https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/ Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:28:57 +0000 MyBB https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=76077 Wed, 07 Jun 2023 15:10:20 +0000 Duc de Montebello]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=76077







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Mikaberidze also has a new book out on Kutuzov, have not read that one yet.]]>







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Mikaberidze also has a new book out on Kutuzov, have not read that one yet.]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=75288 Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:03:07 +0000 Merlenoo]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=75288 Only 5 months after his successful departure at the end of February, his entire venture crashed in ruins following the Battle of Waterloo, which ended the Napoleonic Era.

This book is a long time classic that describes the events leading to Napoleon's exile and his brief reign as 'the King of Elba', and the subsequent extraordinary escape he accomplished which led to his resumption of taking power in France if only for a more months. Nail-biting suspense and brilliantly written roller-coaster thrills in each chapter; the historical facts are immersed throughout without any dryness attached.

" The Escape from Elba: The Fall and Flight of Napoleon 1814-15 "

by Norman Mackenzie

]]> Only 5 months after his successful departure at the end of February, his entire venture crashed in ruins following the Battle of Waterloo, which ended the Napoleonic Era.

This book is a long time classic that describes the events leading to Napoleon's exile and his brief reign as 'the King of Elba', and the subsequent extraordinary escape he accomplished which led to his resumption of taking power in France if only for a more months. Nail-biting suspense and brilliantly written roller-coaster thrills in each chapter; the historical facts are immersed throughout without any dryness attached.

" The Escape from Elba: The Fall and Flight of Napoleon 1814-15 "

by Norman Mackenzie

]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=73146 Sun, 02 Feb 2020 20:56:03 +0000 Oldbones]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=73146  So if you have any interest in this battle and the lead up to and the aftermath of the event, it is well worth a look.
Lots  of personal accounts and facts that are often missed in the general TV documentary's or you tube versions.
I could see me reading it again in a year or so.
Good book.]]>  So if you have any interest in this battle and the lead up to and the aftermath of the event, it is well worth a look.
Lots  of personal accounts and facts that are often missed in the general TV documentary's or you tube versions.
I could see me reading it again in a year or so.
Good book.]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=72849 Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:30:11 +0000 CountryBoy]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=72849
Firstly, the book was excellently narrated by Sean Barrett (who also seems to have done most of Beevor's other books). A good narrator is critical in an audiobook and Barrett is excellent. Deep, gravely, serious and perfectly fitted to military history. 

As for the book itself, it was up to Beevor's usual high standards. It provided a thorough review of the events leading up to Market Garden, including the political angles (he really doesn't like Monty, who comes across as a real egotist). Each area of operations is covered in detail, including all the airborne landings (some good descriptions of what the paras were going through as they neared the DZ). He fiercely defends the Polish paras, who were saddled with a lot of the blame for the debacle at/near Arnhem and I think does a good job of pointing out how the Poles were basically screwed over in regard to the fallout from Market Garden. He also outlines the situation facing the 1st British Airborne Division in extensive detail, with a lot of graphic detail of the terrible conditions the paras ended up fighting through. The intensity of the battles, as described by Beevor, were quite something.

All in all, I readily recommend the book for anyone who is interested in Market Garden. At the same time as I was reading the book I played the PzC campaign game of Market Garden (only against the AI unfortunately) and enjoyed the combination of moving units around the battlefield at the same time that I was listening to the historical account of what actually happened.]]>
Firstly, the book was excellently narrated by Sean Barrett (who also seems to have done most of Beevor's other books). A good narrator is critical in an audiobook and Barrett is excellent. Deep, gravely, serious and perfectly fitted to military history. 

As for the book itself, it was up to Beevor's usual high standards. It provided a thorough review of the events leading up to Market Garden, including the political angles (he really doesn't like Monty, who comes across as a real egotist). Each area of operations is covered in detail, including all the airborne landings (some good descriptions of what the paras were going through as they neared the DZ). He fiercely defends the Polish paras, who were saddled with a lot of the blame for the debacle at/near Arnhem and I think does a good job of pointing out how the Poles were basically screwed over in regard to the fallout from Market Garden. He also outlines the situation facing the 1st British Airborne Division in extensive detail, with a lot of graphic detail of the terrible conditions the paras ended up fighting through. The intensity of the battles, as described by Beevor, were quite something.

