Very informative, alot of inside information of German life during war
929564
This was a very informative book, gave a lot of history of Nazi regime from an ordinary German's prospective. I enjoyed following him thru his military service and especially when the war was over how he returned to civilian life. I recommend it highly
746034
Very good insight into the privations also suffered by the German people during the War. We often only think of what it did to others and ourselves.  The German people also had privations, serious ones.
2307149
Full of factual information about the time in Germany before WW2. The author has taken information and put it into an integrated story. Central to the story is Ambassador Dodd's daughter, Martha. So much so, that the first third of the book almost seems to be about her.
4431580
I am well read about WWII in Europe, but not so much from the German side.  This is an excellent true story of one young man's journey into war.  Lots of in-depth information on the German home front.

This is not a description of battles and warfare.  More of politics, service, and the German people.
2194998
The book is very well put together.  I actually owned both volumes of the German language editions, and there are more photos than there were in those.  Also there are additional profile paintings illustrating selected aircraft of the Geschwader.  They are nicely done.

The text contains many personal accounts from the pilots with a good number of them from the pilots of II. (Sturm)/JG 4 - who flew the heavily aremd and armored Fw 190's tasked with assaulting the bomber boxes.  Good, continuous timeline of events and battles by the Geschwader.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the air war over Germany.

This review applies to both Volume 1 and Volume 2
3326398
This book gave me a  new understanding of Germany and the WWII.  It is written in a different style but very good information.
3535483
I have not read a book in prob 20 years but this one is great. I get a little bogged down by what units are going where as it's difficult to take them all in at times but it's well broken up by personal accounts, pics, etc... Great read if your into ww2 Germany.  You really get a sense of what the common soldier was really like and not what the general population has been swayed to believe.
4860815
Thomas Jentz's book proves to be a fantastic source of information regarding the German Panzer forces during World War II. This volume covers the period from the early 1930s to 1942. It uses primary German sources that revealed the evolutionary stages of the German panzer formations, their weapons and numbers as the years rolled by. The book also reflects on German perception of how they did, how their tanks performed and needs for changes.

The book reflects the closeness to the source German material. The author expects the reader to have a fine tune knowledge of the German military prior to reading this book. If you have to look up to see the difference between a Panzer 38(t) to Panzer IVd, this book is probably not for you. The unit organization tables are done in the unfamiliar German symbolism instead of your usual NATO symbols so that can be confusing to the novice.

The book seem to be written for people who wants a greater understanding of the German panzer formations and thier gradual metamorphosis. The second volume covers the second half of the war when the German forces were mostly on the defensive mode.

Overall, highly informative reading material, not for the casual reader since this book don't exactly read like a best seller.
3344024
I really enjoyed this book. I love history and bios and just happened to pick this up at a used book store.  I lived in Germany in the early 60's and saw how the war was still affecting the people of Germany.  To see how the war influence Hildia's life was really an eye opener for me.  My life growing up was more on a par of Ms. Hanna's.  It was even more amazing to realize that I had met Hilda's and had even dated YJ for awhile.  It makes me realize that I am the lucky one.  Great book.
3554962
Going into this book, I wasn't exactly sure what Albert Speer was going to talk about.  He mixes his recollections of his involvement in the Third Reich and his daily prison life.  I enjoyed the book immensely, but I was hoping for more information on his duties in the Third Reich.  Much of the book was about his adventures in gardening in the prison atrium.  Speer does give his psychological insights into why he became a member of the Nazi parties and the duties he was given.  He also, voices his opinions on the other 6 members of Spandau prison and what his life would be like after he was to be released 20 years later.  Overall the book was very interesting reading and it is very detailed (but not to the point of boredom)in everyday activities and protocol.
821875
As my Dad was a prisoner of war in ww2 ( Stalag Luft 1) it brought a lot of info about his time there
2482643
This book deals with the lives of people during WWII Germany.  It's very dark and not a feel good read by any means, however, it does hold your interest especially after the first few chapters as the characters develop.  It opens a window on the lives of ordinary people of that time period and how they survived under the intimidation of the Nazis.  It's very well written and very interesting with quite a revelation that not only Jews were persecuted during those ugly times.
4463501
Great book about the inner workings of the Hitler government before World War II, when it was obvious Germany had a madman running or in charge of the government.  The rest of the world just wanted things to be find without any involment.  I couldn't put it down. Very interesting
4223120
I ordered this book to read for myself to see if I could learn anything about Germany. I am an adult, and I enjoyed this book very much. My son is taking a trip to Germany next year and I didn't know anything about the Country at all. I found the book very informative and the pictures were excellent. I was very impressed by this book and would recommend it to anyone looking at going to Germany or for someone who just wants to learn more about Germany.
I received this product at a reduced price/free in exchange for my honest unbiased review.
3769095
This book was very good and interesting in that it showed a part of history during WW II that we don't readily know about. It's about the displaced people that the war caused; many native to their Countries but considered German and were kicked out of what was their homeland. War is a terrible thing no matter what side you're on. Lucky for this family they didn't come under the Russians after the war.
672919
My dad was in the same camp as Spinelli so I was interested to see his book.  The photos are really, really good.  It's amazing Spinelli was able to get away with taking so many.  I never thought that there were that many prisoners in the camp.  I really enjoyed the text too.  It is sparse, but it is well-written and contains lots of details of life in a German prison camp.  It's amazing how inventive the soldiers were at creating plays, musical performances, and a camp newspaper.  All this, with the drama of World War II raging in the background.  My dad used to say that the Germans told the Americans they would be in Germany the rest of their lives re-building the country.  So it had to be devastating to be a POW with that uncertainty hanging over you.  Spinelli's book is well worth the price.  It's something I'll treasure as a memento of my father's 26 months as a POW in Germany.
4395692
I'm very interested in ww 2 so this really helped me understand the actions of the german citizens