Good evening,
I am looking for recommendations on good history books on some german units (esp Waffen-SS). I have a decent knowledge about WW2 and I have already read a lot of general books (pretty much everything by Keegan, Beevor, Stahel, Lopez, Glantz). I am now looking about more in depth description of ww2 units (mainly on the eastern front).
My problem is the following: it seems that many books covering german units and Waffen-SS in particular are either written by Nazi fanboys who are looking to glorify those units insisting on how brave they were in the face of swarm of russians. These will typically present the units are top elite units (which is dubious in many case, given the lack of training and the shortage of manpower they had to face as the war went on). Or books written by some authors presenting every soldier as a war criminal. Ok I am a bit exagerating each case but you get the picture.
Is there any reliable and objective book on the subject? That will present the history of the unit, the battles it was engaged in, its order of battle through time, its war crimes.
I ordered God, Honor, Fatherland and death of the leaping horseman which are said to be excellent on 2 Heer units. The situation seems to be much more tricky/political when it comes to SS units.
I heard that Soldiers of destruction was good, any comment on that one? Any other recommendations?
Many thanks
good books on Waffen-SS
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xavinwonderland
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Re: good books on Waffen SS
I haven't read these but I am in a similar position to yours. I know of several books about certain divisions, all of which are written by former vets of the unit they describe.
http://www.amazon.com/12th-SS-Division- ... ds=12th+ss
http://www.amazon.com/European-Voluntee ... rds=5th+ss
http://www.amazon.com/Firestorm-SS-Panz ... torm+tieke
http://www.amazon.com/Like-Cliff-Ocean- ... rich+ocean
From what I understand they tend to gloss over war crimes, but on the other hand I don't think it's Kurowski-type hero worship. Most anything published by JJF is fairly good. BTW I just finished reading God, Honor, Fatherland. I thought it was a good book on the whole, and if you like pictures especially so. But if you're looking for a more detailed history of GD I'd try Spaeter's 3-volume history on the GD Panzerkorps.
http://www.amazon.com/12th-SS-Division- ... ds=12th+ss
http://www.amazon.com/European-Voluntee ... rds=5th+ss
http://www.amazon.com/Firestorm-SS-Panz ... torm+tieke
http://www.amazon.com/Like-Cliff-Ocean- ... rich+ocean
From what I understand they tend to gloss over war crimes, but on the other hand I don't think it's Kurowski-type hero worship. Most anything published by JJF is fairly good. BTW I just finished reading God, Honor, Fatherland. I thought it was a good book on the whole, and if you like pictures especially so. But if you're looking for a more detailed history of GD I'd try Spaeter's 3-volume history on the GD Panzerkorps.
Re: good books on Waffen SS
Soldiers of destruction is good but full of mistakes
Looking forward to Yerger's book's on Totenkopf later this year
Looking forward to Yerger's book's on Totenkopf later this year
Re: good books on Waffen SS
Soldiers of Destruction is pretty general and dated, but still good. There are unit histories on the SS divisions but naturally these are produced by former SS or are in the SS fan club. I have not read these so I can't vouch for them. I don't think there is such thing as a 100% objective history about the SS. But I am sure that you are mature enough to read about the SS without turning into SS mania.
George Nipe's books are good and focus on the SS . Reynolds books focus on the SS PzK on the West Front.
Some others will recommend Tiecke but I haven't read him.
I don't think that the SS mobile division war experience was much different from Army units during the same timeframe.
George Nipe's books are good and focus on the SS . Reynolds books focus on the SS PzK on the West Front.
Some others will recommend Tiecke but I haven't read him.
I don't think that the SS mobile division war experience was much different from Army units during the same timeframe.
xavinwonderland wrote: Is there any reliable and objective book on the subject? That will present the history of the unit, the battles it was engaged in, its order of battle through time, its war crimes.
I ordered God, Honor, Fatherland and death of the leaping horseman which are said to be excellent on 2 Heer units. The situation seems to be much more tricky/political when it comes to SS units.
I heard that Soldiers of destruction was good, any comment on that one? Any other recommendations?
