Europe Books - Page 15

Firestorm: Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden

Marshall De Bruhl

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

On February 13 and 14, 1945, three successive waves of British and U.S. aircraft rained down thousands of tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the largely undefended German city of Dresden. Night and day, Dresden was engulfed in a vast sea of flame, a firestorm that generated 1,500-degree temperatures and hurricane-force winds. Thousands suffocated in underground shelters where they had fled to escape the inferno above. The fierce winds pulled thousands more into the center of the firestorm, where they were incinerated. By the time the fires burned themselves out, many days later, a great city–known as “the Florence on the Elbe”–lay in ruins, and tens of thousands, almost all of them civilians, lay dead.

In Firestorm, Marshall De Bruhl re-creates the drama and horror of the Dresden bombing and offers the most cogent appraisal yet of the tactics, weapons, strategy, and rationale for the controversial attack. Using new research and contemporary reports, as well as eyewitness stories of the devastation, De Bruhl directly addresses many long-unresolved questions relating to the bombing: Why did the strike occur when the Allies’ victory was seemingly so imminent? Was choosing a city choked with German refugees a punitive decision, intended to humiliate a nation? What, if any, strategic importance did Dresden have? How much did the desire to send a “message”–to Imperial Japan or the advancing Soviet armies–factor into the decision to firebomb the city?


Beyond De Bruhl’s analysis of the moral implications and historical ramifications of the attack, he examines how Nazi and Allied philosophies of airpower evolved prior to Dresden, particularly the shift toward “morale bombing” and the targeting of population centers as a strategic objective. He also profiles the architects and prime movers of strategic bombing and aerial warfare, among them aviation pioneer Billy Mitchell, RAF air marshal Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris, and the American commander, General Carl Spaatz.

The passage of time has done nothing to quell the controversy stirred up by the Dresden raid. It has spawned a plethora of books, documentaries, articles, and works of fiction. Firestorm dispels the myths, refutes the arguments, and offers a dispassionate and clear-eyed look at the decisions made and the actions taken throughout the bombing campaign against the cities of the Third Reich–a campaign whose most devastating consequence was the Dresden raid. It is an objective work of history that dares to consider the calculus of war.

German Army Uniforms and Insignia, 1933-1945

Brian L. Davis

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Specialist Book 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

You have to really enjoy this subject to find value in this book. Overall the author did a good job, although I would have liked to have more background on some of the topics. I have found the book to be a good guide while visiting WW 2 museums that have uniform collections.

Excellent reference 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Very thorough, very detailed, plenty of pictures. Indispensible if you are more than casually interested in the subject.

Sad lack of color photos on this book. 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I was hoping to get color photos of proud German soldiers in their uniforms but they're all black and white which, needless to say is uninspiring to read.
Otherwise, it's well-written and the black and white photos do an ok job of depicting the uniforms.

Dated but still relevant book 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This oldie but still relevant book on German Army Uniforms continues to stand the test of time. The context and relevance of various items of equipment and insignia worn with the uniforms is clearly indicated and backed by good pictures and diagrams.

Editorial Review:

Every section of the German army had its own unique badges and accoutrements, all of which are illustrated and explained in this book.

The Brandenburger Commandos: Germany's Elite Warrior Spies in World War II (Stackpole Military History Series)

Franz Kurowski

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

The Brandenburger Commandos: Germany's Elite Warrior Spies in World War II (Stackpole Military History Series) (Stackpole Milita 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

A very good book to add to your WW II collection. Tells the story about a unit's of the German Elite Warrior Spies in WW II, and how they fought for Germany in many parts of the world.

Inferior Propaganda 1 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a thoroughly bad book.

First, it's absolutely chock-full of typos (e.g., the same individual is named "Süß", "Sub", and "Suß" on pp. 84-86) and tech goofs (e.g., "Rumania" and "Romania" are two different index entries). This may be the result of an unedited OCR job on the previous (1997) edition.

