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Waffen-SS Encyclopedia | 
 enlarge | Author: Marc Rikmenspoel
Publisher: The Aberjona Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $13.49
You Save: $6.46 (32%)
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Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 334062
Media: Paperback
Pages: 307
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 6.7 x 0.8
ISBN: 0971765081
Dewey Decimal Number: 031
EAN: 9780971765085
ASIN: 0971765081
Publication Date: November 5, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
World War II spawned some of the most famous - and infamous - fighting organizations the world has ever known. None was more feared by its battlefield foes or more hated by political enemies of the Nazi regime than the Waffen-SS. Six decades after the last SS unit capitulated or was annihilated, the facts about many aspects of this organization are still shrouded in legend and half-truth. Loathed by many as a criminal organization, yet admired by some for the esprit, resolve, and valor of its component units and individuals, the Waffen-SS was unarguably a highly-complex, multi-faceted phenomenon, unique among the military organizations of the world. Marc Rikmenspoel, author of Soldiers of the Waffen-SS: Many Nations, One Motto, has crafted the ultimate reference for those trying to understand the intensely controversial and complicated nature of the Waffen-SS. A comprehensive overview that will be useful to historians, buffs, wargamers, and re-enactors alike, no matter what your predisposition to the Waffen-SS, you will learn a great deal from this book. The book includes a concise history of every one of the major fighting formations of the Waffen-SS (those designated as "divisions"). Sections include: * Formations * Structure of Divisions * Germans * Germanics * Non-Germans and Non-Germanics * Leading Personalities * Weapons * Misconceptions and Controversies * Weapons Tables
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 A Critical Reference for WW2 Junkies, Writers Historians October 3, 2008
Michael Mandaville (California, USA)
This book is an essential reference on your shelf about the Waffen-SS organization. The book covers a vast spectrum of information about the SS. br /1. Background br /2. Division Operations, including great diagrams about motorized infantry, panzer units, mountain troops, etc., br /3. German Units vs. Non-German Units. Believe it or not, there were non-German SS units formed from volunteers gathered from a number of non-Aryan countries. Ultimately, Himmler knew that he needed bodies to fill his boots. These volunteers were from Albania, Bosnia, Estonia, France, Georgia, Netherlands, Scandinavia and more. One was a Muslim SS Division. br /4. Famous SS Soldiers - this section gives details on their lives, service and final disposition. br /5. SS Weapons used throughout the war. br / br /Overall, a great reference on the subject.
Excellent un-biased source of Waffen-SS Information May 22, 2008
N. Barker (Ohio, USA)
This book is a great overview of the divisions and commanders within those divisions, along with information of what exactly they did. My favorite part of this book is the misconception and myth section, because it sets the record straight in my opinion. Alot of the myths are what the majority of the public believe, I have even tried to explain these things to people, but they just dont get it. Even specials on the history channel seem biased,condemning and making deragatory remarks about certain people or events related to the Waffen-SS. But this book points out key facts, and why how the vast majority of people view the Waffen-SS, is wrong. But as they say, the winners of the war write the history books. br / br /I recommend this book to anyone who is open minded and willing to look at the Waffen-SS in a different light, contrary to the popular and misinformed beliefs of today.
 Too much info in too little of a space March 11, 2008
MLB
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Author tries to cover ALL the SS formations in this work. This sacrifices detail to fit them all in, but does seem to hit all the formations. There's general information on the SS as a whole. I particularly like the section on common myths of the SS.
Mostly Excellent but more of a Handbook than an Encyclopedia November 10, 2007
Mr. Truthteller (Los Angeles, CA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a finely done work on certain matters involving the Waffen-SS. On those matters the book can be considered inclusive of its subject matter and thus an encyclopedia of sorts. On several other matters, however, the consideration of the subject matter is cursory at best and can in no sense be considered encyclopedic. On still other subject matters involving the Waffen-SS there is no significant discussion at all. br / br /The author starts out with a very well done chapter on the Order of Battle for each Waffen-SS unit from the two Waffen-SS Armies (the 6th Panzer and short-lived 11th Panzer) to the 18 Waffen-SS Corps down to the almost 40 operational Waffen-SS Divisions. This chapter includes a brief history of each such Waffen-SS unit. It is very well done and takes up the first 58 pages (i.e., about a fifth of the book). br / br /(Unfortunately, this chapter, which begins the book, has two minor errors on the first 3 pages: First, the English "1st" is stated as being the equivalent of the German "1;" but in fact the German "1." is the equivalent of "1st" in English. Second, it is my recollection that the naming of the 32nd Division as "30. Januar" (i.e., in English, "30th of January") was not in tribute to the Nazis taking power on Jan. 30, 1933 but was named in reference to Hitler's being named Chancellor on that date (i.e., the Division was named in honor of Hitler not the Nazi party).) br / br /Next there is a brief, but excellent, discussion on the general structure of the various types of Waffen-SS Divisions (e.g., panzer, panzer-grenadier, mountain, cavalry). (This takes up 10 pages.) br / br /This is followed by a well-written review of the origins of the Waffen-SS (titled, "Germans in the Waffen-SS"). (This takes up almost 15 pages.) br / br /The next chapter, "Germanics in the Waffen-SS," is the heart of the book, taking up about 100 pages (or over a third of the book). It examines the broad base upon which a great number