Waffen-SS: Hitler's Army at War

The Waffen-SS is one of the Elite fighting forces in history and a topic of fascination for WW2 buffs since god knows when. This book attempts to distinguish The Waffen-SS of myth and legend from the real deal. As reckless and brave soldiers who committed some of the worst war crimes in history and as a pan European army created to fight against the evils of communism. Highly Recommended and Entertaining read

Gilbert's book on the Waffen-SS is a digestible length and well written, hitting on most of the points of general interest in a narrative of the more well known portions of the Waffen-SS. In fact, it's probably the best survey of the topic since George Stein's book came out in 1966, which is rather shocking. Many interesting personalities and quirks of the parallel National Socialist hierarchy are addressed and much of the meaningful battle history is competently, if lightly, covered. Much of the most recent revisionist scholarship is incorporated while still including the harder to find memoirs out of reach of most casual readers. This makes it an excellent book for people looking to crack open the lid on the Waffen-SS, but it also comes with the caveat that there is no new scholarship here; the author is a journalist, not a research academic. If you're already familiar with the Waffen-SS through the scholarship of the past 15 years there's nothing new here to be found. You can safely skip it.

Although there isn't a lot of "new" information here, it's been about 20 years since I've read a history of the Waffen SS& I enjoyed reading this work "again". The author did give a little more information on less covered units like the 8th "Florin Geyer" cavalry division & the 7th "Prinz Eugen" mountain division. Well worth the purchase!

It was very good. Give credit Mr. Gilbert for the small bias. It covered the history of the SS from beginning to end. It was the big picture. Now looking for a detaled history of a single division or regiment.

I have, over the years, read the older books on the SS: Stein, Hastings, Keegan, Hohne and Reitlinger. This is the first recent book I have read on the subject. I found it to be an excellent history, very well researched and very readable.

A solid history and overview of the combat units of the Waffen SS from birth to destruction. Good story telling, fast-paced battles, and pictures of men fighting war on an epic and brutal scale.While I enjoyed this book, I thought at times the author over embellished the war record of the Waffen SS as impeccable and filled with men dedicated to brotherhood in arms rather than to Adolf Hitler. But lets be clear, well the Waffen SS was an elite unit and decorated, they are at heart ruthless killing machines of the 3rd Reich, swearing a personal oath to serve Adolf Hitler and committed unspeakable atrocities across Western and Eastern Europe.So read with a focused lense and balanced approach. You will at times come to admire these men on one page and then disown them on the next.

Best book on the SS I have read. i would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the SS.

Pretty standard overview of the history of the Waffen SS. If your'e at all familiar with the subject matter, there's nothing new or groundbreaking here and you can safely pass it by. If it's a new interest and your'e not familiar with the history, this is a generally well written and fairly balanced overview.

Nun ist die gute alte Gesamtdarstellung zur Waffen-SS von George Stein schon mehr als 50 Jahre alt. Es wäre also Zeit für eine neue zusammenfassende Geschichte der Waffen-SS im Krieg, die die Erkenntnisse und Forschungen der letzten Jahrzehnte berücksichtigt. Klaus-Jürgen Bremms "mit journalistischer Leichtigkeit" (wie ein Amazon-Rezensent treffend bemerkt hat) hingeworfene Arbeit ist diesbezüglich ein Reinfall. Aber auch Adrian Gilbert kann Stein nicht das Wasser reichen.Wie viele angelsächsische Autoren kann auch dieser "military author" offenbar nur Englisch, denn in seinem Literaturverzeichnis finden sich fast ausschließlich englischsprachige Bücher. Das wäre nicht einmal schlimm, da mittlerweile jede Menge Titel auf Englisch vorliegen, um trotzdem ein einigermaßen fundiertes Buch vorlegen zu können. Aber auch das versucht der Autor nicht. Stattdessen durchziehen die üblichen Memoirenschilderungen große Teile seiner Darstellung, oder populärwissenschaftliche Titel wie jene von James Lucas, die in einer seriösen Arbeit nichts zu suchen haben. Archivalien? Von wenigen Ausnahmen abgesehen: Fehlanzeige.Und so kann man also auch an diesem Buch getrost vorbeigehen, ohne etwas zu verpassen - und muss weiter auf eine gute neue Gesamtdarstellung der Kriegsgeschichte von Himmlers Truppe warten.

del giudizio politico e morale, le SS "combattenti" costituiscono uno dei piu' efficienti ed efficaci apparati militari "di massa" (non limitate cioe' a piccole unita' di elite, ma costituite in divisioni se non in corpi d'armata) della storia militare moderna. Il libro ne racconta sobriamente la storia, senza scadere in esaltazioni o denigrazioni di parte (avverse). Per gli appassionati volume imperdibile, specie in formato kindle e in offerta