▁of ▁the ▁Eastern ▁Front . ▁ ▁Histor ian ▁Norman ▁J . ▁W . ▁God a , ▁who ▁special ized ▁in ▁the ▁history ▁of ▁Naz i ▁Germany ▁and ▁the ▁Hol oca ust , ▁called ▁the ▁book ▁" a ▁master ful ▁and ▁in cis ive ▁combination ▁of ▁military ▁and ▁cultural ▁history ". ▁He ▁added ▁that ▁the ▁two ▁authors ▁" v ivid ly ▁show ▁how ▁the ▁per n icious ▁idea ▁of ▁an ▁honor able ▁German ▁war ▁on ▁the ▁Eastern ▁Front ▁per me ated ▁the ▁American ▁conscious ness ▁with ▁dev ast ating ▁consequences ▁not ▁only ▁for ▁the ▁broad ▁understanding ▁of ▁German ▁at roc ities ▁in ▁the ▁East , ▁but ▁ultimately ▁for ▁the ▁Cold ▁War ▁itself ." ▁ ▁Professor ▁Christopher ▁A . ▁Hart well ▁provided ▁a ▁critical ▁assess ment ▁of ▁the ▁book ▁in ▁a ▁review ▁published ▁in ▁German ▁Studies ▁Review . ▁He ▁described ▁the ▁book ▁as ▁" inter est ing , ▁but ▁ultimately ▁disappoint ing " ▁and ▁argued ▁that ▁the ▁authors ▁committed ▁several ▁e greg ious ▁errors , ▁with ▁the ▁most ▁prominent ▁being ▁the ▁white w ash ▁of ▁Red ▁Army ▁cr imes ▁on ▁the ▁Eastern ▁Front , ▁while ▁den igr ating ▁those ▁[ auth ors ] ▁who ▁do ▁mention ▁them ▁" as ▁contrib uting ▁to ▁the ▁ex on er ation ▁of ▁the ▁We hr macht ". ▁He ▁noted ▁that ▁the ▁book ▁tends ▁to ▁suffer ▁from ▁a ▁lack ▁of ▁perspective ▁" on ▁the ▁effect ▁the ▁German ▁gener als ▁had ▁on ▁the ▁bro ader ▁American ▁per ception ▁of ▁the ▁war ▁[ on ▁the ▁Eastern ▁Front ] ." ▁Furthermore , ▁Hart