Customer Reviews
Excellent. Should be read by All who want to know a true Soldier's experience in the Front LIne - By: White Cliffs, 19 Jul 2008 
An adsorbing & fascinating account of a true war hero & his life as a campaigning soldier. This edition is spoilt however by having been rewritten for the American market & therefore loses some of it's meaning from the original &in places it can be disconcerting to read "Americanisms" which seem out of place.
It's particularly disappointing that at the end of the book, on page 424, there is a table of Wehrmacht & SS rank comparisons against US ranks but a list of British ranks is not given.
Overall try to buy the 1994 English edition if you can, but this edition is certainly well worth reading if the English edition cannot be found.
Since writing the original review above, I've taken the time to re-read this excellent account of the life of a true soldier fighting for his countryin many of the theatres of WW2. The bravery of both Kurt Meyer & those who fought alongside him is without doubt & detailedin this account. It must also be said that he was also a determined & charasmatic leader who has ensured that the record of those who foughtin the units he commanded truly reflects their abilities as soldiers.
The support of those who knew him is self evident during the times of his trial, his imprisonment & eventual homecoming.
The issue of whether a commander is responsible for actions taken without his knowledge or without his direct order is one which can only be discussed if accounts of true soldiers such as Kurt Meyer are understood & recorded.
It remains to be seen if any of the war crimes committed by allied soldiers will ever be properly acknowledged let alone justice brought to bear on those responsible "..8th June 1944 (after the capture of a group of German Soldiers by the British 'Inns of Court Regiment') ... the badly injured Oberts Luxemberger was fettered by two British Officers, beaten unconscious and,in that blood-covered condition, tied to a British tank as a shield".
It should always be possible for all of us to be able to access both sides of the coin. This book helps us to see the full horror of war as fought be all armies.
Ok - By: Carl, 13 Nov 2007 
Meyer provides a first hand account of his war, startingin Poland, through to the Balkans, onto the Eastern Front & finally to the Western Front.
He does provide some good accounts of his experiences during all this fighting but as you go on & especially when you get to the chapters dealing with Normandy & beyond you can start to clearly see his warped view of events, his radical views etc.
It is resonable to say that at least half of his book is pure propaganda!
Meyers Memoirs - By: P. M. Elvidge, 30 Oct 2007 This is the first time I have read a book written by a member of the Waffen SS & I have found it to be very interesting & opened up a whole new perspective on the experiences of the combat soldierin World War II.
I found this 'unputtdownable' not wanting to wait to find out what happens next & that I think provides a good selling point.
But this does come across - at least until the latter chapters - as a book of war, war, war. There is little information on how Meyer was digesting his experiences & of the psychological impact it had on him & his soldiers.
As the book proceeds there is a transition - that may go unnoticed, due to the fast pace of the events - from the sweeping Blitzkrieg tactics of the German forcesin the early years of the war, to the small scale battles for individual hills.
There is also to be found an explanation for Hitlers infamous order for his SS to remove their cuffbands.
I found that the addition of more mapsin a better position within the book, would have added another dimension to reading & there are also a fair number of spelling mistakes (more than necessary), though really the quality of this book still deserves promotion.
In a few words:
Totally recommended, great read, unputtdownable.
absolute fiction - By: Mrjamesariley, 15 Oct 2006 
having read many first hand accounts from all sides involvedin ww2in most of the theaters I have never read one so biased.
if you believe that no matter what was thrown at mr meyer,s soldiers they kept on smiling & keeping there chin up then the true horrers of the conflicts he participatedin are not brought to the reader at all.
he goesin to no detail of the battles his regiment fought, instead he just harps on about his brave & caring men.please read a forgotton soldier if you want a proper account of the eastern front
the best of their generation! - By: Abraxos, 02 Sep 2006 
Forget every prejudice you were taughtin school about WWII German soldiers. Here we have a first hand account (and his tales were confirmed through other sources, german & ex-allied) of a german Waffen SS commander who led his units always fronting his menin the heat of battle (unlike all higher allied commanders...). You will read about the unsurpassed skills, bravery & courage these warriors showedin battle & about a comradeship we do not findin today's armies. You will the horrors of war & human tragedies as well as battle glories. Bear witness to the more than human achievements & sacrifices these men went through. Today military experts agree that the german soldiers & especially also the Waffen SS soldiers were the best of their generation as military men. True sworn brothers of the sword they performed their duty with unequaled toughness & dedication. Later used as scapegoatsin the after-war-days these elite men of the Waffen SS units were the best of their generation & german soldiers like any others.