Second, the translation is pretty bad -- although, to be fair, the original German isn't much better. Some of the translator's choices are absurd; for instance, ranks with well-established English equivalents, such as "Hauptmann" ("Captain"), are not translated, but ranks which do not have equivalents are (e.g., Kaltenbrunner's rank is translated as "General of the Waffen-SS", when in fact the rank of "General" did not exist in the SS). Numerous place names are rendered with the German instead of the English spelling (e.g., "Täbris" instead of "Tabriz"), although it makes no sense in English; in other instances, German place names are used instead of internationally well-established names (e.g., "Laibach" instead of "Ljubljana"). At one point, this becomes downright offensive -- on pp. 335-336 the name "Litzmannstadt" is used instead of "Lodz" ("Litzmannstadt" was Hitler's invention -- the historical German name of this Polish city was "Lodsch").

Third, there are numerous problems with the original content. These range from trivial (e.g., Brandenburgers who spoke "Yugoslavian", p. 84) to serious. The organisation is poor, with confusing repetitions and breaks (e.g. the operations in Iraq, on pp. 128-132, and again on pp. 142-148). The maps are generic and small-scale, and thus completely useless for following the operations described in the text. Although there is a bibliography, there are no attributions or sources for most of the statements in the text, and thus their accuracy or reliability cannot be checked. For instance, on pp. 231-232, the author gives us a dialogue between a Soviet renegade sent by the Germans to assassinate Stalin and his Soviet captors. Is this dialogue from a memoir or interview? From a report found in an archive? Copied from someone else's book? Or is it the product of Kurowski's imagination? It's anyone's guess.

But there's more. On p. 290, Kurowski gives us two paragraphs about the Brandenburgers and Romania's defection from the Axis. In the first paragraph, there's a "revolt in Romania" (1944/08/23), and the 4th Regiment and the Parachute Battalion are assembled in the Nish-Belgrade area to help put it down. In the second paragraph, two battalions of the 4th Regiment are landed "in the Klausenberg [sic] area of northern Romania" and get involved in fighting with "the arriving elements of the Red Army". While this might pass by someone not familiar with the area, it rings a false note indeed. First, Klausenburg (Cluj or Kolozsvár) was at the time part of Hungary, not Romania; second, it was some 260 miles (425km) from Romania's capital, Bucharest, where the revolt had occurred; third, the Red Army didn't reach it until October 11. So what happened between late August and mid-October? Well, what happened was nothing less than the swiftest and single worst defeat of German commandos in the war -- and it came at the hands of the despised Romanians! On August 24, the Brandenburgers were tasked to take over two airfields (Boteni & Tzandarei) near the capital, to immobilise Romania's best-equipped air force squadron, and to secure the airfields for the landing of reinforcements for Gen. Gerstenberg's attempt to crush the revolt. Two "Tante Ju" landed at each airfield, but the Brandenburger advanced guard was annihilated in short order by Romanian paratroops and airfield security. Due to this failure, the remainder, in Ju-52s and Me-363s, were re-directed to the Otopeni airfield, which had already been secured by Luftwaffe troops the previous night. On the way, they were savagely mauled by the Romanian air force, and the survivors joined Gerstenberg's group, surrendering with it to the Romanians four days later, having achieved nothing. (The Cluj/Klausenburg action had no connection to the Romanian revolt -- it took place later, in the context of Soviet and Romanian advance into Hungary and Transylvania.)

Finally, there's a distinct miasma about this book. It may be reasonable to describe pro-German Arabs and Indians as "freedom movements" (p. 140), but it is beyond all reason to describe pro-German saboteurs in besieged Leningrad as a "resistance group" (p. 212). Much worse, Kurowski uses more than 4 pages to discuss atrocities committed by the NKVD in L'viv (p. 112-116), but makes not a single mention of the numerous atrocities committed by the Brandenburgers in the USSR, Yugoslavia, and Greece, not only during anti-partisan actions, but also against captured British commandos (in the Aegean).

In short, a poor quality work, which reads more like propaganda or biased journalism than a serious account of German special forces in WW2.

Editorial Review:

* Rare look into the secret military operations of Hitler's Germany

* Page-turning narrative detailing the unit's exploits

Before the German blitzkrieg stormed across Europe in 1939-40, a group of elite soldiers prepared the way by seizing bridges and other strategic targets ahead of the attack. In the following years, these warrior-spies, known as the Brandenburgers, operated behind enemy lines around the globe, from Russia and Yugoslavia to Egypt, Iraq, and India--often bending the rules of war while completing their daring covert missions. Trained to be mobile and independent, steeped in foreign languages and customs, and expert in numerous military specialties, the Brandenburgers influenced the world's special forces long after World War II.

