Elite Units of the Third Reich: German Special Forces in World War II - Hardcover

Matthew Hughes

9781930983168: Elite Units of the Third Reich: German Special Forces in World War II

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1930983166 ISBN 13: 9781930983168

Publisher: Lewis International Inc, 2002

Analyzes German special forces battle tactics Features Waffen-SS battles on the Eastern Front Written by an expert on the armies of the Third Reich Includes over 100 photographs of German elite units Chapters on the U-Boats, V tools, and Tiger tanks The exploits of Otto Skorzeny covered in full Details on Wehrmacht Tiger units.

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Review:

This book is best suited for those who have little knowledge of this subject and would like a general, easy to read introduction. One needs to be cautioned that the term "elite units" is used, in my opinion, somewhat erroneously. While the books does deal with some elite units such as Grossdeutschland, JV 44, and the 7th Airborne, the there are also chapters on Foreigners in the Waffen SS, V Weapons, and Tiger Tanks. In my opinion, Tiger tanks were employed in some elite units--like Grossdeutschland--but are not elite units in themselves, rather exceptional weapons. In general, I found the book to be well written and interesting, but the chapters are fairly short and general. There are some nice pictures, but there are overall not many pictures. I provide a list of the chapters in order for you to get a better idea of the contents: 1) 7th Panzer Division - Ghost Division 2) 7th Airborne - Student's Paras 3) Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler 4) U-Boats -- Donitz's Ship Killers 5) The "Eighty-Eight" - Top Tank Killer 6) Grossdeutschland - Armoured Elite 7) Tigers - The Heavy Punch 8) Rudel's Stukas 9) Hitler's Foreign Legion: The SS Volunteers 10) Skorzeny's Commandos 11) V Weapons - The Rocket Elite 12) JV 44 - The Galland Circus 13) The Brandenburgers --K Scheffler

Like a fellow reviewer already indicates, this is a fine book for introduction of several German army units and weapons. Indeed, Tiger tanks are not elite troops themselves. Neither are Stukas nor the notorious V-weapons. But Ripley does well in introducing them to a wider audience and comes with some detailed information I never have read before. The same goes for the pictures, because many of them are rare and of good quality. Overall I liked to read this book, although it might be a little bit too expensive at the moment of writing. --Feiraco

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