From the Realm of a Dying Sun vol. 1-3

[Cult Icon]

Vol. 1 IV. SS-Panzerkorps and the Battles for Warsaw, July–November 1944
Vol. 2 The IV. SS-Panzerkorps in the Budapest Relief Efforts, December 1944–February 1945
Vol. 3 IV. SS-Panzerkorps from Budapest to Vienna, February–May 1945

anybody get through these volumes? I have collected them in advance and eagerly hope to find the time soon. These should be of interest to anyone who finds the battles for Vienna, Warsaw and Budapest to be interesting, besides interest in the armored formations.

[harmel]

Hi Cult Icon I too have these 3 Vols,and now reading vol 2 at the moment.
Excellent books.
Harmel

[Cult Icon]

This, on the same subject (but broader than IV SS Pz corps) was also very good and should be complementary.

https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Behind-Shi ... 1909982199

I also picked up both volumes of Mark C Yerger's German Cross in Gold for Wiking (having Totenkopf already) as they are out of print.

[DT-SC]

Finished vol 1, excellent book. Nash is at his best, as always

[Cult Icon]

I recently finished the audiobook (IV SS Panzer Korps July-Nov 1944). This audiobook is 28 hours long. The second one (25 hours long) finishes up the history of the Korps for the remainder of the war.

I have never "read" a unit history in this fashion but it really saves a lot of time and eyestrain. The audiobook is professionally narrated and well done.

The contents are very good and well organized. Definitely a must-read for the subject and a cut above the average unit history with its focus on several dimensions (strategic, tactical, logistics, artillery, airpower, terrain, organizational, statistical). The first portion of book 1 should teach something new to most people about how a corps actually works.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Guys,

What does, "From the Realm of a Dying Sun" mean? That Nazi Germany had been a beacon of light in a darkened world?

The title smacks of W-SS and Nazi-era glorification.

I hope the books themselves are less uncritical and more detached!

Cheers,

Sid.

[Jan-Hendrik]

Sid, just take a look at the cover and you will see what the title means....

Jan-Hendrik

[Max]

Maybe Nash is a "Dead Can Dance" fan


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Within_th ... _Dying_Sun

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Jan-Hendrik,

I have had a look at the cover, but it offers no explanation of the title. What do you think it means and why?

Cheers,

Sid.

[Jan-Hendrik]

You see the Sonnenrad on the cover?

Jan-Hendrik

[Cult Icon]

The title chosen for the series is more than a bit "over".

[Westphalia1812]

Hi Jan-Hendrik,

I have had a look at the cover, but it offers no explanation of the title. What do you think it means and why?

Cheers,

Sid.

Maybe just read the book instead...

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Pascal Kuhlmann,

It strikes me as mock-heroic, pseudo-Wagnerian "Twilight of the Gods" type imagery as sometimes used about the fall of Berlin and the Nazi regime, or the knightly imagery sometimes used about the Waffen-SS.

My problem is trying to reconcile the Sun or Gods or Knights with the dark stain on humaniity that was the Nazi regime or, indeed, the Waffen-SS.

What next? A Holocaust book entitled "The Cleansing of the Augean Stables"?

Cheers,

Sid.

[Westphalia1812]

Hi Pascal Kuhlmann,

It strikes me as mock-heroic, pseudo-Wagnerian "Twilight of the Gods" type imagery as sometimes used about the fall of Berlin and the Nazi regime, or the knightly imagery sometimes used about the Waffen-SS.

My problem is trying to reconcile the Sun or Gods or Knights with the dark stain on humaniity that was the Nazi regime or, indeed, the Waffen-SS.

What next? A Holocaust book entitled "The Cleansing of the Augean Stables"?

Cheers,

Sid.

The best (most tactical insightful) works on the Waffen-SS are those written by authors who portray the Waffen-SS in a pretty uncritical light but also use tons of german primary sources (Douglas Nash, Rolf Michaelis, George M.Nipe, Mark C. Yerger). If you want literature on the ideology or war crimes of the Waffen-SS then you have to look somewhere else - e.g Martin Cüppers book about the Kommandostab RFSS or Bernd Wegners study. Or you could also start to work with primary sources and produce something meaningful...

So are you planning on reading the book and get a better understanding of the Waffen-SS (and the German army) or will your contributions be limited to the usual fanboy bashing in the 'Why the Waffen-SS?' thread?

[Cult Icon]

Perhaps the title was chosen by the publisher to make it more intriguing?

An accurate title for the book is :

IV. SS-Panzerkorps and the Battles for Warsaw, July–November 1944

The contents of the book is military in nature, from primary sources- Anti-Waffen SS trolls' eyes would glaze over.