Meat Grinder

The Battles for the Rzhev Salient, 1942–43

By: Prit Buttar

Narrated by: Nathan Osgood

Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

An engrossing history of the desperate battles for the Rzhev Salient, a forgotten story brought to life by the harrowing memoirs of German and Russian soldiers.

The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It has been largely ignored by Western historians – until now.

In this book, Prit Buttar, a leading expert on the Eastern Front, reveals the depth and depravity of the bitter fighting. He details how the region held the promise of a renewed drive on Moscow for the German Army – a chance to turn the tide of war. Using German and Russian first-hand accounts, Buttar examines the major offensives launched by the Red Army against the salient, all of which were defeated with losses exceeding two million killed, wounded or missing, until eventually, the Germans were forced to evacuate the salient in March 1943.

Drawing on the latest research, Meat Grinder provides a study of these horrific battles but also examines how the Red Army did learn from its colossal failures and how its timely analysis of these failures helped pave the way for the eventual Soviet victory against Army Group Centre in the summer of 1944, leaving the road to Berlin clear.

©2023 Prit Buttar (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing

true grit

you are there! from detailed action to explanation of strategy, this book transports you to WW2

Excellent

Pritt Buttar does a fantastic job with WWII Eastern Front narratives. He does great work balancing higher strategy with personal experiences to bring this history to life. I’ve listened to probably half a dozen of his Eastern Front books and they are all very good. The Russo-German war largely decided the Second World War because of the scale of the fighting and the losses incurred. Pritt Buttar makes a critical contribution for western readers on this key historical subject.

Detailed recounting of German-Russian battles.

Narration is clear but formal and stilted.

Rendering may be too detailed and scholarly for those wanting a more basic overview.

Recommended for serious students of WW2.

Buttar at his best...but the narration!

Buttar is one of the most important historians working today. The Eastern front has never been a particularly sexy subject for publishers, and they would much rather focus on another brief retelling of D-Day than a voluminous exploration of a single salient of the Eastern Front. Even if that salient saw more casualties, according to some estimates, than all Western Allied losses from D-Day to the end of the war.

Buttar's detailed books on Barbarossa are even more valuable because of this unfortunate fact, representing as far as I know the only such massive, detailed undertaking for publication in English.

Meat Grinder is his best so far, not just because of his meticulous attention to detail and historical insight - these are unchanged and as good as ever - but because he has grown tremendously as a writer. Though still very much focused on the logistics and details of the various battles, he has become a much a better narrative author, and the book feels more alive as a result.

Alas, we then come to the narrator. I have nothing against Mr. Osgood, and I am sure he is a fine man, but he is in way over his head here. He certainly has the voice for this format, but his tempo, rhythm and cadence are simply not suited for this kind of book.

And his pronunciation. Oh my. Those familiar with the Eastern front will know of the many challenging names - both of people and place - that are necessary multiple times on every page. Osgood does not seem to struggle with mispronunciation so much as rejoice in it. He is utterly, supremely, gloriously off with just about every Russian word, and he often manages to mispronounce even the simplest names, like Alexi. General Brauchitsch somehow has his name butchered differently every time, and if his bad heart didn't carry him off the scene prematurely, we would have been treated to dozens of variations of this admittedly tricky surname.

Honestly, after a while it just becomes amusing. I found myself laughing out loud on various occasions, and it becomes a genuine source of comic relief. Clearly, neither Osgood nor the person overseeing the recording has any experience with this kind of book.

If you can look past the narration, and I suggest you do your best to, Meat Grinder is heartedly recommended.

Great book about the Eastern Front

Great book about a battle that’s left out of western history for the most part. Also if you enjoy this I suggest any of Prit Buttar books.

Zzzzzzzzz

OMG! This narrator could put a soldier on Pervitin to sleep. I have read and listened to many of Mr. Buttar’s books and am a huge fan, but I couldn’t keep listening to this narrator! He pauses at weird times and doesn’t seem to know the subject at all. What a waste! With another narrator this could be an excellent addition to Audible’s Prit Buttar library, but not with Mr. Is good at the mike.

Another quality study by Prit Buttar

Yes , the narrator sounds better suited for reading Huck Fin and he had at least two different pronunciations of Wehrmacht . Oh well, not that bad .


If you are a fan of Buttar’s other work this has the usual quality : interesting overall analysis on front and back end , a sea of details and stories for most of the book .

Truly outstanding book

An excellent deep dive into a criminally forgotten battle. Excellent storytelling as usual for Mr. Buttar’s books.

detailed and comprehensive narrative. awful narration.

I have no idea why this narrator was chosen for this book, he seems completely unsuited. he reads without appearing to know what he is actually reading. emphasis is wrong and and his artificial rhythm is just relentless and tedious. I actually had to stop listening halfway through because it was annoying. this was unfortunate because the book's content is detailed and comprehensive and up to the high standard of this author.

Professor Henry Higgins did Not approve this.

As mentioned above, a much needed narrative ruined by the narration. I have no understanding why this was approved and shall seek back my credit. Completely unable to concentrate.