The history of the Hungarian theatre of war from late August 1994 to the end of March 1945 is a special chapter of the history of the Eastern Front during World War II. The Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts had encircled Budapest by Christmas 1944, after very heavy combat. However, this was the first phase of a period of intense combat, as Adolf Hitler and the German High Command planned the relief of the Hungarian capital. This work is based mainly on German, Soviet and Hungarian archival records (e.g. war diaries, daily and after-action reports, etc.). In addition, a number of rare unit histories, contemporary private diaries and reliable personal memoirs, from generals to enlisted men, have also been used by the author. The combat actions are extremely detailed, and provide a day-by-day account. The author analyzes the command and control systems at operational and tactical levels and the losses of both sides. For a better understanding of the events the book includes many detailed, specially-commissioned colour battle maps.

Originally published : Debrecen : Pueldo, 2007 under the title Kard a pajzs mögött.

Mission : the relief of Budapest --Opposing forces and resources before Operation Konrad -- Operation Konrad -- The Armoured battle at Zámoly and Operation Konrad II -- Forces and resources before Operation Konrad III -- Breakthrough to the Danube (18-19 January 1945) -- The north-eastern direction (21-21 January1945) -- The recapture of Székesfehérvár (21-22 January 1945 -- The battle of attritian around Hercegfalva and along the Vásli-víz (22-24 January 1945) -- The north-western direction (25-27 January 1945) -- The best defence is offence (28-30 January 1945) -- Germans in defence along the whole front line (31 January - 2 February 1945) -- Soviet attack westwards (3-11 February 1945) -- German clearing mission (12-15 February 1945) -- After the battle.