Konev was a Russian who had begun his military career as a commissar, and he was a strong brutal character of great energy but limited education, unable to express himself well on paper. He realized his own limitations and sorted out operative and tactical problems on the spot, leaving all other matters to his staff.

Konev was a mental robot, saying only what had been written for him, as though his tongue moved only when wound by a key in the Kremlin.

Like his rival Zhukov, Konev was a man of iron will, but he did not hail from such a disadvantaged background, and he was unique among Soviet high commanders i…

Konev was a tall, gruff, vigorous man with a shrewd twinkle in his blue eyes. He was 48 years old, a year younger than Zhukov, and in some respects his career …