Customer Reviews

Jochen Peiper: Battle Commander, SS Leibstandardte Adolf Hitler

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

 

 

This book was not the full biography I hoped. It only deals with Peiper's part in the Battle of the Bulge and the Malmedy Masacre. The details of even this are poorly researched and poorly written.

For a full biography read the outstanding 'Jochen Peiper Comander Panzerregigiment Leibstandarte' by Patrick Agte published by J. J. Fedorowicz. This contains Peiper's full, remarkable career both before WWII and in combat.

For a far more accurate, well researched and well written account of Peiper's part in the Battle of The Bulge, try 'The Devil's Adjutant' by Michael Reynolds. This also contains the most likely account of the Malmedy Masacre.

This popular history of SS colonel Jochen Peiper's exploits turns out to be short on substance, as well as substantiation. Still, it reads quickly and does flesh in some of the action surrounding the old storm trooper. Not a very satisfying read for die hard history buffs (most of it is already well known) and the editing is an atrocity, but for youngsters and others unfamiliar with Peiper and his role in the Battle of the Bulge, this book will probably serve to stir some interest in the events of those days.

The author has written many books on WWII and has befriended many old Nazis. One of the books the author has written was on the Massacre at Malmady. What the author did with his previous book about Malmady is add chapters on Jochen Peiper. So therefore the reader gets a brief history of Peiper, the discussion on what happened when SS troopers opened fire on American POWs, and then the murder of Peiper in the 1970s by mysterious persons.

The author argues that Peiper was far away from the scene of the shootings, did not give written orders how to treat POWs, and then later saved 150 American POWs who were captured and released. Whiting gives the view that Peiper was innocent of the charges of shooting these American prisoners. He also details the reaction of American soldiers following the discovery of the massacre. In this case, SS troops captured were also shot, rather than taken prisoner. The trials of the SS Waffen troops was also detailed.

I am reading my third book by Whiting. His books provide the accepted view of what really happened during this time period. His books lack detail that make other history books more substancial in their view. In this book, you get a tiny history of Peiper, more on the massacre, and then a little look at Peiper's murder. More detail would have silenced others who have criticized Whiting's books,

I have already written a extensive review of this book which for some reason never appeared here, follows is a very abreviated version. This book is typical of Whiting's poor work, no listing of any sources whatsoever, no foot notes, nothing to indicate this work of "fact" is anything but fiction.

The title suggests this is a biography of J. Peiper, in fact it only examines Peiper and the Malmedy incident in any detail, and most of the details come from Whiting's own imagination. This is a book that can and should be easily ignored.

Fluff... Buy Peter Agte's masterpiece on Jochen Peiper instead, by far and away the best book ever written on Peiper.

I seriously, cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. the theme that seems to repeat itself is, that, since noone can say without any shadow of a doubt that the SS killed the soldiers at Malmedy, then it must have been someone else. Seriously, in a nutshell, in plain laymens terms, thats what Whiting is essentially try to convey. The book is short on facts, and Whiting seems to have written this rant out of nothing more than pure sympathy for the plight of the poor poor Waffen SS, so maligned and misunderstood throughout history.Example: When Whiting brings up the point about how the 6th SS Panzer division had orders stating they were not to take prisoners,that they were in fact supposed to shoot them (as per Sepp Dietrich), he just merely glosses over it as being less than important than some of the "loopholes" in the Allies case against Peiper.

The only brightside to this book was that I was able to purchase it for around $3.oo used, so I didnt waste a huge chunk of money on it.