The History of the Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland, Vol. 2 (v. 2) (Hardcover)

~ Helmuth Spaeter (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Hard cover, small format (6" x 9"), 494 pages, 20 maps. Volume 2 covers the "GD" from late 1942 until early 1945. It includes extensive details on affiliated units such as Kurmark, Brandenburg and the Führer-Begleit-Brigade. Lots of first-hand descriptions and small-unit actions.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Fedorowicz (J.J.),Canada (October 1995)
• ISBN-10: 0921991274
• ISBN-13: 978-0921991274
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #541,473 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hit or Miss, April 5, 2006

By	Thomas Reiter (Washington DC, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As described below, parts of this book are excellent, others are mediocre at best.

First the good--this book includes numerous excellent first-hand accounts of small-unit (company/battalion) action on the Eastern Front: desperate defenses, successful counter-attacks, night raids, dismal retreats, it's all here, and these parts of the book are excellent (five star rating). I should note that the book is not very objective, and references to the "heroic" etc. German soldiers are quite common, but should probably be expected in a book of this sort.

I found the other parts of the book--principally incredibly densely written operational-scale histories of the various campaigns and some excerpts from official reports, orders, etc.--to be very tedious. There aren't enough maps, and it is quite a chore to wade through this material. I'd rate this part of the book at two stars.

Note that parts of this book deal with the parts of the GD which served as the Hitler escort unit, and there is a very detailed account of the attempt on Hitler's life in 1944. I wasn't really interested in these parts of the book so skipped them after reading a few pages, but I wanted to point out their presence.

Overall, I can't really recommend reading this book cover-to-cover, but the excellent tactical accounts make the book worth picking up.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland, November 26, 2004

By	Geoffrey P. Pohanka (vienna, va United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The in depth historical account of action of the famed German Wehrmacht unit Grossdeutschland. Neither a novel nor a cut and dry historical account the three volumes on GD are full of detail, from broad unit action down to individual acts of heroism. These volumes could tend to overwhelm someone who is not a student of the Eastern Front but for those who are truly interested in Grossdeutschland you will find much to keep you interested.

5.0 out of 5 stars Grossdeutschland on the Eastern Front , March 4, 2009

By	Mr. Richard A. Yeo (Pontypridd, Wales, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the second offering in the series of books which starts in the Kharkov Operation in Feb 1943. Highly detailed unit operations which are excellently written & exciting to follow. The book focuses on operational matters at a local level on a unit by unit basis down even to company level with the names of officers & men who fell in combat. It will add to the knowledge of anyone who is interested in the Eastern Front in world war II & gives an insight on battles where the reader may only have previously had a more strategic view without enough detail of the operational aspects. It also shows the tremendous bravery & courage of the men in this elite German wehrmacht armoured formation at a time where they were faced by overwhelming Soviet numerical superiority. An excellent read if you are looking for a book which details the history of Grossdeutschland & are expecting a detailed look at the operational aspects of the Eastern Front in World War II.