Product Description

This authoritative account and assessment of the military career, Dachau war crime trial and murder of Jochen Peiper, Heinrich Himmler's Adjutant and the "Siegfried" of the Waffen SS, describes his involvement in the Ardennes offensive and Malmedy Massacre.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131424 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

About the Author
The author: (Location: Sussex) Since retiring from a distinguished military career during which he commanded NATO's International Mobile Force (Land) and headed its Military Plans and Policy Division, Major General Mike Reynolds has become a respected historian and writer. His previous books, Steel Inferno, Sons of the Reich, Men of Steel and Eagles and Bulldogs in Normandy 1944 have brought him international recognition. He is now accepted as an authority on WWII and the Waffen-SS in particular.

Customer Reviews

Broken backed biography that has its moments
This book is not a fulfilling biography on Peiper. Only the final chapters come close to painting a picture of Peiper's character and his final days. However, as a source book for KG Peiper during the Ardennes offensive it is a decent account. Reynold's gives a disciplined and balanced appraisal of the Malmedy Massacre and has some undoubtedly thoroughly researched passages on the various orders of battle. At times though the flow of the book is a little like reading accurate lecture notes rather than a polished, highly readable description. It is a military history and so it follows that there is the normal annoying lack of detailed maps but most annoying of all is Reynold's staggering use of the exclamation mark! On balance still worth a read.

Excellent, well researched, readable book.
This is THE book on the actions of Kampfgruppe Peiper during the Ardennes offensive of 1944. The author has researched the subject extensively and presents a well balanced account of Peipers actions. He separates fact from fiction with regard to the more controversial aspects of the massacres, and why Peiper failed to acheive his objectives. The book is written in a very readable fashion and the reader is swept along to the final destruction of the kampfgruppe. The only critisism is that the maps are too few and not detailed enough. Even so this book is a must for those innterested in the Battle Of The Bulge.

Surprised by the Book
As someone who has been lucky enough to attend one of Brigadier Mike's Exercise Pied Piper tours I was surprised that he had finally got round to putting all his reseach to print, since he always said he wouldn't.
This is a balanced account of Pieper's part of the 'Battle of the Bulge' and is written from a military view point. At no point are conclusions raeched as to why some of the darker events occured, but the reader is left to draw their own conclusions based upon the facts before them and their own prejudices.

Some of the photos could be better presented and it may have been nice to include the 'scene as it is today' shots. The maps are a little infuriating, but usable - especially when on the ground.

I feel sure that there is more that Mike would want to include, since I'm convinced his research won't stop just because the book is written.