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Rob - wssob2
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Re: good books on Waffen SS
There are many, but the controversies come with the territory. For example, Michael O. Logusz’s Galicia Division and Sol Littman’s Pure Soldiers or Sinister Legion are both solid, well-researched books on the same unit, but have very different conclusions. It isn’t that one is “right” and the other “wrong” - reading both can balance each other out to give a nuanced perspective. With this particular unit, I’d also recommend reading John Armstrong’s Ukrainian Nationalism 1939-45 to understand part of the back story, and to get a appreciation for the context in which the unit was raised, check out Anna Reid’s Borderland and Karel Berkhoff’s Harvest of Despair - with the latter suggestions I know I am straying from your request specifically for unit histories, but foreign Waffen-SS divisions didn’t exist in a vacuum, but learning more about of Ukrainian nationalist factions, SS occupational policies or ethnic tensions between Poles and Ukrainians in 1943 Volhynia will greatly increase your understanding of the unit.Is there any reliable and objective book on the subject?...That will present the history of the unit, the battles it was engaged in, its order of battle through time, its war crimes.
If you’re interested in campaign overview’s with lots of unit operational details on W-SS units, I’d recommendI ordered God, Honor, Fatherland and death of the leaping horseman which are said to be excellent on 2 Heer units. The situation seems to be much more tricky/political when it comes to SS units.
Nortbert Számvéber’s Days of Battle: Armored Operations North of the River Danube, Hungary, 1944-45
Georg Gunter’s Last Laurels: The German Defense of Upper Silesia, January-May 1945
A. Stephan Hamilton’s Bloody Streets - very good overview on the Battle for Berlin
It is excellent. Can’t recommend it enough. It has stood the test of time.I heard that Soldiers of destruction was good, any comment on that one?
I just read Lars T. Larson’s Hitler’s Swedes: A History of the Swedish Volunteers in the Waffen-SS and found it to be a fascinating read and and provides an interesting perspective plus quite a bit of details on the 5th and 11th SS Divisions.Any other recommendations?
Rudolf Pencz’s For the Homeland is quite an interesting unit history of the 31st SS Division
Prit Buttar’s Between Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II is a more detailed and IMO better book covering the III SS Panzer Corps than Wilheim Teike’s Tragedy of the Faithful
Danny Parker’s new bio on Peiper is a must-read. Christian de La Mazière’s The Captive Dreamer is hard to find but definitely essential to an understanding of the 33rd SS Division.
Re: good books on Waffen SS
I should add Nipe is good but take him with a grain of salt. He is rather biased towards the WSS, but that doesn't detract from his excellent research and detailed coverage.
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xavinwonderland
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Re: good books on Waffen SS
Thanks very much for the tips. Has anyone read books by Jonathan Trigg? He's a university professor which is a plus for me (it doesnt guarantee objectivity on the subject but it is better than a former commander 
) and he seems to have been writting several books covering a few of the most famous divisions.
I have read Between Giants by Prit Buttar and I think it was very solid
) and he seems to have been writting several books covering a few of the most famous divisions.I have read Between Giants by Prit Buttar and I think it was very solid
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Sid Guttridge
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Re: good books on Waffen SS
~Hi xavinwonderland,
Jonathan Trigg is a university professor? If so, God help our children! What university is blessed with him on its staff?
His Hitler's Gauls was exactly the sort of W-SS groupie tosh you pointed out in your first post. It was so bad, I was moved to write a review of it here on AHF.
Review: Hitler’s Gauls by Jonathan Trigg.
(Spellmount, London, 2006)
Judging by its text, bibliography and foreword, Hitler's Gauls is essentially a shallowly researched and incomplete plundering of a handful of French books of often questionable historical detachment, set against a background reading on the Waffen-SS that could have been found in bargain bookshops over the last decade and an exchange of letters with a couple of veterans. When derivative Rupert Butler and Osprey books are cited as authorities in a short bibliography, one knows a book has shallow roots. The author offers a nod towards research in the Bundesarchiv in his acknowledgements, but there is absolutely no trace of original documentary material in the text.
Mercifully, the author has avoided the invented dialogue that undermines much French historical writing to the point where it becomes indistinguishable from “Faction”. However, the style of writing is often more reminiscent of historical fiction than sober military history.
The book starts off on the wrong foot by picking a questionable title – Hitler’s Gauls. The claims of the French to membership of the Waffen-SS were based on the Germanic identity of the Franks – the German tribe that gave France its name by over running the Romano-Gauls, who were not Germanic by SS standards. "Hitler’s Franks" would have been a more accurate title.
