Impasse

This volume is a companion to the main novel and is not meant to be read on its own. It opens on 1 November 1945, with Europe still drenched in bloodshed. Soviet troops have pushed across the Rhine and hold much of Germany. The Red Army has suffered its first serious setback, and even its victories have come at a steep cost in equipment and lives. Konev has taken over from Zhukov, who is seen as having fallen too far behind schedule. A fresh offensive heads south from Bavaria and Austria toward the plains of northern Italy. Winter arrives harsher than anyone can remember, yet the fighting does not pause, and commanders on both sides keep drawing up their plans.