About the book: 2011 / A radical rethinking of the tragedy of 1941. A refutation of one of the main myths of the Great Patriotic War. Until now, anti-Stalinist propaganda is trying to explain the crushing defeat of the Red Army at the beginning of the war by the mass repressions of 1937–1938, which allegedly “exterminated the Soviet military elite,” “beheaded” and “crippled” the armed forces, predetermining the disaster 41st year. They say, if that summer the troops had been commanded not by mediocre Stalin’s promoters and ignorant “cavalrymen,” but by such “military professionals” as Tukhachevsky, Yakir, Uborevich, the tragedy could have been avoided and the whole war would have taken a completely different course, much more favorable for USSR scenario... A new book by a leading military historian leaves no stone unturned from these myths. Based not on propaganda cliches, but on authentic archival documents, comparing the level of combat training of the Red Army before and after the repressions, this study convincingly proves that the pre-war “purge” of the Red Army did not actually affect its combat readiness, and therefore the causes of the 1941 tragedy, as and the failures at Khasan and during the Finnish War should be sought not in “Stalinist repressions,” but in something completely different. What exactly? Read this sensational book!