The author then tries to invest his subject with an aura of eliteness and military significance but, reading between the lines, a rather different picture emerges:
Despite the smokescreen put up in Hitler’s Gauls, it is apparent the record of French service in German uniform was poor. The first battalion of volunteers of the LVF had to be withdrawn from the line in December 1941 within a week of deployment despite the German front then being in crisis. It then spent the next year reduced to rear-area anti-partisan operations.
In January 1943 control of French recruitment was handed over to the Waffen-SS. By September only 1,500 suitable volunteers had come forward. The unit finally saw action in August 1944 – a laggardly year and a half after its formation began. It went into action on 9 August and had been virtually wiped out within a fortnight.
On 10 August 1944 the Charlemagne Division was ordered formed. It consisted basically of exiled Frenchmen who had compromised themselves in various ways either by directly serving the Germans or in the more ruthless security arms of the Vichy regime. Notwithstanding the title “division”, these scrapings were only ever sufficient to form a mixed brigade of at most 8,000 men. Furthermore, this brigade never managed to get more than four infantry battalions into action. In effect, there never was a Charlemagne “division”.
Charlemagne units first entered the line on 24 February 1945. Within two days “Charlemagne was now beginning to be torn apart.” (p.111). Thereafter it was basically a tale of isolated units of Frenchmen under no central divisional control and having lost or abandoned any heavy equipment, falling back within the body of German forces.
By early April, only 1,100 men could be reassembled out of the line. Of these, over a third had had enough and were transferred to a construction battalion. The remainder were only partly recommitted when the Reich was in absolute extremis. On 24 April the unit was ordered to Berlin. Only some 400 volunteers were taken. These volunteers seem mostly to have been selected by judicious use of peer group pressure. Where company commanders genuinely canvassed for volunteers, few men apparently came forward. However, when two companies were paraded by their commanders and volunteers asked to take one pace forward, the entire companies did so!
The tale of the Charlemagne and its French predecessor units in German service is essentially one of failure – of an inability to attain or maintain significant strength or retain cohesiveness in front line action. Even if one counts the service of straggling sub-units, in nearly four years of trying, the Germans only managed to get the French into the line four times, the combined total of which came to less than two months, none of which was as an effective higher formation.
Hitler’s Gauls ends with the extraordinary sub heading: “Charlemagne: recorded atrocities nil”, as if this absence of recorded (!) atrocities is somehow to the division’s credit, rather than the minimal standard to be expected! And anyway, where, one wonders, would the Charlemagne ever have had the opportunity to commit atrocities? It only ever served in defence on Reich soil, and then only briefly! And then there is the overlooked question as to whether its predecessor units such as the LVF, which spent a year on anti-partisan operations in the USSR, and the Milice, who were the Vichy regime’s severest internal enforcers, were quite so unblemished? The book ends with the quite unnecessary whiff of whitewash.
Does this obscure subject really deserve a book in English? Yes. It is a curious tale of some fascination that deserves an airing. However, this volume, with its uncritical acceptance of the French volunteers at their own estimation, has turned a historical curiosity of military insignificance into a mock-heroic warrior epic. Apparently (p.149) it was on 28 April that “the men from Charlemagne really began to establish their reputation as an elite in the defence of the city (Berlin)”. Strange, then, that this “reputation as an elite” seems to have completely escaped every major study of the battle from Cornelius Ryan, to Anthony Beevor and beyond!
The author also unquestioningly passes on some unlikely “facts” without engaging his critical faculties. For example, on p.143 he claims of one King Tiger tank in Berlin, “His tally for the day stood at over 100 tanks and twenty-six anti-tank guns destroyed, as well as a pile of soft-skinned vehicles.” Is this likely? Just to knock out the tanks alone would require it to destroy one every seven minutes during daylight in vision-obscured, smoke-ridden, rubble-strewn streets – and this is to ignore time taken out to rest, refuel, rearm and redeploy. Such an unlikely proposition – surely by far a world record - cries out for some sourcing but, as with the rest of the book, almost no factoid is traceable due to minimal footnoting.
