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Waffen SS books - which ones to buy??

Discussion in 'WWII Books & Publications' started by L-Raiser, Mar 31, 2009.

  1. L-Raiser

    L-Raiser Member

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    ... and today my "From Normandy to the Ruhr" arrived :)

    Has for Heinze, yes he can be a bit dry, but i like the passion he portraits when writting about the Ostfront, although i belive some of his "wounds" haven't healed yet, it was particularly obvious in his book "to the bitter end".

    Now if only Decision in the Ukrayne arrived.... i would be a very happy camper. Just hope that reading it wouldn't be anti-climatic, since so much expectation is riding on this book (i'm trying to get it since April).
     
  2. L-Raiser

    L-Raiser Member

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    Guess i'll just have to win a euro-millions lottery and open my own publishing company :p:p:p:p
     
  3. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

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    Not SS but a very good book is Andrew Roberts's 'The Storm Of War' (ISBN: 978-0-713-99970-9) which deals with the evolution of German strategy in WW2 and sheds new light on many areas due to the authors access to Britain's biggest private archive of unpublished WW2 paperwork.
    Where his previous book 'Masters & Commanders' showed how the Allied strategy evolved to win the war by virtue of the four main personalities (Roosevelt & George Marshall, Churchill & Alan Brooke) on the Western side, this latest book shows how the evolution of the German strategy lost it, and offers alternatives that may of led to a different outcome. Comprehensive but not stifling and written in a reader friendly way he doesn't shy away from the controversial area's such as defending the bombing of Dresden by producing an array of facts and arguments against the post-war calls for it to be seen as a war crime.
    My favourite comment is when the author explains away Hitler's ability to recall details of weapons & history which he used in arguments over strategy/tactics with his Generals... "Because a trainspotter can take down the number ofa train in his notebook it doesn’t mean he can drive one!"
     
  4. Airdale

    Airdale Member

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    "Waffen SS- the encyclopedia" by Marc Rikmenspoel is a very good overview book.

    Best unit histories, in my opinion, are Hitlerjugend, vols. 1 & 2, by Meyer, and the already mentioned Leibstandarte series by Lehman.

    As for Totenkopf material, " Like a Cliff in the Ocean " by Ullrich gets my vote for an English-language history of that division.
     
  5. L-Raiser

    L-Raiser Member

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    Cheers halder, been a long time!!

    I'm really waiting in anticipation for "The Retreat", already pre-order it. And... having finished "Stalingrad" all i can say is Mike Jones is a truly gifted writer.
    There is a new breed o WWII writers that are really taking the genre to a new and fresh level an in a way it's making it evolve and be more interesting, M. Jones is one, Jason Marks is another, R. Hargreaves, Doug Nash, new american writers working on the pacific war. It's great, it keeps the interest going, and it doesn't get boring.
     
  6. marleynrs8

    marleynrs8 Member

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    I'm suprised no one has mentioned Black Edelweiss- A Memoir Of Combat and Conscience By A Soldier Of The Waffen-SS by Johann Voss. A great memoir that look into why one would join the Waffen SS during WWII. Great tales of combat and sacrifice as well. The reason for his excellent memory is that he wrote a diary as a POW circa 1945-1946. He goes back and uses his diary when he wrote this book. However, it is pretty short at 206 pages(can easily be read in a day or two). Voss talks about how nobody in his immediate surroundings knew about the Holocaust until the war ended, and one of the fronts he fights on is little known about(Finland-Russia border area). Overall a good read and recommended.
     

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