Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Times of Oberstgruppenfuhrer and Panzergeneral-Oberst Der Waffen SS Sepp Dietrich [Hardcover]

Charles Messenger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1988

The story of Hitler's personal bodyguard and the man who led the German attack in the Battle of the Bulge.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 245 pages
• Publisher: SOS Free Stock; 1st edition (August 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0080312071
• ISBN-13: 978-0080312071
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #485,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A career chronology, December 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Times of Oberstgruppenfuhrer and Panzergeneral-Oberst Der Waffen SS Sepp Dietrich (Hardcover)

The book reads more like a history of SS-Leibstandarte Adolph Hitler than one of Sepp Dietrich - and for that I was disappointed. The march history is available in many other books.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good, but could have been a lot better, August 7, 2000

By 

J. Bender "fireforeffect" (Fort Leavenworth, KS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Times of Oberstgruppenfuhrer and Panzergeneral-Oberst Der Waffen SS Sepp Dietrich (Hardcover)

This books starts our really sketchy, with a general lack of details, but such is Dietrich's life in the beginning. Messenger does try to put forth fact and debunk myths that have surrounded his subject for the later years of Dietrich's life. Overall, it's a great book, and worth reading if you want to gain an insight into one of the most charasmatic leaders in the Waffen SS. Dietrich was by no means the "typical" SS soldier, being a swearing, drinking, womanizer, but his traits of being a "soldier's general" are laid forth for reading and presented very well. Overall, Messenger does have a good book, but it could have been a little more detailed. Some of the passages are only referring to units and not to Sepp himself. Worth reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One chapter of Sepp, the rest was filler, September 27, 2010

By 

Steven Medved "Steve" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Times of Oberstgruppenfuhrer and Panzergeneral-Oberst Der Waffen SS Sepp Dietrich (Hardcover)

Updated 12-26-2011

First the mistakes. Has Peiper as an Obersturmführer (1st Lt) at the battle of the Bulge, he was an Obersturmbannführer (Lt Col). Skips Obersturmbannführer in the SS ranks in the back and has Standartenführer as Lt Col when it was full Colonel. Shows Oberführer as Brigadier when it was senior Colonel.

There is nothing much of substance about Sepp, even telling about one of his interviews with Sepp's son Wolf-Dieter would have been a huge improvement. You learn of Sepp vicariously through his times. As I said all the direct information about Sepp in the book would have taken up one chapter, all the rest was filler that I had read about before in other books. Messenger did an outstanding job with what he had to work with, even though I have read many books about Sepp I still learned.

To sum it up, I liked the book because it was better than nothing but gives little direct information about Sepp. Too bad he could not have at least contacted people who knew Sepp after the war. I am happy I read the book, thanks to the other reviews I did not expect much and was not dissapointed. Even the photos were lacking, a nice color photo would have been nice.

There are two biographies about Sepp Dietrich: one by Charles Messenger of which there are two versions, this one was written in 1988, the other was written in 2005. The other biography by Jean Mabire is in French, so as you can see information about Sepp has to be gleaned from other books.

JEAN MABIRE - PANZERS MARSCH ! SEPP DIETRICH

Any correction to my review are most welcome, if you have read the later Messenger book please let me know if there is any updated information.