Customer Reviews

Another Place, Another Time: A U-Boat Officer's Wartime Album

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One of the services with the highest casualty rate during World War II was the German U-Boat service. Of the 40,000 men who served in that branch, 28,000 were killed. Werner Hirschmann was one U-Boat officer that entered the German Navy in 1940 and served until 1945 when he and his boat surrendered to Canadian forces.

This book covers several different subjects. The first few chapters deal with his joining the Navy and the training he received. Then it's to see on a destroyer, including excort duty for the Bismark when it left for the Atlantic raid. Finally he is transfered to U-Boats with more training followed by going to war. Finally came the sixth and last patrol, ending in surrender.

There are two appendicies to the book. The first is a Pictorial Tour of the authors boat, the U-190 and the U-889, both type IXC long range boats. The type of submarines that were used in the patrols to North America, the Caribbean, the southern Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the Orient. This pictorial tour is well illustrated. Mr. Hirschmann was the engineering officer on the boat, so as you would expect, these pictures feature most of the technical aspects of the boat. There is even a picture of the quite rare four rotor Navy Enigma machine.

The second and somewhat smaller appendix is titled Life on a U-Boat. Again, it is fairly technical in nature.

This is a splendid book, especially for the technically minded

I am a fan of autobiographical history, especially WWII and U-boats. The authors really try to be as factual as possible.
The book is based on recollections and diaries of Werner Hirschmann.
It is a book that is hard to put down and really makes you feel like you are in his shoes.

I have reviewd books in the past, but only review books that have made great impressions.
It has parts that may be too techincal for some, but that doesn't take away from the story and could be enjoyed by anyone who liked the book "Iron Coffins" or the movie "Das Boot".

I'm a big fan of Werner Hirschmann and am glad he let me read his diaries.

Stevie

For the U boat buff's this is a very good read. I own over 60 books on U Boats and would rank this in the top 10. Its very different from other books since its a focus on a person not so much as the boat. I found myself living the writers life. I would say its a must read and again different from many other U Boat books.

I recently received this book and have looked forward to reading at least one chapter each day. The story flows very nicely with an interesting read (by no means boring) and the multiple pictures supplement the story for visual support. The book gives an entirely different glimpse into this officer's life and what it was like for him during the war as opposed to just being at sea and searching for ships to sink, etc. I love to read about submariner's from the World War II time era and this is certainly one of my top five reads.

An excelllent account of the war time life of a U-Boat officer,other than the commander. An interesting account of the what it took to be in the Kreigsmarine during and after the war.

I found the book well written and could not put it down. I reccomend the publication to anyone with even a passing interest in U-Boats.