Includes bibliographical references (pages 184-186) and index.

The german army -- Hitler and his generals -- The turn of the tide -- Stalin and the stavka -- The soviet army -- 1944-a year for decisions -- Maskirovka (deception) -- The german view -- The partisans -- Final soviet preparations -- In the north -- To the berezina -- Fourth army and mogilev -- In the south-ninth army and bobruisk -- 5th panzer division and 5th guards tank army -- 12th panzer division in the south -- The fate of fourth army -- Afterwards -- The long march home -- To the west -- Fifty years on -- German order of battle, 23 june 1944 -- Comparative ranks -- Soviet order of battle -- Soviet casualties in the belorussian operation -- Stavka directive: maskirovka -- Front directive: maskirovka -- Hitler's 'fester platz' order -- Hitler's operation order no. 8 -- Veterans interviewed.

This text describes the land defeat of the German Army on the Eastern Front, resulting in irreplaceable losses (over 300,000 casualties) when the German Army was already in a state of turmoil due to failure in Russia and the Allied advance into France.