Using the Russian Ministry of Defense's archives and Western sources, the author has produced a companion work to his masterful study of II SS Panzer Corps' offensive and the culminating clash at Prokhorovka. He lays out the German and Soviet plans for the battle; the forces arrayed for it and the extensive Soviet defenses; and then goes through a meticulous examination of the course of the fighting, as III Panzer Corps suffered initial setbacks in its attempt to link up with the right flank of II SS Panzer Corps (then extemporized on the battlefield to get the offensive going and to complete the link-up), while the Soviet side fought valiantly to prevent this (according to the plan of the Voronezh Front Commander-in-Chief, N.F. Vatutin).