My last acquisition of 2017.

[carpediem]

I was in a big box book store last night, and while waiting for the wife to complete the Christmas shopping I found this book. The only copy on the shelf. I had been really leaning toward a very good book on the development and deployment of the various Sturmgeschutz types, but this caught and held my attention. We didn't get home from the mall (it could as well be called a "maul" around Christmas!) until quite late so I didn't get into the book until this morning.
I have to credit a former? member, known to us all as FB, for his recommendation in regard to this book. I had thought it would be a dry dissertation on the life and times of Himmler but it is hardly that. It is a very well written work that almost puts you over the shoulder of young Himmler at various times through the use of his own words and musings.
It is a page turner, at least for me, and at a tidy 748 pages it will be a good read for at least some of the winter months.
Thank you FB, for guiding me to this book. Well worth the purchase price.

[carpediem]

So, I have been occupied with real life matters quite a bit, but wanted to give a quick review of this book covering the first section.
I really enjoy the writing of Longerich. It is well written enough that one can almost imagine certain scenes playing out. I have learned a lot in what I have read so far, but I can tell this book will require revisiting to cement into memory the many tidbits of knowledge. Many details about the early days of the TR that are new to me.
Having read a few WWII books, including Shirer's work, I can say this is the best of the ones I have read thus far.
If you have an interest in the subject matter, I strongly recommend this book.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Well done. I try very hard when I recommend something here. Longerich is a real scholar. Shirer was a man of the time, but he was no historian other than
in the manner that certain journalists aspire to be, and often don't hit the target. Longerich had many fine works under his belt when he wrote the story of
Heini H.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

At the risk of being the shameless pedant I am, here is your next homework assignment. It is an older book, but by a man who was a pioneer on research on this topic in the USA. He had trouble as a scholar, but the book has stood the test of time. It is not as new as Longerich, but it is essential for any person who really wants to collect
SS regalia or understand the organization.

[carpediem]

I didn't see that one in the book store, but I will take a look. The place I found the Longerich book is almost an hour drive from where I live, so I don't get there often. That is an easy title to remember. I will search it out, if it should still be available. If I didn't abhor online transactions so it probably would be easy to locate.


EDIT - Wow! It has good reviews on Amazon. The new copy is almost $100! It must be slightly hard to find or huge. I may opt for the used (and hopefully not abused too bad) version at $25!

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I didn't see that one in the book store, but I will take a look. The place I found the Longerich book is almost an hour drive from where I live, so I don't get there often. That is an easy title to remember. I will search it out, if it should still be available. If I didn't abhor online transactions so it probably would be easy to locate.


EDIT - Wow! It has good reviews on Amazon. The new copy is almost $100! It must be slightly hard to find or huge. I may opt for the used (and hopefully not abused too bad) version at $25!

I know the new ones are expensive, but find a used one. But do read it, as it will help you as few other books do.
Most people cannot decipher the evolution of the SS, and this facet is key. It is an outright scholarly book, written
for university libraries and intended for those who do research. That is, for me, actually, but I am a total scold.
Gun show old wives tales and collector baby talk don't do it for me.

Happy reading.

[carpediem]

Thanks FB. After your recommendation of the Heini book and how good it is, I will put this on my to read list. I see Longerich did a Goebbels book too, but I am not sure I find him as interesting a character as Heini. I may also look for that one though as once you get into it, it probably is a good read. I already know how it ends though!

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The Goebbels book is first rate and easily had. Unlike the Koehl book, which is a chore to get. We all know how it ends, but how it began and evolved is less well known or understood.

[carpediem]

The Goebbels book is first rate and easily had. Unlike the Koehl book, which is a chore to get. We all know how it ends, but how it began and evolved is less well known or understood.

You are very right on that account! It helps to have books that are written to that end, exposing the reality of the origins of, and shedding as much light as possible on, the inner workings of the infant TR and what it would grow into. We all do know how it ends and thanks to much blood and sacrifice it did end.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks. I will make you a reading list. May others emulate your example. I do not read as much as I used to, not the least because of the sh!tstorms that eventuate here and so on. Social media is not good for the mind, though I have seen the work of very creative people I would never otherwise see.
I do not think you can seriously teach history this way, but if some of you read more than you would otherwise, then that is a step in the right direction.
And by read, I mean something over and above the collector books or the average picture book. Especially the latter have grown obsolete because of
the ease of finding thousands of III. Reich images in staggering variety and so forth. However, a clear account of events in the past with good scholarship
is essential for being a serious collector. You cannot manage the SS without extraordinary command of detail. That is why we are so lucky to have Wim
and Andreas, but the others, too, who have this at their fingertips. And of course my friend, David Delich.