All in all, I readily recommend the book for anyone who is interested in Market Garden. At the same time as I was reading the book I played the PzC campaign game of Market Garden (only against the AI unfortunately) and enjoyed the combination of moving units around the battlefield at the same time that I was listening to the historical account of what actually happened.]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=72694 Tue, 23 Jul 2019 23:01:55 +0000 CountryBoy]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=72694
Two recommendations really, one for the book and the other for 'reading' books through Audible (or something similar). I do a fair bit of driving for work and also have a 30 minute drive to/from work and I don't know how I survived before I started using Audible. I think I own something like 120 Audible books which I have read over the years. It is simply amazing how quickly any car journey can go when you are listening to an engrossing audiobook. Even a trip as long as seven hours is a pleasure when listening to the right book.

As for The Second World War by Antony Beevor, I heartily recommend it. I have read some of his other work, such as Stalingrad and Berlin, so I knew what to expect to a certain extent. The book, as you might expect, covers the full story of WW2. What I found interesting was the material on the war in China, which was an area of the war which I knew very little about. Beevor also goes into detail regarding some of the politics during the war, which was also interesting, particularly the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt. He also covers the atrocities and mass killings in some depth, which was hard going on occasion but obviously could not be neglected. Again, while I had some knowledge of this topic, the scale and immensity of it was unbelievable - I kept coming home and telling my wife little facts I had learned from the book and we would end up in a deep conversation about the behaviour of humans to one another. The military side is covered in detail, with all the major theatres, campaigns and battles, so nothing was missing there. The real experts may not find anything completely new in there, but for people who are interested in WW2 the book is definitely worth a read.

The audio version of the book is 39 hours long, but at no stage did I find it to be dragging and was sorry when it ended. The narrator was excellent (which is so important in an audiobook as the narrator can make or break a book), one of the best I have listened to in my many years of audiobooks. All up I can thoroughly recommend the book, particularly if you're interested in tackling an audiobook. I've just bought 'Arnhem' by Antony Beevor, which has the same narrator, so I'm looking forward to getting that one underway.

Cheers.]]>
Two recommendations really, one for the book and the other for 'reading' books through Audible (or something similar). I do a fair bit of driving for work and also have a 30 minute drive to/from work and I don't know how I survived before I started using Audible. I think I own something like 120 Audible books which I have read over the years. It is simply amazing how quickly any car journey can go when you are listening to an engrossing audiobook. Even a trip as long as seven hours is a pleasure when listening to the right book.

As for The Second World War by Antony Beevor, I heartily recommend it. I have read some of his other work, such as Stalingrad and Berlin, so I knew what to expect to a certain extent. The book, as you might expect, covers the full story of WW2. What I found interesting was the material on the war in China, which was an area of the war which I knew very little about. Beevor also goes into detail regarding some of the politics during the war, which was also interesting, particularly the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt. He also covers the atrocities and mass killings in some depth, which was hard going on occasion but obviously could not be neglected. Again, while I had some knowledge of this topic, the scale and immensity of it was unbelievable - I kept coming home and telling my wife little facts I had learned from the book and we would end up in a deep conversation about the behaviour of humans to one another. The military side is covered in detail, with all the major theatres, campaigns and battles, so nothing was missing there. The real experts may not find anything completely new in there, but for people who are interested in WW2 the book is definitely worth a read.

The audio version of the book is 39 hours long, but at no stage did I find it to be dragging and was sorry when it ended. The narrator was excellent (which is so important in an audiobook as the narrator can make or break a book), one of the best I have listened to in my many years of audiobooks. All up I can thoroughly recommend the book, particularly if you're interested in tackling an audiobook. I've just bought 'Arnhem' by Antony Beevor, which has the same narrator, so I'm looking forward to getting that one underway.

