Three Kings: Axis Royal Armies on the Russian Front 1942

"Three Kings: Axis Royal Armies on the Russian Front 1942", discusses the battles and campaigns, in which the Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian Royal Armies fought on the Eastern Front, in 1942, up until the eve of the Soviet counteroffensive, Operation "Uranus". Mr. Cloutier studies in detail the fighting in the Crimea, Izyum, the capture of the Kerch Peninsula, the fall of Sevastopol and the execution of Case "Blue". He traces the development of that operation and the role of the Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian armies. Mr. Cloutier examines how the German departure from the original plan, set the stage for the Axis strategic defeat that winter. The author also examines the war against the partisans and illustrates the substantial role that the Axis royal armies played in that struggle. In the discussions of each Axis royal army, Mr. Cloutier demonstrates that it was not the Romanian 1st Mountain Division which captured the feature known as the "Sugar Loaf", but rather the Romanian 4th Mountain Division. He offers a detailed description of the Italian "Savoia" Cavalry Regiment's victory in the Battle of Izbushenskiy and discusses the rigorous battles fought by the Hungarian 1st Armored Division. For this historical work, Mr. Cloutier made use of books written from the Russian, Romanian, Italian, Hungarian, and German viewpoints.