Revealed      122
6. Peregrinations      152
7. The Purge Years      185
8. The Last Years of Freedom      216
9. Descent into Hell      247
10. Vindication      273
11. The Prodigal’s Return      304
12. Final Years      336

Epilogue      365
Chapter Notes      367
Bibliography      383
Index      395

“excellent…an essential read”—The NYMAS Review.