Cheers.]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=72328 Mon, 04 Feb 2019 04:49:28 +0000 1sg_Winks]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=72328
Common Valor-Ambush at Srok Rung-November 7, 1967. Author-S.T. Simms]]>
Common Valor-Ambush at Srok Rung-November 7, 1967. Author-S.T. Simms]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=71476 Fri, 23 Feb 2018 13:33:33 +0000 Distantaco]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=71476
I started writing a story with lots of combats which turned into a book. I am constantly working on it still but i wish to share a part of it here. Do you think there are people interested to read it here?]]>
I started writing a story with lots of combats which turned into a book. I am constantly working on it still but i wish to share a part of it here. Do you think there are people interested to read it here?]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69925 Fri, 26 Aug 2016 01:05:43 +0000 Wodin]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69925
LINK TO BOOK REVIEW SECTION]]>
LINK TO BOOK REVIEW SECTION]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69861 Tue, 02 Aug 2016 01:39:46 +0000 wildb]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69861 Coventry: Thursday, 14 November 1940

Author:  Frederick Taylor
ISBN-139781632861979


Provides a history of Conventry, its importance to the British aircraft industry, a discussion of the supposed sacrifice of the city to protect the ultra secret, the effects of the raid on the town, and how the civilian population reacted to the attack.

The chapters dealing with sacrifice of the city provide an excellent discussion of what the British knew of the attack and their lack of an ability to stop the attack.  Ultra had indicated that the Germans were planning an operation called Moonlight Sonata.  The problem was the correct interpretation of the operation name, potential targets, and what could be done about it.

One way to interrupt the attack was to jam or subvert the signals used to guide the bombers on the target.  There is a good discussion of the main types of beams used by the Germans and the problems associated with jamming and subverting those beams.  There is also a discussion of the role inter-service rivalries over the analysis of a German bomber that had been shot down.

At the time, the British night fighters were not effective and only occasionally could find the German bombers at night.

There is also a discussion of whether a mass civilian evacuation would have been effective or would have resulted in mass panic and greater casualties.

There is a discussion of how the German propaganda failed in its attempt to use Conventry as a means of showing off German airpower.  The raid had a pronounced affect on the Americans and their willingness to support Britain.  From being neutral, the Americans, starting gradually shifting their support to helping Britain.

I think you will find this book to very informative.

]]> Coventry: Thursday, 14 November 1940

Author:  Frederick Taylor
ISBN-139781632861979


Provides a history of Conventry, its importance to the British aircraft industry, a discussion of the supposed sacrifice of the city to protect the ultra secret, the effects of the raid on the town, and how the civilian population reacted to the attack.

The chapters dealing with sacrifice of the city provide an excellent discussion of what the British knew of the attack and their lack of an ability to stop the attack.  Ultra had indicated that the Germans were planning an operation called Moonlight Sonata.  The problem was the correct interpretation of the operation name, potential targets, and what could be done about it.

One way to interrupt the attack was to jam or subvert the signals used to guide the bombers on the target.  There is a good discussion of the main types of beams used by the Germans and the problems associated with jamming and subverting those beams.  There is also a discussion of the role inter-service rivalries over the analysis of a German bomber that had been shot down.

At the time, the British night fighters were not effective and only occasionally could find the German bombers at night.

There is also a discussion of whether a mass civilian evacuation would have been effective or would have resulted in mass panic and greater casualties.

There is a discussion of how the German propaganda failed in its attempt to use Conventry as a means of showing off German airpower.  The raid had a pronounced affect on the Americans and their willingness to support Britain.  From being neutral, the Americans, starting gradually shifting their support to helping Britain.

I think you will find this book to very informative.