of members of the Waffen-SS were drawn, e.g., Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden, and reviews the number of members from each nation or region (11 altogether), who led them, and where and when they fought and the multi-national Waffen-SS Divisions to which they were assigned. br / br /Also included is a short chapter (about 15 pages) on the "Non-German and Non-Germanic" nations that contributed soldiers to the Waffen-SS, including their number and general history. (The largest such contingents were Bosnian (up to 15,000 Muslims and 4,500 Catholics (Croatians)), Estonians (over 25,000), Hungarians (over 50,000 ethnic Magyars), Latvians (over 60,000), and Russians (about 20,000, not including 15,000 Cossacks), and Ukrainians (over 20,000).) This chapter is also well done. br / br /The next chapter is on "Leading Personalities" of the Waffen-SS. Unfortunately, of the approximately 1,000,000 men who served in the ranks of the Waffen-SS, a mere 13 are included, making this chapter woefully inadequate. Many famous Waffen-SS figures are missing, which hardly makes the book encyclopedic. There are thus no entries, for example, of the following well-known (and even infamous) Waffen-SS members: br /1.) Leon Degrelle br /2.) Hermann Fegelein br /3.) Bronislav Kaminski br /4.) Fritz Klingenberg br /5.) Kurt Meyer br /6.) Wilhelm Mohnke br /7.) Johannes Muehlenkamp br /8.) Jochen Peiper br /9.) Artur Phleps br /10.) Fritz Witt br /11.) Michael Wittmann br /(Although these Waffen-SS members may be discussed or mentioned in other parts of the book, that is of little use to the reader looking for information on them since the book lacks an index.) br / br /The following chapter, on "Weapons of the Waffen-SS," also seems to be an afterthought, taking up a bare 15 pages. br / br /The final chapter, on "Misconceptions and Controversies of the Waffen-SS," does make its points clearly and cogently, despite its brevity (another dozen or so pages). It is by no means an apology for the Waffen-SS. It is instead a lucid explanation of many issues surrounding the Waffen-SS. Many of these issues are purposely misconstrued or ignored by many writers pretending to be historians. These imposters fail each of the three litmus tests set down by Cicero two millenia ago to separate the true historian from the mere propagandist. These are: (1) to never tell an untruth; (2) to never suppress the truth; and (3) to always be free of malice (i.e., be impartial). br / br /In sum, this is a very well-written and researched basic work on the Waffen-SS but it is more of an handbook than an encyclopedia.
 Interesting and informative - but contains far less than the enthusiastic reviews suggest November 24, 2006
Utah Blaine (Somewhere on Trexalon in District 268)
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
Marc Rikmenspoel has done an admirable job collating a wealth of information about the Waffen-SS in this volume. Labelling this book an encyclopedia is a bit of a misnomer though as it is far from comprehensive. This book is divided into four major sections (eight chapters). In the first two chapters, MR describes the formations and the organization of the Waffen-SS from the highest levels (SS Panzer Armies) down to batallion sized units and smaller. A brief history of the each of the SS divisions is given along with the names of commanding officers. Virtually all of this information can easily be found elsewhere (like Wikipedia). This is certainly not the `home run' as another reviewer put it. The second section contains detailed descriptions of the diverse national members of the Waffen-SS. This section is divided into two chapters, Germanics and non-Germanics, and is the real meat of this book in my opinion. The Waffen-SS was truly a diverse army and took in men from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. The third section contains short biographical sketches of thirteen famous (or infamous, such as Oskar Dirlewanger) members/officers of the Waffen-SS. The final section contains a brief (15 page) discussion of the weapons of the Waffen-SS and a final chapter that is essentially an apologetic for Waffen-SS war crimes. br / br /Overall, this work is more for popular consumption (or the type of thing that a cadet who is enamored with the image of the victories of the Waffen-SS may be interested in reading), and I suspect that any serious student of WWII will find this book to be little more than a light snack. Despite some of the claims of the other reviewers, this is certainly not a scholarly work, and it is not the kind of work that one will return to again and again for information. This is definitely not an encyclopedia, in spite of the title, there are way too many holes. There are several things that I really disliked about this book. There is no discussion about any of the actual battles, nor is there anything said about the relationship between the Waffen-SS and the higher levels of the SS and/or the political leadership of Germany. I found the final section about the apology for SS war crimes to be particularly egregious, especially for a book that claims to be an encyclopedia. In particular, I think the author does make some good points here, but completely avoids (throughout the entire text really) ALL the complex issues related to the SS's (not just the Waffen-SS) role in implementing Nazi racial policy. A BALANCED view would present both the admirable qualities of the soldiers of the Waffen-SS as well as their crimes. This work is certainly not balanced, and is a virtual hagiography of the exploits and men of the Waffen-SS. This last section makes it clear that MR is trying to ameliorate the image of the Waffen-SS while avoiding uncomfortable truths. There are many positives to this book though. It is well written with a deft prose that is direct and easy to read. As described above, MR does a fine job describing the diverse ethnic/national makeup of the Waffen-SS. There are two additional aspects about this book that make it worth a look. First, at less than 14 dollars (as of 24NOV06) this price is easy on the wallet. Second, the book contains an annotated bibiliography that points the interested reader to other references. br / br /Bottom line - a light snack for a serious student, but may still be a worthwhile addition to your collection (particularly given the price).
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