The Leibstandarte Series - R Lehmann - why so expensive

[ViKinG]

I'm very jealous of both of you guys! I've been keeping an eye out for the Leibstandarte books for months and months and they never seem to lower in price obviously. THey have a set on amazon for all of them for nearly 500$ which is actually a good deal, but just can't justify spending that on ONE unit at this time. Now tell me do the volumes go in great length explaining day to day combat operations?? Especially on the eastern front?? I have most of the Das Reich collection, they are pretty cheap still at 40-50$ each.

Luc

[seaburn]

Hi Luc - Yes, the books are mostly a day to day and sometimes multiple daily recordings of activity by each unit of the LAH. It would not be a book you would read from cover to cover but more of a research tool.

Volume 1 starts in 1933 and all the details of the unit formation and changes as the LAH evolved are catalogued. The other volumes detail the war years and yes, the Eastern Front is covered in depth - there are not a lot of photo's but everything else a researcher or interested party would want to know is there, including personal accounts of actions from some who survived the war.

Here is a flavour of some of the pages:

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If anyone needs a date looked up or other infomation. just send me a pm - I'd be happy to help. And Luc, keep the faith, you too may be as lucky as K and myself !

[Cult Icon]

I would definitely read this series cover to cover, warts and all.

[seaburn]

I would definitely read this series cover to cover, warts and all.

Wow ! Not sure whether to admire your stamina or worry about you 'cult Icon' ! Just noticed that the pic I put in is of Gustav Knittel -Harro's' anticipated bio of this interesting individual is finally coming towards fruition I believe. No doubt it will cover the actions of the AA Btln of the LAH in depth. Now that's a book I'll be reading cover to cover !

[Cult Icon]

If one is interested in the actions of armored divisons, it doesn't makes sense not to.

[seaburn]

Yea but there are so many divisions involved and If you were to go into each in the detail like these books on all of them, There would be no time for anything else in your life !! lol

[Cult Icon]

I think this and the 2.SS are the only english language division histories with many volumes. There is also PzK GD but with only 3 books (which I read cover to cover). Overall, it's a highly entertaining experience.

[seaburn]

Well I hope you get your hands on a set soon ... Sounds like you would have a match made in heaven .... I now have two volume III's which cover 1943 ... But these are still reasonably priced on Amazon ... Good luck !

[krichter33]

I'm with cult icon. I love reading these extremely detailed unit histories! I'll definitely be reading the 2SS and the Leibstandarte sets cover to cover. I read the PzK GD set cover to cover and they were wonderful...The more detailed the better!!! But of course I actually don't have a life..

[seaburn]

But of course I actually don't have a life..

lol

[Meyer]

Yea but there are so many divisions involved and If you were to go into each in the detail like these books on all of them, There would be no time for anything else in your life !! lol

Well, not all divisions have detailed histories written for them. Also, you would need a lot of money and that probably would save you a lot of reading time

[Harro]

I would definitely read this series cover to cover, warts and all.

Wow ! Not sure whether to admire your stamina or worry about you 'cult Icon' ! Just noticed that the pic I put in is of Gustav Knittel -Harro's' anticipated bio of this interesting individual is finally coming towards fruition I believe. No doubt it will cover the actions of the AA Btln of the LAH in depth. Now that's a book I'll be reading cover to cover !

Thanks, near completion indeed. While translating the manuscript from German to English I realised that some of the chapters I wrote years ago could so with some major corrections and additional info. So the work takes a bit more time than anticipated when I started translating last March but the finish line is in sight. The actions of the battalion are covered with plenty additional veterans accounts.

[ViKinG]

Thanks a lot for the info Seaburn! They look amazing. I'm a mix of both I like to read cover to cover but I also skim them and use the books for references when writing! I'll keep looking for sure, 1st SS is just one unit out of hundreds in Barbarossa, so I have many to research haha.

Luc

[seaburn]

I admit I'm a lightweight in comparison to those of you who relish the intensity of detailed analysis and I probably sounded very flippant when I observed that you wouldn't have much time for anything else if you were to read these books cover to cover, but its hard to get across how crammed they are with information. I had to closely look at all movements of certain units during the third battle of Kharkov and the December 43 period in Zhitomyr and it proved challenging to me personally as the village names and constant unit movements were numerous. Here's an example of one just one part of one day:

Lehmann Vol III

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There are nearly 500 pages in Vol III and all have the intensity of this one including the complexity of the Kursk battle of course, so to read everyone of the volumes cover to cover and take everything in would be quite a feat IMO. These books are weighty in pounds and content but I'll be making sure each page is looked at eventually. Just had a look at Vol 4 last night, included here was even a listing of the food quantities in grms given to the LAH prisoners in the camps post war. Kudos to Rudolf Lehmann and all those who contributed to the books - they are a priceless addition to the historic record of this intriguing period of history.

[Ste]

It could be possible, if someone of you knows, to find this books as PDF? Or in some other kind of digital format?