Make no mistake, even though they spent very little time at the front and to very little effect, the few French volunteers saw some intense fighting under very unfavourable conditions and, by their own accounts, many of them fought courageously. However, this book tries to invest them with a military significance they never had.
Hitler’s Gauls is a poor book, based on limited and sometimes questionable sources that romanticizes its subject beyond the demonstrable evidence. This reviewer hopes that a more original, detached and better sourced work supersedes it quickly.
Hitler’s Gauls also threatens to be the first in a series entitled “Hitler’s Legions” – itself already an over used title. If so, one hopes that the author will sharpen his critical faculties, broaden his reading list and engage in more primary research before embarking on the next installment. Otherwise publishers might just as well translate existing foreign language books directly into English.
Personally, after reading Hitler's Gauls, I wouldn't touch anything by Trigg with a barge pole.
Sid Guttridge
Jonathan Trigg is a university professor? If so, God help our children! What university is blessed with him on its staff?
His Hitler's Gauls was exactly the sort of W-SS groupie tosh you pointed out in your first post. It was so bad, I was moved to write a review of it here on AHF.
Review: Hitler’s Gauls by Jonathan Trigg.
(Spellmount, London, 2006)
Judging by its text, bibliography and foreword, Hitler's Gauls is essentially a shallowly researched and incomplete plundering of a handful of French books of often questionable historical detachment, set against a background reading on the Waffen-SS that could have been found in bargain bookshops over the last decade and an exchange of letters with a couple of veterans. When derivative Rupert Butler and Osprey books are cited as authorities in a short bibliography, one knows a book has shallow roots. The author offers a nod towards research in the Bundesarchiv in his acknowledgements, but there is absolutely no trace of original documentary material in the text.
Mercifully, the author has avoided the invented dialogue that undermines much French historical writing to the point where it becomes indistinguishable from “Faction”. However, the style of writing is often more reminiscent of historical fiction than sober military history.
The book starts off on the wrong foot by picking a questionable title – Hitler’s Gauls. The claims of the French to membership of the Waffen-SS were based on the Germanic identity of the Franks – the German tribe that gave France its name by over running the Romano-Gauls, who were not Germanic by SS standards. "Hitler’s Franks" would have been a more accurate title.
The author then tries to invest his subject with an aura of eliteness and military significance but, reading between the lines, a rather different picture emerges:
Despite the smokescreen put up in Hitler’s Gauls, it is apparent the record of French service in German uniform was poor. The first battalion of volunteers of the LVF had to be withdrawn from the line in December 1941 within a week of deployment despite the German front then being in crisis. It then spent the next year reduced to rear-area anti-partisan operations.
In January 1943 control of French recruitment was handed over to the Waffen-SS. By September only 1,500 suitable volunteers had come forward. The unit finally saw action in August 1944 – a laggardly year and a half after its formation began. It went into action on 9 August and had been virtually wiped out within a fortnight.
On 10 August 1944 the Charlemagne Division was ordered formed. It consisted basically of exiled Frenchmen who had compromised themselves in various ways either by directly serving the Germans or in the more ruthless security arms of the Vichy regime. Notwithstanding the title “division”, these scrapings were only ever sufficient to form a mixed brigade of at most 8,000 men. Furthermore, this brigade never managed to get more than four infantry battalions into action. In effect, there never was a Charlemagne “division”.
Charlemagne units first entered the line on 24 February 1945. Within two days “Charlemagne was now beginning to be torn apart.” (p.111). Thereafter it was basically a tale of isolated units of Frenchmen under no central divisional control and having lost or abandoned any heavy equipment, falling back within the body of German forces.
By early April, only 1,100 men could be reassembled out of the line. Of these, over a third had had enough and were transferred to a construction battalion. The remainder were only partly recommitted when the Reich was in absolute extremis. On 24 April the unit was ordered to Berlin. Only some 400 volunteers were taken. These volunteers seem mostly to have been selected by judicious use of peer group pressure. Where company commanders genuinely canvassed for volunteers, few men apparently came forward. However, when two companies were paraded by their commanders and volunteers asked to take one pace forward, the entire companies did so!