]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69705 Sat, 11 Jun 2016 18:31:08 +0000 Weasel]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69705  
The following should be included in a book review to help give a full picture of the book:
 
1.   What is the author’s objective in writing the book?

2.   Define the author’s writing style; is it easy reading, complex, choppy?  Does the book fit together well or are chapters intertwined and maps placed in an inconvenient location?  Do you read parts of the book and go “huh?” and then start flipping pages to find a past read part to clear up the point?


3.   How well does the author define his concept and does he support his theory with evidence?

4.   What areas are covered, how much depth is involved?

5.   Is the book a series of data collections formed into story, or is the book one of first person experiences?

6.   Provide examples from the book if you feel it helps flesh out your review

The following is from Dalhousie University on writing a book review:

Reviewing essentials

• Description of the book. Sufficient description should be given so that the reader will have some understanding of the author's thoughts. This account is not a summary. It can be woven into the critical remarks.
  
• Appraise the book. A review must be a considered judgment that includes:
  • a statement of the reviewer's understanding of the author's purpose
    
  • how well the reviewer feels the author's purpose has been achieved
    
  • evidence to support the reviewer's judgement of the author' achievement.
    

]]>  
The following should be included in a book review to help give a full picture of the book:
 
1.   What is the author’s objective in writing the book?

2.   Define the author’s writing style; is it easy reading, complex, choppy?  Does the book fit together well or are chapters intertwined and maps placed in an inconvenient location?  Do you read parts of the book and go “huh?” and then start flipping pages to find a past read part to clear up the point?


3.   How well does the author define his concept and does he support his theory with evidence?

4.   What areas are covered, how much depth is involved?

5.   Is the book a series of data collections formed into story, or is the book one of first person experiences?

6.   Provide examples from the book if you feel it helps flesh out your review

The following is from Dalhousie University on writing a book review:

Reviewing essentials

• Description of the book. Sufficient description should be given so that the reader will have some understanding of the author's thoughts. This account is not a summary. It can be woven into the critical remarks.
  
• Appraise the book. A review must be a considered judgment that includes:
  • a statement of the reviewer's understanding of the author's purpose
    
  • how well the reviewer feels the author's purpose has been achieved
    
  • evidence to support the reviewer's judgement of the author' achievement.
    

]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69674 Tue, 31 May 2016 23:22:04 +0000 Weasel]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69674 https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69657 Wed, 25 May 2016 17:35:49 +0000 Abena Bahati]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69657 Essential Reading On World War II


The Duel
By John Lukacs (1990)
The formidably productive Hungarian-born historian John Lukacs has published several fine books about World War II, but "The Duel" might be his most gripping. It is richly written, relatively short and full of suspense even though we know how the story ends. It opens on May 10, 1940, with the French army dissolving before the German onslaught and Winston Churchill just made prime minister. "We do not know what Hitler thought of the news from London when he retired for the night," writes Lukacs, but "it seems that he did not yet wholly comprehend how, beneath and beyond the great war of armies and navies and entire peoples that he had now started in Western Europe, he would be involved in something like a hand-to-hand duel with Churchill." For a little while, the fate of the world depended upon which of two leaders better understood the other. Hitler was usually a shrewd assessor of his opponents, but he underestimated this one, and although the 80-day span Lukacs illuminates is the merest antechamber to the terrible years that lie ahead, by the end of it Churchill has won and, with him, Western civilization.


Commander in Chief
By Eric Larrabee (1987)
Here is a view of the war not quite like any other: a narrative of the American participation told in a series of individual biographies. This might seem the recipe for a host of disjunctions and irritations, but Eric Larrabee manages it flawlessly. Beginning with FDR himself, the historian moves through Gen. George Marshall, Adm. Ernest King and on until he ends with Gen. Curtis LeMay and his B-29s above the ashes of Japan. The stories of the commanders seamlessly propel the greater story of the war. The whole is engrossing and spiked with sharp judgments: Douglas MacArthur was a much better peacemaker than he was a general; Dwight Eisenhower flourished because of a quality he carefully concealed: "intelligence, an intelligence as icy as has ever risen to the higher reaches of American life."

