Customer Reviews

Tiger Ace: The Life Story of Panzer Commander Michael Wittmann

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

I agree with the other reviews that Mr. Simpson's book is very poorly written. Its greatest failing, however, is the appalling inaccuracy of its description of the Villers Bocage battle. What Mr. Simpson has offered as "fact" (supported by a hilariously self-serving question-and-answer appendix) is so far of the mark that one has to question whether Mr. Simpson did even the most basic research. One only has to look at Michael Wittmann's own account of the battle (given in an interview conducted the day of the fighting) to see that Mr. Simpson's account is hopelessly in error. This book will no doubt contribute to the gobs of misinformation currently surrounding Wittmann and his exploits. Avoid this book and instead purchase Patrick Agte's book, "Michael Wittmann and the Tiger Commanders of the Liebstandarte." Although it is three times the price of Simpson's book, it is sensibly translated (from German) and is the most comprehensive book on Wittmann available.

This book starts with a great premise - the recounting of the career of the most successful German tank commander of WWII.

That is where the great ends and misery begins. Most of the text is generalizations about either German military life or campaigns of the LAH, with little factual account of Wittman's specific actions.

Beyond the weak narration, the spelling and grammar are horrid. This just compounds the feeling of frustration. I am (angry) that this book ever made its way into print. Where is quality control?

I have not finished this book. It is very difficult to read, I must agree with another review. On reading, it appears to be a very poor translation, however it was written by an American. Sentence structures are atrocious and cumbersome. Furthermore, although the book is a biography of Michael Wittman, much of what is discussed in the chapters on Poland and France is not about Wittman, but his regiment. I did not buy the book for that purpose. I have read numerous books from Schiffer, many suffer from problems with translations and editing. This is the worst. What particularly bothers me is that Schiffer publishes titles and subjects not often found in mass print and I buy their books specifically for that purpose. They are expensive however, I may think twice in the future before purchasing if they cannot do a better job.

The best thing that can be said about this book is the reviews it has generated below. Take the time to read them and not the book. I was bitterly disappointed when I started to read this book. After paying a packet for it I couldn't just throw it away, I read it all the way through. I agree with every aspect of the previous reviews. How this got past the editor is truly amazing! How could a publishing company like Schiffer publish this trash is another question. If you want to learn more about this fascinating tank ace I would advice you to try and locate a copy of 'Michael Wittmann and the Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte' by Patrick Agte, published in 1996 by Fedorowicz.

Tiger Ace,The Life Story of Panzer Commander Michael Wittmann sounds like a great story of WWII panzer combat. It is, but I thought I was reading a poor translation of a German history book. I have several books from his publisher, Schiffer Military History (of Atglen PA) which are translations from german. Turns out the author, Gary L. Simpson is american. His subject is very interesting, but his spell checking software and his editor failed him. I'm not an english major, and composition was never my strong suit, but I was embarrassed for Mr. Simpson. Please don't waste your $35 on this book, go to the library and check out the glaring spelling and editorial errors. I became so distracted with the complex run-on sentences that I "hi-lighted" lots of passages. Okay, so maybe I just don't care for his syntax or his prose. You be the judge.

Page 47: "They scanned the area for any signs of enemy activity but were certain that any and all Polish troops were well hidden in the fortifications until needed for further actions." [Mr. Simpson is wed to the phrase "any and all," in this book; but there were no commas in this sentence either.]

Page 49: "This was very nerve racking and hard work for the infantry and many brave soldiers were killed in the line of duty on both opposing sides." [ARRRGGHH, both opposing sides? How about putting a period after "killed" and strike the remainder of the sentence?]

Page 50: "Every anti-tank gun, automatic weapon and field guns were used to hold the line against the advancing Germans even a Polish counter-attack was staged in the middle of the street which was smashed by the leading elements of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler." [By now I'm convinced that this book is a poorly translated german account.]

Page 50: "As the hours past [that's right, "past" not "passed"] the intensity of the battle started to died [yes, started to died] down and both sides broke off the attack in order to carry out urgent tasks of regrouping, reinforcements, and badly needed maintenance for their vehicles, etc."