The tale of the Charlemagne and its French predecessor units in German service is essentially one of failure – of an inability to attain or maintain significant strength or retain cohesiveness in front line action. Even if one counts the service of straggling sub-units, in nearly four years of trying, the Germans only managed to get the French into the line four times, the combined total of which came to less than two months, none of which was as an effective higher formation.
Hitler’s Gauls ends with the extraordinary sub heading: “Charlemagne: recorded atrocities nil”, as if this absence of recorded (!) atrocities is somehow to the division’s credit, rather than the minimal standard to be expected! And anyway, where, one wonders, would the Charlemagne ever have had the opportunity to commit atrocities? It only ever served in defence on Reich soil, and then only briefly! And then there is the overlooked question as to whether its predecessor units such as the LVF, which spent a year on anti-partisan operations in the USSR, and the Milice, who were the Vichy regime’s severest internal enforcers, were quite so unblemished? The book ends with the quite unnecessary whiff of whitewash.
Does this obscure subject really deserve a book in English? Yes. It is a curious tale of some fascination that deserves an airing. However, this volume, with its uncritical acceptance of the French volunteers at their own estimation, has turned a historical curiosity of military insignificance into a mock-heroic warrior epic. Apparently (p.149) it was on 28 April that “the men from Charlemagne really began to establish their reputation as an elite in the defence of the city (Berlin)”. Strange, then, that this “reputation as an elite” seems to have completely escaped every major study of the battle from Cornelius Ryan, to Anthony Beevor and beyond!
The author also unquestioningly passes on some unlikely “facts” without engaging his critical faculties. For example, on p.143 he claims of one King Tiger tank in Berlin, “His tally for the day stood at over 100 tanks and twenty-six anti-tank guns destroyed, as well as a pile of soft-skinned vehicles.” Is this likely? Just to knock out the tanks alone would require it to destroy one every seven minutes during daylight in vision-obscured, smoke-ridden, rubble-strewn streets – and this is to ignore time taken out to rest, refuel, rearm and redeploy. Such an unlikely proposition – surely by far a world record - cries out for some sourcing but, as with the rest of the book, almost no factoid is traceable due to minimal footnoting.
Make no mistake, even though they spent very little time at the front and to very little effect, the few French volunteers saw some intense fighting under very unfavourable conditions and, by their own accounts, many of them fought courageously. However, this book tries to invest them with a military significance they never had.
Hitler’s Gauls is a poor book, based on limited and sometimes questionable sources that romanticizes its subject beyond the demonstrable evidence. This reviewer hopes that a more original, detached and better sourced work supersedes it quickly.
Hitler’s Gauls also threatens to be the first in a series entitled “Hitler’s Legions” – itself already an over used title. If so, one hopes that the author will sharpen his critical faculties, broaden his reading list and engage in more primary research before embarking on the next installment. Otherwise publishers might just as well translate existing foreign language books directly into English.
Personally, after reading Hitler's Gauls, I wouldn't touch anything by Trigg with a barge pole.
Sid Guttridge
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Sid Guttridge
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Re: good books on Waffen SS
Hi xavinwonderland,
I was so surprised that Jonathan Trigg was a university professor, that I looked him.
It appears you are probably mistaking a respectable academic of the same name at Glasgow University for the W-SS author.
Cheers,
Sid.
I was so surprised that Jonathan Trigg was a university professor, that I looked him.
It appears you are probably mistaking a respectable academic of the same name at Glasgow University for the W-SS author.
Cheers,
Sid.
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xavinwonderland
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- Location: Luxembourg
Re: good books on Waffen SS
Hi Sid,
Thanks very much for the color. I thought that the author Jonathan Trigg and the Glasgow university professor were the same person, it is obviously not the case so thank you also for pointing that out. This combined with the decent reviews of its books on Amazon it looked like a decent buy, but once again it was deceiving.
It seesms that most of the books published by Heimdal would fall more or less in the same category, despite the value they would still represent for anyone interested in seeing photos of those units. Does anyone of you owns anything by Charles Trang?
Thanks very much for the color. I thought that the author Jonathan Trigg and the Glasgow university professor were the same person, it is obviously not the case so thank you also for pointing that out. This combined with the decent reviews of its books on Amazon it looked like a decent buy, but once again it was deceiving.
It seesms that most of the books published by Heimdal would fall more or less in the same category, despite the value they would still represent for anyone interested in seeing photos of those units. Does anyone of you owns anything by Charles Trang?
