Customer Reviews

Wheels of Terror

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

 

 

I have read many of Sven Hassels works and have found them ALL to be chillingly descriptive and accurate about the real frontline conditions faced by the German Military. These books also reveal the harsh and deadly occurances within the military heirarchy during ww2. I you desire a descriptive and action filled perspective on ww2, I recommend you read this book.

Much malignity has been thrown at Hassel's books.
I'd like to point out that ONLY 'Legion of the Damned' is autobiographical.
The rest of the books are works of fiction...even if interspersed with many real anedoctes Hassel/Pedresen picked up during his prison-camp years.
All the 'errors' you can find in the books (wrong years for certain tanks/equipments, the fact that THERE WERE NOT 'PANZER' PENAL UNITS...etc) are DELIBERATE.
They make the story better and wilder...and btw Hassel was disgusted and angry at the Nazi war machine that abused him so bad so he 'retorted' my muddling the details that were oh-so-important to the sadistical officers and cowardly nazi 'pheasants'.
I have ALL Hassel's books except for the one regarding Finland and I always approached them the way you read picaresque adventures...you know thy're far-fetched and credibility-stretching butyou enjoy them for the vivid carachters' depiction
and the cruel humour...not to have sound historical facts from them.

If you enjoy reading war adventure books and you like books that put you right in the middle of the horror and bloodshed, this one is for you.On the back cover there is a warning in red lettering,"This is a book of horrors, and should be left alone by those prone to nightmares.Sven Hassel's descriptions of the atrocities committed by both sides are the most horrible indictments of war I have ever read---Alan Sillitoe--
This book and others by Sven Hassel are true gems that take the reader to a place and time that is horrifying. You feel the fear,and understand the terrors of war as if it is really happening. These books are a true window into the world of the WW2 Russian front at its worst. A definate must read for all war novel enthusiasts who enjoy reading what it was truely like on the Russian front. Non stop action from page 1 through to the end. These books are my all time favorites and I'm sure they will become one of your favorites as well.

Mans inhumanity to man. This sentence, for me, has always required an explanation, and, finally here is the most comprehensive explanation I have ever heard. When I read this book and his other titles it is if I am transported to the scene. The sights, the sounds and most of all the fear, is in the bed with me, scaring me out of the romantic notion of soldiering that encapsulated me as a boy. Please read it, for if you are to be sick reading it "such sickness is humanitys only hope for a sane and healthy world"

I think this one has to be the classic 'realistic' Hassel. We go from the horror of an air-raid through the 'bull' of barracks, executing 'traitor's to the Reich and then into the Russian Front. The descriptions of the fighting are graphic but we still see the humanity in the soldiers making itself felt when the Old Man breaks up what is about to become a torture session and when the platoon act as midwives to a refugee. Both horrific and moving this one is the quintessential Hassel for me and gets better on each reading. I shoudl add that I first read it 30 years ago!!

This book is one of the 13 in the series, and it is really good and describes the actual 2ww and does it in a very realistic way. I can strongly recommend you to read this

This book is an amazing survival story of a group of unique characters. The story is traumatizing, sad, gruesome, and in some cases with Porta hilarious. Many lives are lost in minutes. I would recommend this book, for anyone who is into adventure, truth, and historical facts from an actual eyewitness

ive enjoyed sven hassels books for over 20 years a fantastic author who knows how to tell a story so well you just cant stop reading

All 4 are great and follow difent fronts of battle, but this was the one that got me hooked.

I have read all of Sven Hassel's books. I'm going back maybe 40 years here. I had never read such a discriptive account of the horrors of combat that faced the infantry. The Russian front was worse than most and Hassel captures the fears of death by many means and also the joy of finding somthing to eat when you least expect it. This is not a book about the officer class but about the average soldier who is doing his best to survive. I would recommend this for anyone who was interested in WW2. It is written from the German point of view but with the caveat that it is dealing with men in a penal regiment who are therefore more expendable than most. I read these books first when I was a teenager I would like to read them again, it is unfortunate they seem to be out of print. This first book in a series of about 10 has my highest recomendation as do the books that follow it.