Battle for Moscow is a rare book: a Soviet scrutiny - warts and all - intended not for mass consumption and thus distorted by propaganda and imbalance but as a guide to how battles were fought and why their results were not always satisfactory. This is how the battle was seen by the Red Army’s frontline troops, junior commanders, and all the others who suffered the brunt of the fighting. Thus these pages are not about grandiose battles, but about how to fight in the trenches, in the cold, in rough terrain, and about which weapons to use. Military historians, students of World War II, and military professionals can learn much about Soviet military thinking from these lessons of the bitter campaigns of 1941 to 42.

Translation of unpublished manuscript: Sbornik materialov po izuchenii︠u︡ opyta voĭny. No. 2.

Operational tactical lessons of the winter campaign of 1941 to 42 -- Characteristics of defensive combat -- Characteristics offensive combat in winter -- Combat employment of ski units -- Combat work of the artillery and the winter of 1942 -- Reconnaissance -- Combat employment of large cavalry formations -- Special characteristics of actions and the Karelo-Finnish theater -- The struggle for mastery of the air and the northwestern front -- The defense of a large, populated place -- anti aircraft defense of a major center -- Combat employment of ground troops of smoke for cover and camouflage -- War experience in the topographic support of combat -- Regulation concerning the organization and work of the army rear -- Appendices. Order of battle of Soviet forces during the battles of Moscow -- Soviet forces in the battle of Moscow.