Publisher: The Oliver Publishing Group (Firefly Collection)
ISBN: 978-0-9806593-3-7
Author: Karl Berne
Soft back, 34 pages, colour profiles and black and white images
Our thanks to the Aviation and Military Book Centre for supplying this review sample. Get this excellent title here now at: www.aviationbookcentre.com
Initial assessment…
On a first read through this is a nice book of mainly pictures taken by the soldiers rather than the ones taken by the propaganda company so you get a truer picture of the “man on the ground” and appear to be from private collections and many unseen (at least by me) before.
The book is printed on good quality paper in A4 size with 34 pages including the back cover. The photographs are spread three to a page with small detail items added to some such as the divisional sign. The lack of crowding pictures to a page allows for some nice detail to be seen. On page 2 is a listing of Units taking part in the assault on Russia as of 22 June 1941 and show the three Armies Nord, Mitte and Sud. The back cover has colour profiles of Pz III Ausf F and G along with Stug III Ausf B all in Panzer Grey and included are the tactical and unit markings. The inside of the back cover has German Army Divisional Insignia covering 42 of the 160 divisions that took part in operation Barbarossa but they are only shown in black and white.
The text accompanying the pictures is clear and where the author is not sure of information it is pointed out and in some cases he speculates as to the missing information. There is a good selection of pictures showing the German army from the soldiers view point whilst moving though the Eastern front and its fair to say this is not a book centred on vehicles but there are some interesting shots of them throughout the book.
In conclusion I think this book will appeal to modellers, historians and any one interested in the German Army of World War Two and shows what it was like to be a soldier in this period. The pictures will no doubt be useful to modellers making dioramas of the period and the various photographs of vehicles showing the wear and tear including the weathering encountered on this campaign.
The drawback with this volume are for me the lack of colour especially in respect to the inner back cover for the divisional signs and only one page of colour plates. Having said this I would still recommend this volume for the monochrome pictures alone which as I said are a new look on life with the German forces which are so different from the official pictures taken by the propaganda companies.
Recommended
Bill C.