The Caine Mutiny
By Herman Wouk (1951)
Growing tensions aboard a decaying World War I-era destroyer, a terrifying storm at sea, a spellbinding court martial, good jokes and a nice little 1940s Manhattan love story thrown in too. "The Caine Mutiny" is not considered a serious piece of war literature. It should be. The novel contains a powerful meditation on the obligations of military command and obedience, and in its appealing hero, Willie Keith, it charts the trajectory from college twerp to capable officer that so many thousands of Americans followed in those years. The book conveys the universals of what at first might seem a narrow naval existence: Anyone who has spent time in the close quarters of an office (or, for that matter, a book group) will recognize the rub and chafe of life in the Caine's wardroom. My father saw very different sea duty (Atlantic submarine-hunting as opposed to the Caine's Pacific minesweeping), but he believed that this book summoned his experience of the war at sea more precisely than any other.

Other Clay
By Charles Cawthon (1990)
'On the morning of 3 February, 1941, H Company, Virginia National Guard, Martinsville, Virginia, mustered in its armory and was sworn into federal service. It was not a stirring scene; no bands played, no crowds cheered. . . . Over the next four years, most of those men—uniformed and armed then largely as their fathers had been in a war twenty-four years before—would be killed or wounded." Thus begins Charles Cawthon's memoir, "Other Clay," perhaps the finest evocation of war's bedrock necessity: infantry combat. Its author, who was a platoon leader in H Company on that February morning, landed with the second wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He struggled through the ghastly Normandy hedgerows into the winter fighting at the Bulge and was wounded on the German border. All this he recounts with a clarity that is the stronger for its calmness. In every sentence his perfect tone brings us close to both the frightened young infantryman and the wise old veteran.

A World at Arms
By Gerhard Weinberg (1994)
With the 1,178-page "A World at Arms," Gerhard Weinberg, a German-born diplomatic historian, succeeded in writing not just a "global history" of the war but also one with mordant humor and, most of all, a seemingly effortless grasp of the entire conflict. This is still the best single-volume history of the war and likely to remain so for a long time to come. It is some indication of the author's sensibilities that right at the outset he quotes the short verse on the monument in the jungle town of Kohima honoring the British soldiers who died stopping the Japanese advance into India: "When you go home / Tell them of us, and say: / For your tomorrow, / We gave our today."]]> Essential Reading On World War II


The Duel
By John Lukacs (1990)
The formidably productive Hungarian-born historian John Lukacs has published several fine books about World War II, but "The Duel" might be his most gripping. It is richly written, relatively short and full of suspense even though we know how the story ends. It opens on May 10, 1940, with the French army dissolving before the German onslaught and Winston Churchill just made prime minister. "We do not know what Hitler thought of the news from London when he retired for the night," writes Lukacs, but "it seems that he did not yet wholly comprehend how, beneath and beyond the great war of armies and navies and entire peoples that he had now started in Western Europe, he would be involved in something like a hand-to-hand duel with Churchill." For a little while, the fate of the world depended upon which of two leaders better understood the other. Hitler was usually a shrewd assessor of his opponents, but he underestimated this one, and although the 80-day span Lukacs illuminates is the merest antechamber to the terrible years that lie ahead, by the end of it Churchill has won and, with him, Western civilization.


Commander in Chief
By Eric Larrabee (1987)
Here is a view of the war not quite like any other: a narrative of the American participation told in a series of individual biographies. This might seem the recipe for a host of disjunctions and irritations, but Eric Larrabee manages it flawlessly. Beginning with FDR himself, the historian moves through Gen. George Marshall, Adm. Ernest King and on until he ends with Gen. Curtis LeMay and his B-29s above the ashes of Japan. The stories of the commanders seamlessly propel the greater story of the war. The whole is engrossing and spiked with sharp judgments: Douglas MacArthur was a much better peacemaker than he was a general; Dwight Eisenhower flourished because of a quality he carefully concealed: "intelligence, an intelligence as icy as has ever risen to the higher reaches of American life."

