<p><b>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.</b><br><br>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.<br><br>In this book, Prit Buttar, a leading expert on the Eastern Front during World War II, reveals the depth and depravity of the bitter fighting for Rzhev. He details how the region held the promise of a renewed drive on the Soviet capital for the German Army ¿ a chance to turn the tide of war. Using both German and Russian first-hand accounts, Buttar examines the major offensives launched by the Red Army against the sali