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The Forgotten Soldier
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 21 hrs and 48 mins
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Blood Red Snow
- The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front
- Written by: Günter K. Koschorrek
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Gunter K. Koschorrek was a machine-gunner on the Russian front in WWII. He wrote his illicit diary on any scraps of paper he could lay his hands on. As keeping a diary was strictly forbidden, he sewed the pages into the lining of his thick winter coat and deposited them with his mother on infrequent trips home on leave. The diary went missing, and it was when he was reunited with his daughter in America some 40 years later that it came to light and became Blood Red Snow.
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The author cuts out or invents things altogether
- By Pavel on 2019-12-28
Written by: Günter K. Koschorrek
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Adventures in My Youth
- A German Soldier on the Eastern Front 1941-45
- Written by: Armin Scheiderbauer
- Narrated by: James A. Gillies
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The author could be described as a veteran in every sense of the word, even though he was only age 21 when the war ended. Armin Scheiderbauer served as an infantry officer with the 252nd Infantry Division, German army, and saw four years of bitter combat on the Eastern Front, being wounded six times. This is an outstanding personal memoir, written with great thoughtfulness and honesty.
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Enjoyable.
- By Holly Robar on 2020-02-21
Written by: Armin Scheiderbauer
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Ivan's War
- Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945
- Written by: Catherine Merridale
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
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Of the 30 million who fought in the eastern front of World War II, 8 million died, driven forward in suicidal charges, shattered by German shells and tanks. They were the men and women of the Red Army, a ragtag mass of soldiers who confronted Europe's most lethal fighting force and by 1945 had defeated it. Sixty years have passed since their epic triumph, but the heart and mind of Ivan - as the ordinary Russian soldier was called-remain a mystery. We know something about how the soldiers died, but nearly nothing about how they lived, how they saw the world, or why they fought.
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A stunning account
- By Julie Panning on 2020-01-26
Written by: Catherine Merridale
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Panzer Ace
- The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
- Written by: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank). Only 489 of these King Tiger tanks were ever built.
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Good but not Great
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-08-20
Written by: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, and others
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Tigers in the Mud
- The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius
- Written by: Otto Carius
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
World War II began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer. No German tank better represents that thundering power than the infamous Tiger, and Otto Carius was one of the most successful commanders to ever take a Tiger into battle, destroying well over 150 enemy tanks during his incredible career.
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An Interesting Man
- By Michael Sherrer on 2020-08-08
Written by: Otto Carius
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Red Road from Stalingrad
- Recollections of a Soviet Infantryman
- Written by: Mansur Abdulin
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Mansur Abdulin fought in the front ranks of the Soviet infantry against the German invaders at Stalingrad, Kursk, and on the banks of the Dnieper. This is his extraordinary story. His vivid firsthand account of a ruthless war on the Eastern Front gives rare insight into the reality of the fighting and into the tactics and mentality of the Red Army's soldiers.
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Enjoyed every moment!
- By Tyler on 2023-06-26
Written by: Mansur Abdulin
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Blood Red Snow
- The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front
- Written by: Günter K. Koschorrek
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gunter K. Koschorrek was a machine-gunner on the Russian front in WWII. He wrote his illicit diary on any scraps of paper he could lay his hands on. As keeping a diary was strictly forbidden, he sewed the pages into the lining of his thick winter coat and deposited them with his mother on infrequent trips home on leave. The diary went missing, and it was when he was reunited with his daughter in America some 40 years later that it came to light and became Blood Red Snow.
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The author cuts out or invents things altogether
- By Pavel on 2019-12-28
Written by: Günter K. Koschorrek
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Adventures in My Youth
- A German Soldier on the Eastern Front 1941-45
- Written by: Armin Scheiderbauer
- Narrated by: James A. Gillies
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The author could be described as a veteran in every sense of the word, even though he was only age 21 when the war ended. Armin Scheiderbauer served as an infantry officer with the 252nd Infantry Division, German army, and saw four years of bitter combat on the Eastern Front, being wounded six times. This is an outstanding personal memoir, written with great thoughtfulness and honesty.