Page 67: [From the department of redundancy department] "It seemed to be a miracle come true for Wittmann to be actually given command of such a new weapons system and immediately started to study and obtain any and all pertinent facts pertaining to the StuG III Ausf A. The first and most important aspect regarding his new assignment was that he would now be responsible in regards to three crew members under his direct supervision."

Page 70: [Mr. Simpson has a wry sense of humor. . .I think.] Many lives were to be saved due to this type of maneuver by StuG III crews as it was soon learned and very obvious that if one exposed oneself during a combat situation [LOL,I'm not making this up!] one would be quickly spotted by the enemy [the trench coat was the dead giveaway] and be eradicated outright by hostile fire.["It was a dark and stormy night,"]

Page 75: [I need an anatomy lesson.] The German High Command had indeed prepared a plan to invade Greece so as to deny the British an advance base of operations in regards to the Mediterranean and the surrounding [get ready, here it comes] navel sea lanes.

Cease fire. . . I think you catch my drift. Mr. Simpson's work is not up to par with the book I'm currently reading, Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World.

First, I did actually manage somehow to make it through the entire volume. This book is wretched on two accounts.

As others have mentioned, the language (note I'm not calling it English) is terrible. We're talking elementary school drop-out quality. It contains everything from poor sentence structure to bad spelling to fragments - everything that constitutes an English teacher's worst nightmare.

Despite this, the book would have some shred of redeeming value to hard core war history buffs if it included any honest, accurate historical accounts at all. What you are fed instead is a steady diet of what seem like fifth person accounts taken from people who probably weren't there or anywhere close. The author apparently didn't bother to talk to anyone who really knew him or validate any of his details. Basically, you get to look at a handful of pictures of Wittman in the middle of the text.

I'm amazed along with the other reviewers that this ever made it into print.

I really wanted to read about Michael Wittman, I really did. But this book is so poorly written it is impossible to get through it. Just about every paragraph has a grammatical error and many have several errors. There are misspelled words, missing words, sentences that change tense....the list is endless. I wish I had read the reviews before I bought this book. Now I am stuck with an unreadable piece of [work]. Please do yourself a favor and avoid this book at all costs!

I wish that there was a rating lower than one star for this book. I have tried to read this book two or three times but cannot force myself to endure the punishment associated with wading through so many grammatical errors and poorly written sentences. I honestly thought that it was a translated book (from German) than had lost something of the true meaning in the translation (you know how a translator will sometimes interprete something literally and it won't sound right in the translated language). It is however, written by someone whose "mother tongue" is English!! The bottom line - don't, under any circumstances, waste your money on this book.

A recent visit to the tank museum in Dorset was to result in two disappointments. The first being that the tiger tank on display was minus the turret, the second was my decision to purchase Tiger Ace in the museum book store. A cursory look at the photographs must have done the job and that is the sole reason for giving the one star. I wish that I had taken a short time, about one minute would have done, to read one page.It really would not have mattered which one as they all contain varying quantities of total drivel. I have persevered for two chapters but enough is enough. I really do not know what was worse, the appalling grammar or the unpleasant feeling that the author not only harbours some type of hero worship or the manner in which he surmises Wittmanns thoughts through rose coloured spectacles.The man was just that a man,there is no doubt that he was exceedingly professional at his trade which just happened to be killing the enemy whilst endeavouring to keep himself and his crew alive. This nightmare of a book offered me nothing,pictures accepted,of Wittmanns experiences I trust there is another author out there who could do this story credit.This book should have gone the way of Wittmanns unfortunate adversaries,up in flames.

To say that the quality of this book is "uneven" is a mild understatement. Like the other reviewers of this book, I bought "TIGER ACE..." eagerly anticipating a well-written, well-researched book. NOT! Never have I been so thoroughly disgusted to read -- or rather, try to read -- such a HORRIBLY WRITTEN book!!! The photographs are the only good thing about this book. Yet, by themselves, they are not enough to redeem dieses Buch.

BUY THIS BOOK AT YOUR OWN PERIL.