The Caine Mutiny
By Herman Wouk (1951)
Growing tensions aboard a decaying World War I-era destroyer, a terrifying storm at sea, a spellbinding court martial, good jokes and a nice little 1940s Manhattan love story thrown in too. "The Caine Mutiny" is not considered a serious piece of war literature. It should be. The novel contains a powerful meditation on the obligations of military command and obedience, and in its appealing hero, Willie Keith, it charts the trajectory from college twerp to capable officer that so many thousands of Americans followed in those years. The book conveys the universals of what at first might seem a narrow naval existence: Anyone who has spent time in the close quarters of an office (or, for that matter, a book group) will recognize the rub and chafe of life in the Caine's wardroom. My father saw very different sea duty (Atlantic submarine-hunting as opposed to the Caine's Pacific minesweeping), but he believed that this book summoned his experience of the war at sea more precisely than any other.

Other Clay
By Charles Cawthon (1990)
'On the morning of 3 February, 1941, H Company, Virginia National Guard, Martinsville, Virginia, mustered in its armory and was sworn into federal service. It was not a stirring scene; no bands played, no crowds cheered. . . . Over the next four years, most of those men—uniformed and armed then largely as their fathers had been in a war twenty-four years before—would be killed or wounded." Thus begins Charles Cawthon's memoir, "Other Clay," perhaps the finest evocation of war's bedrock necessity: infantry combat. Its author, who was a platoon leader in H Company on that February morning, landed with the second wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He struggled through the ghastly Normandy hedgerows into the winter fighting at the Bulge and was wounded on the German border. All this he recounts with a clarity that is the stronger for its calmness. In every sentence his perfect tone brings us close to both the frightened young infantryman and the wise old veteran.

A World at Arms
By Gerhard Weinberg (1994)
With the 1,178-page "A World at Arms," Gerhard Weinberg, a German-born diplomatic historian, succeeded in writing not just a "global history" of the war but also one with mordant humor and, most of all, a seemingly effortless grasp of the entire conflict. This is still the best single-volume history of the war and likely to remain so for a long time to come. It is some indication of the author's sensibilities that right at the outset he quotes the short verse on the monument in the jungle town of Kohima honoring the British soldiers who died stopping the Japanese advance into India: "When you go home / Tell them of us, and say: / For your tomorrow, / We gave our today."]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69438 Thu, 24 Mar 2016 18:40:45 +0000 Thunder]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69438 The United States Fourth Armored Division
ISBN-13: 978-0786430949
ISBN-10: 078643094X


Patton’s Vanguard presents an enthusiastic account of the almost legendary battles of the United States Fourth Armored Division. I grew up with the believe that Second Armored Division was Patton’s best but I believe I was proved wrong by this excellent book. From its World War II origins through the relief of the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of Bulge, this division shined. From the breakout of Normandy at Avranches, the isolation of the Brittany peninsula, the dash across France, the tank battles at Arracourt, this division fought with fervor and defeated all challenges. The accounts were assembled through the use of original unit combat diaries and after-action reports, memoirs of key historical figures and abundant supplementary documents and correspondences. But the essence of the book are the first-hand recollections from members of the division gathered by the author. With maps, drawings and photographs. The author Don Fox did an awesome job on this book and we should add this to our collections.

]]> The United States Fourth Armored Division
ISBN-13: 978-0786430949
ISBN-10: 078643094X


Patton’s Vanguard presents an enthusiastic account of the almost legendary battles of the United States Fourth Armored Division. I grew up with the believe that Second Armored Division was Patton’s best but I believe I was proved wrong by this excellent book. From its World War II origins through the relief of the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of Bulge, this division shined. From the breakout of Normandy at Avranches, the isolation of the Brittany peninsula, the dash across France, the tank battles at Arracourt, this division fought with fervor and defeated all challenges. The accounts were assembled through the use of original unit combat diaries and after-action reports, memoirs of key historical figures and abundant supplementary documents and correspondences. But the essence of the book are the first-hand recollections from members of the division gathered by the author. With maps, drawings and photographs. The author Don Fox did an awesome job on this book and we should add this to our collections.

