Customer Reviews

The Bloody Road to Death (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once again with the familar set of characters, Sven takes us into the horrific world of the German soldier of World War II. It is always refreshing to read of Hassel's experiences during the war, it reminds us that the German soldiers of the war were also men much like us and not the stereotypical Nazi of our mass media.

The Bloody Road To Death must be the funniest of all Sven's novels (and it's definately the one I would make into a film if I had any choice about such things). It's set in Greece mainly but they do get back to Russia by the end.

It has three major chapters one after the other:- The Fleas (Porta's flea ridden furs and their path through the regiment etc), Escort Duty (Tiny and Porta on a wild trip through Europe) and Darjeeling Tea (Porta and Wolf and their black market tea dealing). It's almost incidental that there's a war on. Fantastic stuff.

Sven Hassel once again shows us a picture of the Second World War from the "loser's" point of view.In describing the daliy vexations and hardships of the German soldier one can see that regardless of sides that war is a demeaning and depersonalizing business. One ends the book not seeing German soldiers but ordinary men caught in an unpleasant and dehumanizing war.

One of the best war novels ever written. Sven Hassel shows the war like only a war survivor can do. My favorite character, Jullius Heide - the Nazy fanatic - followed by the charismatic old man - Willy Beier. I love the gore and humor.

An excellent book depicting a new twist on WWII This story unfolds in Greece and evolves around a group of German solders ie: Heide, the old man, Tiny, and of course Porta, they are hilarious, and yet portray a very serious aspect of war, that most people don't realize was in fact true..

Like the rest of the novels written by Sven Hassel, the reader content is excellant, the details are gruesomely accurate and it is refreshing to read novels portraying the other side and not something written by the winners (allies)

This book is one of the original action\sex war stories.The graphic content of death and love makes it a true classic,and grabs your attention from the first word.All the favourites are there; Tiny,Porta,The Leigionnare,e.t.c.One of Hassel's best!

I read the 14 Hassel's books. I think this is the most ingenious in the way Hassel wrote it, but I also think is the most unlikely. Hassel enjoy himself and enjoy the readers with Porta's historys, but nobody believes this could be true. Very good histories (reals or not). The book to read, and smile. It's recomended for the ones who are fanatics of Hassel and knows very well the characters ( real ? ) of his books.

I first read Hassel's books when I was a schoolboy in the early 1970s. It was very absorbing stuff for youngsters who had been raised on stories about good, clean heroes winning the Battle of Britain and El Alamein. Its realistic portrayal of war from the perspective of those supposedly soulless Nazi monsters helped develop a healthy scepticism about heroic depictions of the Allies. However, in time the books become a bit repetitive and nihilistic. I am sure that most German soldiers were not as cynical as Hassel's group. In the end most of them fought with despairing heroism to defend their country and families rather than out of National Socialist idealism. The series of books are entertaining in some ways but they can be a bit depressing with all the slaughter and mayhem after a while. I suppose they still appeal as they have been republished after a number of years out of print.

I always keep my eye out for ANY Sven Hassel books and recently picked up another copy of "Bloody Road to Death". After reading it again I realised what a terrific book it is and love the way he portrays his times during war and the way (almost without trying) he captures your imagination. "Bloody Road to Death" in my opinion is not writen as well as some of his other books, however must still give it FIVE STARS. (*****)