The Waffen SS in Russia 1941-44
by William Fowler & Dmitriy Zgonnik
The Waffen SS holds an enduring fascination for students of WWII,
and this new Concord volume caters to this interest. In particular,
the book focuses on the Waffen SS fighting on the Eastern Front.
William Fowler is a new author to Concord, and he has done a superb
job of collating relevant photos and providing informative
captions.
The volume begins with a description of the role played by this
elite fighting formation commanded by Heinrich Himmler. After the
initial giddy successes subsequent to the 1941 invasion of Russia,
the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS both eventually ran out of steam at the
very gates of Moscow. The SS had grown from a force of 141,975
fighting men in September 1942 to 280,000 soldiers a year later.
This statistic illustrates the importance attached to the
formation, and how resources for it were prioritized. New divisions
with names like ‘Nordland’ and ‘Wiking’ were established, joining
others like ‘Totenkopf’ and ‘Das Reich’. However, the ability of
the Waffen SS to extinguish hotspots could only delay Germany’s
inevitable defeat. This book, through the extensive collection of
photos, traces the exploits of these elite soldiers in all areas of
the Russian frontline and in all kinds of weather conditions. The
black and white pictures show all manner of equipment and weapons
in use.
In the center of the book is the familiar set of four color plates
that characterizes this series. The artwork has been prepared by
Dmitriy Zgonnik, and they show SS soldiers in various kinds of
uniforms and with different weapons. This is a well-researched and
well-illustrated book that covers an ever-popular subject of
WWII.
Format 21 x 28 cm, Paperback, 52 Seiten, 135 s/w-Fotos, 4
Farbtafeln, englischer Text, Best.-Nr. Con6535