Drawing from an in-depth analysis of Georgii Samoilovich Isserson's numerous published and unpublished works, this book provides the first full-length biography of a man perhaps best known as the mastermind behind the ""deep operation,"" which became the cornerstone of Soviet offensive operations in World War II. Two chapters are devoted to the first 30 years of Isserson's life, but the bulk of the narrative deals with the flowering of his intellectual talents from 1929 through 1941.