Product Description

This is a fascinating and long overdue study of the troops that made up Germany's elite special forces of World War II. Such forces included the legendary Skorzeny Commandos who carried out audacious tasks such as the glider-borne rescue of Mussolini, and the kidnapping of the son of the Hungarian regent, Admiral Horthy. This book also includes details of lesser-known units such as the Brandenburgers, who operated behind enemy lines in captured uniforms, and the Kleinkampfverbande who were the forerunners of modern-day naval combat troops like the US Navy SEALs. Complete with uniform and kit detail together with action accounts of many of these daring operations, this book is a must-have for any special forces enthusiast.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22049 in Books
• Published on: 2009-11-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Customer Reviews

Weak
If you already know the Wehrmacht pretty well you won't learn much about its special forces by reading this book. The main disappointment is that it covers army, naval and Air forces as well as the waffen-ss; all that in less than 60 pages.
Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200 deserves a book in its own right. Same story about the Brandenburg units. Even the Sonderverbands 287 & 288 should make a whole book in itself.
As usual, the famed SS Kommando Skorzeny takes the biggest chunk out of the "German Special Forces of WW II". Few people will learn anything new on the man and his overrated actions.
Moreover the colour plates are extremely disappointing to say the least. When they are not just plainly boring they are just botched ! Where are the outstanding illustrators like Kevin Lyles, Angus Mc Bride and the likes ???
The colourplate illustrating Skorzeny in a w-ss camouflaged parka is a total failure, nowhere near the real camouflaged pattern; far from it.
My final call is that the book's fine for WW II beginners but that's as far as it goes. With a mouth-watering title it gets utterly disappointing as you read through the chapters. It won't find a place on the shelves of my library that's for sure.