The hot summer of 1942. Thousands of Soviet troops were retreating in confusion amid huge clouds of dust. Air space was dominated by German “Junkers” dive-bombers and “Messerschmitt” fighters. The impression was that of chaos, total confusion and the worst moments of 1941, when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Military archives still have quite a few sternly-worded cabled demands by the then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that the army group commanders should check the troop retreat, bring order out of chaos, fight to the last ditch and not to withdraw from the positions held. Stalin is fed up with...