]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69274 Fri, 12 Feb 2016 21:06:08 +0000 Kool Kat]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69274 By Author: Guy Sajer

• ISBN-10: 1574882864
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1574882865
  

I first read The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer, over thirty years ago, and the horrific and brutal depictions of battle, suffering, and death experienced by the German soldier on the Eastern Front in World War II, still remain with me today.

While there has been controversy over the authenticity of Sajer's account, and even if Sajer was an actual soldier in the Gross Deutschland Division, there is no mistaking that the author has captured the raw psychological and physical toll that combat extracts from a human being.

There are also glimpses of beauty found here. The Russian steppe covered with flowers on a warm summer day. Sajer's romance of Paula while on leave in Berlin and the forming of friendship among fellow comrades. But the beauty is intermixed with the horror of war. Tank treads running over and crushing soldiers into bloody pulp. Men being blown to bits and crying like scared children, huddled in a trench.

There are also senses of both heroism and despair, like this memorable account of a German rear guard action at Memel during the closing days on the Eastern Front:

"A dozen dirty-gray tanks went out to meet an inexorable fate. The black crosses painted on their grey sides, the color of our misery, were scarcely visible. Inside the turrets, the Ride of the Valkyrie was coming over the short-wave radios - a fitting accompaniment to supreme sacrifice. Decrepit trucks carry field pieces and heavy machine guns followed close behind, replacing the full-track caissons of Panzergrenadiers of our prosperous days. A mass of infantry, mixed with the remnants of naval and aerial groups, ran along beside the motorized material. My group, in which, to my joy, I recognized the faces of Hals and Weiner, were clinging to the exposed chassis of an automobile which had been stripped of its skin."

The Forgotten Soldier, thanks to this extraordinary account by Guy Sajer, will never be truly forgotten. Sajer pleads for the common foot soldier and for understanding that men who fought on the losing side of a war, in the end, are simply human beings themselves, trying to make sense out of the chaos of war and to survive. A "must read" for all persons interested in World War II biographical novels.



]]> By Author: Guy Sajer

• ISBN-10: 1574882864
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1574882865
  

I first read The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer, over thirty years ago, and the horrific and brutal depictions of battle, suffering, and death experienced by the German soldier on the Eastern Front in World War II, still remain with me today.

While there has been controversy over the authenticity of Sajer's account, and even if Sajer was an actual soldier in the Gross Deutschland Division, there is no mistaking that the author has captured the raw psychological and physical toll that combat extracts from a human being.

There are also glimpses of beauty found here. The Russian steppe covered with flowers on a warm summer day. Sajer's romance of Paula while on leave in Berlin and the forming of friendship among fellow comrades. But the beauty is intermixed with the horror of war. Tank treads running over and crushing soldiers into bloody pulp. Men being blown to bits and crying like scared children, huddled in a trench.

There are also senses of both heroism and despair, like this memorable account of a German rear guard action at Memel during the closing days on the Eastern Front:

"A dozen dirty-gray tanks went out to meet an inexorable fate. The black crosses painted on their grey sides, the color of our misery, were scarcely visible. Inside the turrets, the Ride of the Valkyrie was coming over the short-wave radios - a fitting accompaniment to supreme sacrifice. Decrepit trucks carry field pieces and heavy machine guns followed close behind, replacing the full-track caissons of Panzergrenadiers of our prosperous days. A mass of infantry, mixed with the remnants of naval and aerial groups, ran along beside the motorized material. My group, in which, to my joy, I recognized the faces of Hals and Weiner, were clinging to the exposed chassis of an automobile which had been stripped of its skin."

