More than 170 thousand dead and prisoners, 27 defeated divisions and 15 tank brigades, the collapse of the entire Southwestern Front and the German breakthrough to Stalingrad and the Caucasus - this is the terrible result of the Kharkov disaster of 1942, one of the greatest defeats of the Red Army and the last triumph of the Wehrmacht .How could this happen? Why did the successfully launched Soviet offensive end in a monstrous defeat and colossal losses? Why, according to Stalin, did the Red Army “lose an operation that was half won”? How did the Wehrmacht manage to turn the tide of the Battle of Kharkov in its favor? This book, based primarily on German operational documents and presenting the German point of view for the first time, answers many of these questions. According to the author, the Kharkov “cauldron” was “the most unjustified, most offensive defeat of the Red Army in the entire history of the Great Patriotic War. However, this was the last encirclement battle won by our enemies!”