I am very well read on the Eastern Front and found this book to be horrible. I would like to save you the time and your money and steer you clear of this awful book. The plot line was plodding and repetitive (e.g. retreats and encirclements, again and again) and the weak details in the art and practice of sniper warfare relegates it to a mediocre military story at best. Most distressing, there are numerous gratuitous descriptions of the torture of soldiers and civilians that does not add to the story. In fact, I believe that I recognize several of them to be recycled from other sources. Also, these examples appear lop-sided and seemingly provided to excuse German actions in this theater in which both sides created and endured barbaric conditions.