The Forgotten Soldier, thanks to this extraordinary account by Guy Sajer, will never be truly forgotten. Sajer pleads for the common foot soldier and for understanding that men who fought on the losing side of a war, in the end, are simply human beings themselves, trying to make sense out of the chaos of war and to survive. A "must read" for all persons interested in World War II biographical novels.



]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69268 Tue, 09 Feb 2016 21:57:43 +0000 Weasel]]> https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=69268 Eyewitness to Hell: With the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front in World War 2
by author: Erich Stahl
ISBN: 9780982190739


Eyewitness to hell is Erich Stahl personal recollections of his time on the Eastern Front as a “journalist soldier”.  Attached to both the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and Wiking divisions the author recounts his time fighting in the south of the Ukraine and Russia, and also details his interactions with the Cossack population and others he meets during the German retreat. 
The book starts out well enough with the author seeing some combat, but the book then becomes a story of how much the Ukrainian population loved their liberators and how much they hate their Russian masters.  While this is fine, and believable, the combat ends and the book became filled with encounters of various types all of which are the same theme as above.  That the author, after 50 years, can remember exact conversations he had with the population is incredible, in fact in my belief it turns the book into one of fiction.
The atrocities committed on the Eastern Front are quickly glanced over with the author stating that while some units did commit them, he was not part of it nor witnessed it.  He does point out that the German government could have found itself with a million Ukrainian and Cossack reinforcements if it had treated the people decently, which is correct.  It is also pointed out that no “cleansing” was committed in the Urals and those people remained German allies to the end.
From the Ukraine the author retreated into Romania where once again we are treated to tens of pages of conversations he remembers having with various persons he met along the way.  A bright point is we do obtain a view of how the German army turned on itself, either outright shooting any soldier they thought was deserting, or forcing them into ad hoc units even if they possessed orders allowing them to be alone enroute to a destination.
Unfortunately, as previously stated, there is very little combat in this book which makes it more of a political book detailing how horrible the Russians were than being a combat memoir as the description states it is.  Very disappointed, I would have to say that unless political views are what you are after that this book deserves to pass.  I donated my copy to the Rotary club after reading it.

Goodreads rates this book a 3.8/5.  I would rate it a 2.



 
 
 
 
 ]]> Eyewitness to Hell: With the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front in World War 2
by author: Erich Stahl
ISBN: 9780982190739


Eyewitness to hell is Erich Stahl personal recollections of his time on the Eastern Front as a “journalist soldier”.  Attached to both the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and Wiking divisions the author recounts his time fighting in the south of the Ukraine and Russia, and also details his interactions with the Cossack population and others he meets during the German retreat. 
The book starts out well enough with the author seeing some combat, but the book then becomes a story of how much the Ukrainian population loved their liberators and how much they hate their Russian masters.  While this is fine, and believable, the combat ends and the book became filled with encounters of various types all of which are the same theme as above.  That the author, after 50 years, can remember exact conversations he had with the population is incredible, in fact in my belief it turns the book into one of fiction.
The atrocities committed on the Eastern Front are quickly glanced over with the author stating that while some units did commit them, he was not part of it nor witnessed it.  He does point out that the German government could have found itself with a million Ukrainian and Cossack reinforcements if it had treated the people decently, which is correct.  It is also pointed out that no “cleansing” was committed in the Urals and those people remained German allies to the end.
From the Ukraine the author retreated into Romania where once again we are treated to tens of pages of conversations he remembers having with various persons he met along the way.  A bright point is we do obtain a view of how the German army turned on itself, either outright shooting any soldier they thought was deserting, or forcing them into ad hoc units even if they possessed orders allowing them to be alone enroute to a destination.
Unfortunately, as previously stated, there is very little combat in this book which makes it more of a political book detailing how horrible the Russians were than being a combat memoir as the description states it is.  Very disappointed, I would have to say that unless political views are what you are after that this book deserves to pass.  I donated my copy to the Rotary club after reading it.

Goodreads rates this book a 3.8/5.  I would rate it a 2.



 
 
 
 
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