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Sid Guttridge
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Re: good books on Waffen-SS
Hi xavinworld,
Generally, modern authors on specific Waffen-SS formations are effectively apologists or propagandists for them. By even embarking on the project in the first place, they are making a commitment to their subject. However well intentioned initially, they tend to "go native". I haven't read many W-SS divisional histories, but they almost all seem to be intent on vesting their subjects with an importance they did not deserve.
Furthermore, in order to get into print, they probably necessarily have to do this. Perhaps for this reason, my own contribution to the W-SS genre failed to find publishers:
OK, so we were a little on the rough side occasionally. by Gunther Meek. The fullish, frankish and candidish confessions of the "Only the Entertainments Officer" of the Waffen-SS's really well behaved 39th "Baron von Munchausen" Volunteer Division. Including reproductions of the original recommendations that gained Meek the Ritterkreuz mit Rhinestones.
Academics tend not to write W-SS unit or divisional histories. The authors of these tend to be enthusiasts of a less academic bent.
The best, most detached books on the Waffen-SS seem to be some of the more general histories, where the authors are not in awe of their adopted unit. Some authors are so uncritical that they seem to consider themselves post facto supernumerary members of the unit they follow, with a duty to burnish its reputation.
A good number of W-SS formation and unit histories have some merit, but one has to open them with a degree of scepticism as to the motivation, expertise and professionalism of the authors.
Happy hunting.
Sid.
P.S. One book I did like was TO BATTLE: The Formation and History of the 14. Gallician SS Volunteer Division by Michael Melnyk.
Melnyk makes no pretence to being an academic, and he does not hide that he is of Ukrainian origin. Furthermore, the division itself had little time in action and did not perform notably well. Yet, all that said, Melnyk is a conscientious researcher and he produces a solid book on an otherwise obscure subject. Furthermore, he has no attachment to Germany or the Waffen-SS and so writes from outside the usual deferential orbit of W-SS authors. To Battle, in my opinion, definitely counts as a "good book on the Waffen-SS".
Generally, modern authors on specific Waffen-SS formations are effectively apologists or propagandists for them. By even embarking on the project in the first place, they are making a commitment to their subject. However well intentioned initially, they tend to "go native". I haven't read many W-SS divisional histories, but they almost all seem to be intent on vesting their subjects with an importance they did not deserve.
Furthermore, in order to get into print, they probably necessarily have to do this. Perhaps for this reason, my own contribution to the W-SS genre failed to find publishers:
OK, so we were a little on the rough side occasionally. by Gunther Meek. The fullish, frankish and candidish confessions of the "Only the Entertainments Officer" of the Waffen-SS's really well behaved 39th "Baron von Munchausen" Volunteer Division. Including reproductions of the original recommendations that gained Meek the Ritterkreuz mit Rhinestones.
Academics tend not to write W-SS unit or divisional histories. The authors of these tend to be enthusiasts of a less academic bent.
The best, most detached books on the Waffen-SS seem to be some of the more general histories, where the authors are not in awe of their adopted unit. Some authors are so uncritical that they seem to consider themselves post facto supernumerary members of the unit they follow, with a duty to burnish its reputation.
A good number of W-SS formation and unit histories have some merit, but one has to open them with a degree of scepticism as to the motivation, expertise and professionalism of the authors.
Happy hunting.
Sid.
P.S. One book I did like was TO BATTLE: The Formation and History of the 14. Gallician SS Volunteer Division by Michael Melnyk.
Melnyk makes no pretence to being an academic, and he does not hide that he is of Ukrainian origin. Furthermore, the division itself had little time in action and did not perform notably well. Yet, all that said, Melnyk is a conscientious researcher and he produces a solid book on an otherwise obscure subject. Furthermore, he has no attachment to Germany or the Waffen-SS and so writes from outside the usual deferential orbit of W-SS authors. To Battle, in my opinion, definitely counts as a "good book on the Waffen-SS".
Last edited by Sid Guttridge on 02 Apr 2015, 18:52, edited 1 time in total.