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Enjoyable.
- By Holly Robar on 2020-02-21
Written by: Armin Scheiderbauer
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Ivan's War
- Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945
- Written by: Catherine Merridale
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Of the 30 million who fought in the eastern front of World War II, 8 million died, driven forward in suicidal charges, shattered by German shells and tanks. They were the men and women of the Red Army, a ragtag mass of soldiers who confronted Europe's most lethal fighting force and by 1945 had defeated it. Sixty years have passed since their epic triumph, but the heart and mind of Ivan - as the ordinary Russian soldier was called-remain a mystery. We know something about how the soldiers died, but nearly nothing about how they lived, how they saw the world, or why they fought.
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A stunning account
- By Julie Panning on 2020-01-26
Written by: Catherine Merridale
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Panzer Ace
- The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
- Written by: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank). Only 489 of these King Tiger tanks were ever built.
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Good but not Great
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-08-20
Written by: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, and others
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Tigers in the Mud
- The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius
- Written by: Otto Carius
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
World War II began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer. No German tank better represents that thundering power than the infamous Tiger, and Otto Carius was one of the most successful commanders to ever take a Tiger into battle, destroying well over 150 enemy tanks during his incredible career.
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An Interesting Man
- By Michael Sherrer on 2020-08-08
Written by: Otto Carius
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Red Road from Stalingrad
- Recollections of a Soviet Infantryman
- Written by: Mansur Abdulin
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Mansur Abdulin fought in the front ranks of the Soviet infantry against the German invaders at Stalingrad, Kursk, and on the banks of the Dnieper. This is his extraordinary story. His vivid firsthand account of a ruthless war on the Eastern Front gives rare insight into the reality of the fighting and into the tactics and mentality of the Red Army's soldiers.
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Enjoyed every moment!
- By Tyler on 2023-06-26
Written by: Mansur Abdulin
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D DAY Through German Eyes
- The Hidden Story of June 6th 1944
- Written by: Holger Eckhertz
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Almost all accounts of D-Day are told from the Allied perspective, with the emphasis on how German resistance was overcome on June 6, 1944. But what was it like to be a German soldier in the bunkers and gun emplacements of the Normandy coast, facing the onslaught of the mightiest seaborne invasion in history? What motivated the German defenders, what were their thought processes - and how did they fight from one strong point to another, among the dunes and fields, on that first cataclysmic day?
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Powerful and Eye Opening
- By Military History Buff on 2019-04-10
Written by: Holger Eckhertz
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We Will Not Go to Tuapse
- From the Donets to the Oder with the Legion Wallonie and 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade ‘Wallonien’ 1942-45
- Written by: Fernand Kaisergruber
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Until recent years, very little was known of the tens of thousands of foreign nationals from Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, and Spain who served voluntarily in the military formations of the German army and the German Waffen-SS. In Kaisergruber's book, the listener discovers important issues of collaboration, the apparent contributions of the volunteers to the German war effort, their varied experiences, their motives, the attitude of the German High Command and bureaucracy, and the reaction to these in the occupied countries.
Written by: Fernand Kaisergruber
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Twilight of the Gods
- A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45
- Written by: Thorolf Hillblad - editor
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Erik Wallin served with his unit in all of these locations, and provides the listener with a fascinating glimpse into these final battles. The book is written with a "no holds barred" approach which will captivate, excite, and maybe even shock the listener - his recollections do not evade the brutality of fighting against the advancing Red Army. Twilight of the Gods is destined to become a classic memoir of the Second World War.
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Good listen
- By achil on 2019-12-04
Written by: Thorolf Hillblad - editor
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With the Old Breed
- At Peleliu and Okinawa
- Written by: E. B. Sledge
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Joe Mazzello, Tom Hanks (introduction)
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The celebrated 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, winner of eight Emmy Awards, was based on two classic books about the War in the Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow and With The Old Breed. Audible Studios, in partnership with Playtone, the production company co-owned by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and creator of the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific, as well as the HBO movie Game Change, has created new recordings of these memoirs, narrated by the stars of the miniseries.