Hitler's Raid to Save Mussolini: The Most Infamous Commando Operation of World War II

Greg Annussek

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The first book to tell the incredible story of the most famous German commando operation of World War II-the dramatic and daring rescue of Benito Mussolini

The Allied invasion of Italy pressed on through the summer of 1943, the strutting dictator, Mussolini, was overthrown and imprisoned by his own people in a remote mountaintop resort. Furious at the turn of events, Adolf Hitler, Il Duce's sworn ally, promised to rescue Mussolini and restore the Rome-Berlin Axis.

On September 12, a small convoy of glider aircraft suddenly began crash-landing near the hotel-prison where Mussolini was held and German commandos poured out of the half-wrecked planes. The soldiers quickly overwhelmed the hotel and seized Mussolini, who had watched the drama unfold from a second-story window. "I knew my friend Adolf Hitler would not abandon me," said a grinning Mussolini to his rescuers.

Hitler's rescue of Mussolini was one of the most famous commando operations of the twentieth century and shocked a war-weary world. It was also the dramatic culmination of the bizarre relationship between Hitler and Mussolini-a relationship that had disastrous consequences for the globe.

In this vivid and lively narrative filled with drama, intrigue, action, and some of history's most notorious characters, author Greg Annussek recounts the dramatic story of Germany's secret six-week operation to find and rescue the prisoner Mussolini and restore him to power.

Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II

Len Deighton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

By 1942 the civilised world had been brought to the brink of ruin. It had taken the Axis powers less than three years to command the high seas in the North Atlantic and the South Pacific, to lay waste most of Europe and enslave millions in Asia, to drive deep into Stalin's Soviet empire and come within an ace of controlling the oilfields in the Middle East. At the height of their power the European dictators and the Japanese military autocracy ruled ruthlessly almost half the world. Standing alone, the British were bankrupt and the United States only driven from isolation by the humiliation at Pearl Harbour. Before the tide fully turned in 1943, millions had been put to death, the machinery of the holocaust was in place and nuclear devastation well on the way to become a reality. Yet, Deighton warns, fifty years on the lessons of the Second World War continue to reverberate unheeded. Racial hatred, ethnic cleansing, recession, trade wars and the widening gap between the world's rich and poor promise economic migration on a frightening scale. The dangers of today are seen all too clearly in this account of a recent time when humanity was consumed by violence and destruction.

Churchill's War

David Irving

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The truth will out 4 out of 5 stars.
32 of 37 people found this review helpful.

With the publication of Lord Alanbrooke's "War Diaries", and the (finally!) re-publication of Henry Williamson's "Lucifer Before Sunrise" and "The Gale of the World", Irving's well-documented, totally supported theses are independantly ond objectively confirmed. The mythologizing of the origins and conduct of World War II was begun by Churchill himself, and has accelerated in the last 20 years to a point that anyone not toeing the "politically correct" line is attacked as a Nazi sympathiser.

Irving's early books were universally praised. Almost all authors of major works on Hitler's war leadership and the Wehrmacht High Command -- including the multi-volume official histories written by the MGFA (the German Federal Military History Research Office) -- cite Irving's own books or the sources he has uncovered and employed. However, the "political acceptibility" of the material uncovered (not fabricated) by Irving has lead to his current demonization.

Sometimes, the truth isn't as pretty as we'd like it to be. And when it comes to World war 2, the "truth" is getting harder and harder to find.

Editorial Review:

David Irving present a wealth of hitherto suppressed information, that shows a shockingly unfamiliar portrait of the great statesman, Churchill. Readers will discover a power-hungry leader who prolonged the war to advance his own career, and much more to astonish one and all.

Dunkirk - Fight to the Last Man

Huge Sebag - Montefiore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

The Fall of France 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I saw this book in the local bookstore, and picked it up because I have always been interested in the early part of WWII. Paging through it, I was impressed to find that it did not only cover Operation Dynamo (the rescue of British and French troops from the Dunkirk area) but covered the entire scope of the fall of France, including some of the post Dunkirk operations (such as the surrender of the 51st Division at St Valery).

