Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army's Victory That Shaped World War II

Author: Stuart D. Goldman
Published by Naval Institute Press
Length: 228 pages.

Mr. Goldman starts off by telling us of a moment in the battle itself where a Japanese pincer movement is foiled and destroyed by the Soviet forces. He then goes back to give us a history lesson of Japanese-Russian relations, and talks about various border incidents between the Japanese Kwantung Army and the Soviet Army in the 1930s, culminating in a battle in the extreme northeast tip of Korea, where the Japanese took a disputed hill called Changkufeng, and held it for three days before the Russians drove them off.
We are then told about the battles fought in 1939 at Nomonhan, or Khalkin Gol to the Russians, since that was the nearby river. Goldman tells us about the independent spirit of the Kwantung Army, who felt they knew better than Imperial HQ about how to deal with the Russians. General Zhukov is summoned by the Red Army high command to deal with the Japanese incursion into Mongolian territory.
I give this book four stars because Goldman does a great job in giving us the details of both sides in this battle, and that his title says, and he works to convince us, that this battle kept the USSR from a two-front war, by making Japan know they couldn't push Russia around, and gave Zhukov the template with which he would beat Germany.
I recommend this book.

 

Thanks for the recommendation

 

You bet.