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a must read/listen for ALL civilians
- By David Unger on 2019-03-24
Written by: E. B. Sledge
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Until the Eyes Shut
- Memories of a Machine Gunner on the Eastern Front, 1943-45
- Written by: Andreas Hartinger
- Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The rulers’ mistakes are paid for with the blood of the people. This is shown in history both recent and ancient, time and time again. It was no different for an Austrian mountain farmer’s son who was thrown into the carnage of the Eastern Front. He was in the prime of his youth, and the German Reich was already close to losing the war. In ripe-old age, he remembers those dark hours that have haunted him throughout his life.
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intense
- By Bren H on 2023-02-15
Written by: Andreas Hartinger
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In Deadly Combat
- A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front
- Written by: Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, Derek S. Zumbro - translator
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Wounded five times and awarded numerous decorations for valor, Gottlob Herbert Bidermann saw action in the Crimea and siege of Sebastopol, participated in the vicious battles in the forests south of Leningrad, and ended the war in the Courland Pocket. In his memoir, he shares his impressions of countless Russian POWs seen at the outset of his service, of peasants struggling to survive the hostilities while caught between two ruthless antagonists, and of corpses littering the landscape.
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More of a historical account rather than a novel
- By Ben McLoughlin on 2020-09-12
Written by: Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, and others
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Fur Volk and Fuhrer
- The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
- Written by: Erwin Bartmann, Derik Hammond
- Narrated by: James Foster
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Like many Germans, Berlin schoolboy Erwin Bartmann fell under the spell of the Zeitgeist cultivated by the Nazis. Convinced he was growing up in the best country in the world, he dreamt of joining the Leibstandarte, Hitler's elite Waffen SS unit. Tall, blond, blue-eyed, and just 17-years-old, Erwin fulfilled his dream on Mayday 1941, when he gave up his apprenticeship at the Glaser bakery in Memeler Strasse and walked into the Lichterfelde barracks in Berlin as a raw, volunteer recruit.
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An enjoyable honest read
- By Stig on 2018-03-28
Written by: Erwin Bartmann, and others
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Panzer Gunner
- From My Native Canada to the German Ostfront and Back. In Action with 25th Panzer Regiment, 7th Panzer Division 1944-45
- Written by: Bruno Friesen
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Panzer Gunner is a unique memoir of a Canadian serving in a German armored division. Bruno Friesen explains what it was like to fight in a tank on the Eastern Front and provides details on the battlefield performance of the Panzer IV tank. Six months before World War II erupted in 1939, Bruno Friesen was sent to Germany by his father in hopes of a better life. Friesen was drafted into the Wehrmacht three years later and ended up in the 7th Panzer Division. Friesen experienced intense combat against the Soviets in Romania, Lithuania, and West Prussia.
Written by: Bruno Friesen
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Armor and Blood
- The Battle of Kursk: The Turning Point of World War II
- Written by: Dennis E. Showalter
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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While the Battle of Kursk has long captivated World War II aficionados, it has been unjustly overlooked by historians. Drawing on the masses of new information made available by the opening of the Russian military archives, Dennis E. Showalter at last corrects that error. This battle was the critical turning point on World War II's Eastern Front. In the aftermath of the Red Army's brutal repulse of the Germans at Stalingrad, the stakes could not have been higher.
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A Very Dense hour by hour telling of Kursk
- By Daniel Jones on 2018-12-03
Written by: Dennis E. Showalter
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Panzer Commander
- The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck
- Written by: Hans von Luck, Stephen E. Ambrose - introduction
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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A stunning look at World War II from the other side.... From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front - von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers. Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman.
