Customer Reviews

Blitzkrieg

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Over the past ten years, Ian Baxter has produced a number of photo albums on various WW II battles, combat units, etc. BLITZKRIEG, THE UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPHS 1939-1942 was one of Baxter's first efforts, published in 2002 by Brassey's/Amber Books. It traces the history of Hitler's armed forces, the development of blitzkrieg tactics and the successes enjoyed by Germany in the early war years.

BLITZKRIEG tops off at 224 pages divided into seven chapters: Germany Reborn, Blitzkrieg Unleashed (Polish campaign), The Western Campaign, The Road to Dunkirk, The End Comes, Crises in the (North African) Desert and Last Throw. Each chapter includes a comprehensive text describing events and dozens of well-captioned b&w photographs depicting units, weapons, combat scenes, POWs, etc.

The book features over 400 pix, most of which seem to have been taken by individual soldiers rather than official war photographers. (The photos are simply credited to "Ian Baxter/History in the Making.") In terms of quality and subject matter, not all the pix in BLITZKRIEG are prize winners. However, taken as a while, they present a varied portrait of the Nazi war machine in action beginning with the reoccupation of the Rhineland, the takeover of Czechoslovakia, Austria, etc. and then into action against Poland, France and Great Britain. While there are some pix of Luftwaffe aircraft, the emphasis in BLITZKRIEG is land warfare - lots of landsers trudging into battle, tanks replenishing, villages going up in flames, etc.

If you're interested in the Blitz in action, check out Ian Baxter's book. It presents a unique selection of images showing Hitler's legions in all their glory. Recommended.