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Sid Guttridge
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Re: good books on Waffen-SS
Hi xavinwonderland,
One more thing........... Amazon reviews are susceptible to manipulation. The following was posted by W-SS specialist writer John P. Moore, a moderator on another forum that particularly focuses on the Waffen-SS, in 2008:
".....it would be a good idea for Feldgrau members to go on Amazon and post reviews, preferably 5-star, of the books that they have read by our fellow Feldgrau authors. If you are also an author, include in your by-line "author of "xxxx". That will benefit not only the author whose book you review, but your sales as well, according to Brent Sampson."
Coincidentally, or not, both Jon Trigg and Charles Trang are on the list of "Feldgrau authors".
Caveat Amazon emptor!
Cheers,
Sid.
One more thing........... Amazon reviews are susceptible to manipulation. The following was posted by W-SS specialist writer John P. Moore, a moderator on another forum that particularly focuses on the Waffen-SS, in 2008:
".....it would be a good idea for Feldgrau members to go on Amazon and post reviews, preferably 5-star, of the books that they have read by our fellow Feldgrau authors. If you are also an author, include in your by-line "author of "xxxx". That will benefit not only the author whose book you review, but your sales as well, according to Brent Sampson."
Coincidentally, or not, both Jon Trigg and Charles Trang are on the list of "Feldgrau authors".
Caveat Amazon emptor!
Cheers,
Sid.
-
ChristopherPerrien
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Re: good books on Waffen-SS
I strongly suggest "The Order of the Death's Head" by Hohne, for a good start. He covers all the SS in great detail, including the Waffen -SS, and also indirectly the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany concurrent with the growth of the SS. It is considered one of the best books on the SS and Nazi Germany by many, myself included. Surprisingly unbaised, and neutral considering Hohne worked for Der Spiegel for many years, besides being a Historian of note. The lack of " mindless Nazi-bashing" may also be the result of it being written in 1967, when there was less prevalence of the same
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Georges JEROME
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Re: good books on Waffen SS
Hello,xavinwonderland wrote:Hi Sid,
Thanks very much for the color. I thought that the author Jonathan Trigg and the Glasgow university professor were the same person, it is obviously not the case so thank you also for pointing that out. This combined with the decent reviews of its books on Amazon it looked like a decent buy, but once again it was deceiving.
It seesms that most of the books published by Heimdal would fall more or less in the same category, despite the value they would still represent for anyone interested in seeing photos of those units. Does anyone of you owns anything by Charles Trang?
If you read french (or not). Charles Trang Dictionnaire de la Waffen-SS in 4 volumes is an outstanding work upon the whole Waffen-SS units.
Well illustrated with glossy pics, infos from primary sources with OoB and history.
volume 1 : 1 to 6 SS divisions
volume 2 : 7 to 13 SS divisions
volume 3 : 14 to 38 SS divisions + BM + Wallenstein
volume 4 : Armee, AK, Brigades, rgt, SS VT, SS Tot Staandarten + foreign légions + all the units, schools.
Charles wrote also on various SS-Divisions (LSSAH, Totenkopf, Wiking)
For the history of the Waffen-SS Leleu Waffen-SS based upon his thesis is the standard one. In french but I think he was now translated.
Best
Georges
-
Sid Guttridge
- Member
- Posts: 10162
- Joined: 12 Jun 2008, 12:19
Re: good books on Waffen-SS
Hi Georges,
It appears that Leleu's book has not been published in English, so there are no English reviews on Amazon.co.uk.
There are eleven reviews on the French site. However, most of them give it either 5 stars or 1 star!
It looks like most reviewers of W-SS books tend either to be uncritical W-SS fans, or opponents of the very idea of books on the W-SS. The actual quality of the book is therefore difficult to judge.
One simplistic rule of thumb I have found to give a useful initial impression - the more photos there are, the less likely there is to be a quality, in-depth, dispationate text.
Cheers,
Sid.
It appears that Leleu's book has not been published in English, so there are no English reviews on Amazon.co.uk.
There are eleven reviews on the French site. However, most of them give it either 5 stars or 1 star!
It looks like most reviewers of W-SS books tend either to be uncritical W-SS fans, or opponents of the very idea of books on the W-SS. The actual quality of the book is therefore difficult to judge.
One simplistic rule of thumb I have found to give a useful initial impression - the more photos there are, the less likely there is to be a quality, in-depth, dispationate text.
Cheers,
Sid.