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Panzer Commander must read
- By Anonymous User on 2023-07-19
Written by: Hans von Luck, and others
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One Soldier's War
- Written by: Arkady Babchenko, Nick Allen - translator
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1995, Arkady Babchenko was an 18-year-old law student in Moscow when he was drafted into the Russian army and sent to Chechnya. It was the beginning of a torturous journey from naïve conscript to hardened soldier that took Babchenko from the front lines of the first Chechen War in 1995 to the second in 1999. He fought in major cities and tiny hamlets, from the bombed-out streets of Grozny to anonymous mountain villages.
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Grim.
- By Xyo on 2022-07-31
Written by: Arkady Babchenko, and others
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The Fall of Berlin 1945
- Written by: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Third Reich in January 1945. Frenzied by their terrible experiences with Wehrmacht and SS brutality, they wreaked havoc - tanks crushing refugee columns, mass rape, pillage, and unimaginable destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred; more than seven million fled westward from the fury of the Red Army. It was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known.
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Great book! Definitely recommend
- By aaron on 2018-07-02
Written by: Antony Beevor
Publisher's Summary
When Guy Sajer joins the infantry full of ideals in the summer of 1942, the German army is enjoying unparalleled success in Russia. However, he quickly finds that for the foot soldier the glory of military success hides a much harsher reality of hunger, fatigue, and constant deprivation. Posted to the elite Grosse Deutschland division, with its sadistic instructors who shoot down those who fail to make the grade, he enters a violent and remorseless world where all youthful hope is gradually ground down, and all that matters is the brute will to survive. As the biting cold of the Russian winter sets in and the tide begins to turn against the Germans, life becomes an endless round of pounding artillery attacks and vicious combat against a relentless and merciless Red Army.
Sajer's perspective as a German foot soldier makes The Forgotten Soldier a unique war memoir, the book that the Christian Science Monitor said "may well be the book about World War II which has been so long awaited". A work of stunning force, this is an unforgettable reminder of the horrors of war.
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What listeners love about The Forgotten Soldier
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2018-08-11
I have PTSD after reading this
I've read a few "war books" and memoirs, but this is the first one that truely portrays the horror.
5 people found this helpful
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- braden
- 2019-01-02
amazing book
This was a great book and would highly recommend it to anyone. A great account of the war on the Eastern Front
4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2018-11-21
Fantastic
An interesting glimpse into the human experience of what being the loser in one of the greatest conflicts of human history is like.
4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2018-08-19
Breathtaking
Beautifully heart wrenching, horrifying, miserable, honest. I can’t believe he lived to tell his story.
3 people found this helpful
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- Kevin Cassidy
- 2020-01-27
A must listen
Before I review the book I'd like to say the narrator Derek Perkins did a fantastic job narrating this book. He added realistic accent to the dialogue, and his voice is one you could listen to for hours on end. The audiobook is a must listen. It gives you a first hand account of what it was like being a Wehrmacht soldier in WW2 in the eastern front. A book that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you listen.
1 person found this helpful
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- Todd
- 2018-09-18
Absolutely amazing!
I loved this book. I have read so many books from the Allies point of view so it's neat to read about what the "enemy" experienced and how nobody was spared from the horrors of war.
1 person found this helpful
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- Ryan Dueck
- 2018-08-15
Vanquished View
This was a heart rending story from a side of WW2 we hear little about. it was an excellent story and well narrated.
1 person found this helpful
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- Ahmad Hamdi Alkhatib
- 2023-08-17
Rare Insights into the horrors of Eastern Front
Guy Sajer is one of the rare infantrymen to survive several years on the Eastern Front engaged in active combat. As such, his narratives and insights into the daily life of an infantryman during the bloodiest battles in history are incredibly rare. If you want to learn what life on the Eastern Front was like for the average soldier, this book is a must read. It is very well written and a captivating listen.
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- Tracyhr
- 2022-08-11
Outstanding Story !!!
A Great Read/Listen Of What I Imagine It Was Like For Many During WW2, Especially On The Eastern Front & Upon Returning Vanquished...