I have just finished reading the book. It is outstanding - I have quite a few books on the fall of France, including Horne's "To Lose a Battle" and Schirer's "The Collapse of the Third Republic", but this, from a military history point of view, is the best I have ever seen.

The author covers the action down to about Battalion level; in many cases, down to company level. He is outstanding on the events surrounding the breakthrough along the Muese at Sedan and Dinant. Reading Horne, one misses the fine grained detail of what happens : this author explains the events very well indeed.

In "To Lose a Battle", Horne points out that the official French version of the events of May 1940 had not been released when he wrote the book, and that it was difficult or impossible to consult French military sources. Sebag-Montefiore seems to have had unprecedented access to French military archives, as well as rooting out accounts in such strange places as Czechoslovakia and Russia.

Sebag-Montefiore has also made excellent use of primary sources, conducting many interviews with participants of the events he writes about. The book is very extensively footnoted (or rather, end noted) - probably enough to satisfy the most rigorous investigation.

There are a few small niggles - in the beginning of the book, Sebag-Montefiore disparages the French 25mm AT gun, which I understand was pretty good at the time; he also makes the comment that the "raison d eitier" for armoured divisions was to fight other armoured divisions, which conclusion I disagree with most strenuously. Fortunately though, there is none of the old complaints about "how useless the 2 pounder" (British anti - tank gun) was.

An outstanding book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the period and the theater.

Frozen Tears: The Blockade and Battle of Leningrad

Albert Pleysier

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The European Home Fronts, 1939-1945 (The European History Series)

Earl Ray Beck

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Editorial Review:

In The European Homefronts, 1939-1945, Professor Earl Beck portrays the life of civilians in a continent torn by war. The cruelty of occupying forces laid a mantle of fear across the nations they controlled. Resistance movements risked the lives of their activists as well as those of uninvolved citizens. Millions of Jews were executed because of their race; hundreds of thousands of Slavs also lost their lives or were sent to harsh forced labor in Germany. Everywhere life was made difficult by severe shortages of food, clothing, and household goods. And the Germans, who had begun the bombing of cities, saw their own cities wreathed in flames and left in ashes, with hundreds of thousands of civilians dying in the horror of the firestorms.

Spitfire A Test Pilot's Story

Jeffrey Quill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Well......... 1 out of 5 stars.
10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I'm not sure I mean this as a negative review or not. I'm not finished with the book yet. I might add I can usually finish a book in a 24 hour period but this book is giving me a bit of trouble.

Intricate is a subtle word. History and logistics are very prevelant. To me there is far too much about the King of England, the King of Scotland, politics, and who is related to who by their extramarital affairs. It is unfair for me to give an opinion before I finish the book but truthfully, I am of a mind to close the book and feel that I have not missed anything. I'm sorry to say, I'm bored with it.

This is not my first Bertrice Small book and am feeling a bit guilty for speaking my mind. At the moment, (where I am in the book) Arabella is a spy in France for Tudor. I understand Arabella's reasons and her plight but cannot help but feel it is toooooo much. She and Tavis are suppose to be in love with each other. Her determination and honor binds her to her ancestorial home and title even it if it for her daugher. I am forcing myself to finish this soon because I am curious to Tavis's reaction. I confess I have skimmed frequently and perhaps I am missing some vital events but the first and second line of the paragraph seems to explain the rest of the paragraphs intent.

To gage this review, I am partial to Stephanie Laurens, Susan Johnson, Connie Mason, Christine Feehan and I won't bore you by going on. Like most, I enjoy fiction because it is that, fiction; this however is far too detailed. The love scenes are so so. I am not one to look for many love that take up a chapter in itself describing every detail but I find them lacking in this book. The warmth and emotion are not emphasized adequately.

I apologize for my opinion before completing the book but I have read many romance novels over a 6 year period and am sorry to say this book does not hold my interest. The story and situations seem to go on forever.

I hope this has helped you. I personally rely on the reviews of other readers. I'm sorry that I cannot give this more than one star. I am not in any hurry to read any more of Ms. Small's book.

My apologies to Ms. Small and her fans. In closing, I suppose this is a negative review of this book. Sorry.