From the siege of Leningrad to the Battle of the Bulge, many of the most famous and brutal battles of World War II were fought in winter conditions. This book describes and illustrates the tactics used by the men who fought one another in this uniquely demanding environment.

The twentieth century saw an unprecedented emphasis on fighting in all terrains, seasons and weather conditions. Such conditions made even basic survival difficult as subzero temperatures caused weapons to jam, engines to seize up and soldiers to suffer frostbite, snow blindness and hypothermia. The conditions often favoured small groups of mobile, lightly armed soldiers, rather than the armoured forces or air power that dominated other combat environments.

Some European armies developed small numbers of specialist alpine troops before and during World War I, but these proved to be insufficient as nearly all the major combatants of World War II found themselves fighting for extended periods in extremely hostile cold-weather and/or alpine environments.

Drawing upon manuals, memoirs and unit histories and illustrated with period tactical diagrams and specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this study sheds new light on the winter-warfare tactics and techniques of the US, British, German, Soviet and Finnish armies of World War II.

Dr Stephen Bull is Curator of Military History and Archaeology for Lancashire Museums, with particular responsibility for local regimental collections, and is a consultant for the University of Oxford on World War I projects. He has previously worked at the National Army Museum and the BBC in London. A Member of the Institute of Archaeologists, he has also appeared in the TV series Battlefield Detectives, Lost Treasures, and Instruments of Death. He has written several Osprey titles on World War I and World War II.

Steve Noon was born in Kent, UK, and attended art college in Cornwall. He's had a life-long passion for illustration, and since 1985 has worked as a professional artist. He has provided award-winning illustrations for the publishers Dorling Kindersley, where his interest in historical illustration began. Steve has illustrated over 70 books for Osprey.