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- Anonymous User
- 2022-08-06
A must read
An incredibly captivating book, the narrator does a fantastic job of capturing the emotion the author was trying to portray. A story that will keep you thinking
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- Gillian
- 2017-03-31
A Beautifully Written Heartrending Tragedy
This is one of the most beautifully written, most vivid and horrific accounts of war I've read/listened to in a long time. It's absolutely amazing.
It was so amazing in fact, that I Googled it: and tho' I found that there were a few inaccuracies, it is true, it was lived. Guy Sajer himself says that it's not meant to be a strategic/chronological account but is instead meant as an emotional rendering of what he experienced.
And emotional it is. It starts with him as an optimistic young soldier fighting for the Germans even tho' he's half French (from what I Googled, it is suggested that he did it because he felt the Germans were Europe's best hope to save countries from Bolshevism), goes through testing as a member of an auxiliary unit, and then the greatest part of it is flat-out war and chaos.
There is smoke, fire, death all around him. Struggling innocents, struggling participants. I'd just finished listening to "Enemy at the Gates", about Stalingrad, and here in "The Forgotten Soldier" there was a greater accounting of it at the costs of Germany. But there is so much more: more battles, more to be won and lost, and so much hunger and privation.
I have never suffered so much alongside another person as I did with this book, it's so humane.
It's not just warfare that's soooo vividly portrayed; this is just a well, well-written book. Nature, comradeship, fear are written elegantly, with brilliant prose, and Derek Perkins delivers it flawlessly, humanely.
This is a credit well-spent, 21 1/2 hours I wouldn't trade for the world.
129 people found this helpful
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- shalte
- 2017-03-16
WWII Memoir That Must Be Read
Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier is a memoir of his experiences as a German Landser caught in the maelstrom of the Eastern Front between 1942 and 1945. I have read this book several times and now I have listened to Derick Perkins' narration and I am as blown away as I was when I first read it.
I cannot even attempt to try to say "...it felt like I was right there handing Sajer another box of machine gun ammunition...." because that would just be a lie. I, dear reader of this review, have spent exactly 0 seconds in anything even resembling a foxhole under fire and the next time I face 6000+ "Urrah!" screaming Soviet infantry charging my positions will be the first time. In other words, I am an avid reader of military history, plain and simple.
This memoir is a genuine reflection of how one man tried to cope i.e. stay alive, during the middle and later stages of largest conflict we humans have ever concocted. It has been said that if you separated the WWII Eastern Front from 1941-1945 from the larger conflict from 1939-1945, the Eastern Front theatre would by itself be the largest military conflict in the history of mankind. Now, I can go on and back this up and type in total casualty figures, but even today the numbers of Soviet solders KIA in WWII is still but a "guesstimate" with 15,000,000 being a conservative amount. But what is the point?
The Forgotten Soldier must be read by anyone, be they combat veteran or armchair general, who respects the sacrifice that soldiers throughout our common history have made not only for for some conception of "the Fatherland" or "the glory of....(insert countless kingdoms, empires, rickety petty states fragmenting into oblivion, or the Good Ole Stars and Stripes)" Suffering has a universal quality all its own.
Listen to this book. You will hear 21+ hours of what is probably the greatest memoir ever written not just of WWII but of any conflict anywhere and at any time. Guy Sajer was not in the forefront of some Panzer Division manning the main gun of a Pzkpw Mark III storming across the rolling plains of the Ukraine in June 1941 in the vanguard of Operation Barbarossa. He was part of the successor wave of reinforcement levies sent East to shore up an already sagging German front line that was overextended, undermanned and dangerously exposed to Soviet counterattack.
