In the “ring” near Moscow, two formidable adversaries stood face to face. In the “brown corner” was the Wehrmacht, fresh from its summer successes but also bearing the weight of the *rasputitsa* and freezing temperatures—weeks that had been grueling, demoralizing, and draining. Opposite them, in the red corner, were the Soviet forces; while they could have viewed the opening weeks of the fighting as a catastrophe, they were now the ones—motivated by their opponent’s worsening plight—poised to dictate the terms of battle.

German soldiers on the eastern frontline, June 1941, public domain "Barbarossa" On the 22nd of June 1941, at 3:15 a.m., the first bombs fell and...