If lucky can find its place somewhere in Guy Sajer's experience, it might be that he found himself quite unexpectedly being scooped up by the best led and equipped Wehrmacht armored division in the war - the Grossdeutschland Division - and being teamed with "the Veteran" as a two-man machine gun team. I tell you, I cannot think of anyone I know or have read about whom I would prefer to have standing next to me in any kind of situation that has gone pear shaped and lethal than "the veteran". To say he was "a guardian angel" type person sent by some benevolent diety to keep Guy Sajer from getting his ass shot off is not for me to say. But Guy Sajer better have at least proverbially bought that stud as many beers as he wanted to pay back the hard headed and hard earned leadership "the Veteran" exercised in many extremely lethal combat situations. That stud was the definition of "Alte Hasse" in every way I can think of.
Finally, I must mention that Mr. Perkins narrated this book like the pro he is. The Forgotten Soldier has renewed my love for audiobooks. This one is a must purchase!
53 people found this helpful
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- XenoShark
- 2017-04-05
Engrossing, Amazing Account
Probably one of the best books I have ever read. A very engrossing account of a German landser fighting his way with the retreating Wehrmacht out of Russia during the last phases of WW2. Sajer brings out the horrors of war as a simple soldier fighting not for any ideology, but for survival. A must read for any person interested in WW2 .
20 people found this helpful
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- B.J.
- 2017-06-11
Devastatingly honest view of WWII
I never would have discovered this book without the callout by reviewer Gillian. Thank you. I too thought it was 21 hours well spent.
I've read my share of WWII books, but this one is different. It's not just the foot soldier view of battle -- a view delivered without heroism or medals -- it's the realism. This is a brutal look at how decisions further up the chain impact the front line. And it's not pretty. Plus, it's a view of the Eastern front which tends to feature less often in any kind of WWII book that crosses my path.
I think in some ways this is a view of a poet soldier. Much of what happens is related in a personal way -- not in the historic way with dates and locations. It's more about how the march felt than where it started and where it ended. I appreciate that. It's a unique perspective, beautifully written and beautifully read.
18 people found this helpful
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- A. Jahns
- 2017-04-23
BRAVO!
Many war diary and histories seem to have dull monotonous narration but this is absolutely fantastic. The narrator does different voices for different characters and matches the emotions of the situations in a way that brings the story alive. The story and writing style are superb as well. Don't miss this one!
18 people found this helpful
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- Theodore
- 2017-04-13
an amazing book
Story of survival as a German soldier in Ww2 Soviet Union. You don't usually think of them as human, with human emotions. They were, and it is a very touching story. At the end, the symptoms he suffers are clearly post traumatic stress disorders. An amazing story of survival.
17 people found this helpful
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- Leonard Tukwilla
- 2017-05-29
Heartbreaking, exhausting, and insightful
This is an exhausting listen, but very worthwhile. You'll find criticism of the accuracy of the historical details, so it's not meant as a tactical military history. It nonetheless does an amazing job of putting the listener with the men who lived this and providing a window into how they likely experienced it. Very highly recommended.
16 people found this helpful
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- Gregg M. Mashberg
- 2017-07-20
Fascinating but flawed memoir
The author takes us through his trials and travails, almost minute by minute. He also reflects, with eloquence, on the meaning of life, death, friendship. But never, ever-despite is obvious ability to do so- does he reflect on the totalitarian state that has subjected him and everybody else to the agony of the Eastern front. And, although he recounts the horror of Soviet attacks on German civilians, he never mentions the Nazi killing machine that ravaged the civilian, particularly Jewish, populations of Poland, Ukraine, Russia, all areas in which he served. Not even in the epilogue does he apply his formidable skills to reflect on the depraved regime that he served so loyally. Sadly, this forgotten soldier forgot the overall context of his brutal experience.
10 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 2017-04-20
Long, but worth the read.
Very complete story, with emotional impact. The reading was slow, but had veritible dialect where needed.
The story of a 17 year old French-German boy who entered the German army and fought on the Eastern front was definitely worth the investment of time. It painted the picture of how in that environment, men were ready for death at any moment.
10 people found this helpful
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- hastings
- 2017-04-19
best war story ever
this was by far the greatest war story. I actually felt like I was there.
8 people found this helpful