Greenhill Books- Hitler's War of Extinction

Rare German Color Photographs from the Eastern Front

THE BOOK:

I took possession of this book to write a brief review of it, only about 5 days ago.  When the package arrived in the mail, instantly impressed I was of the weight of this book.  I open the package and looked at the book and was immediately impressed with the sharp packaging and by the appearance of the books front cover.  I felt guilty reviewing this book based on the fact that it boasts of something like over 250 original color photos that are used through the book, as it seems on every page.  Most of the color photos used throughout this book measure an impressive 17X13 CM.  That's a pretty substantial color photo size.  The photography is sharp and colorful.  It really gives you a sense of what the photo captured at the time the shutter was opened and closed, capturing the image.  The book is well thought out in it's basic layout which includes chapters that cover most of the important topics that lead to the writer's analysis.  At 288 pages, all in glorious color, you have a book that you probably will not want to put down.  It's a good read and the packaging is done really well.  Alone, there are several diorama quality photos that can give a modeler an idea or two.

The table of contents for this book are as follows:

At 288 pages, the subject matter is not "glanced" over.  There is a lot of in-depth analysis by the authors, Mr. Simon Forty and Ian Stewart Spring.  In looking at how the book is laid out, it covers the subject matter in more or less chronological order to how the war progressed.  The information that is discussed in the book and that is explained is about how the actual conditions were on the Eastern Front.  This has been done with the aid of the period photographs and will lend a hand to connect the viewer with what he/she perceives for the war coverage.  .

The introduction starts on Page 4 and runs through to page 24.  Those pages are some of the most interesting to me as the subject matter on those pages paints a very hard situation to be in from the German Army's point of view.  In particular, page 24 talks about the photographs used in the illustration of this book, how they were used and fitted in such as way as to push the layout boundaries of the book.  It is important to note that Germans, much like Americans, used combat photographers a lot, maybe even more than the Americans to feed an insatiable desire to cover a war time propaganda effort.  According to what I read, the photos in this book were taken in such a way as to minimize the effects of those that might view the photos in a negative light.  Often, a combat war photographer's job is to cover the story and in some ways through photos, to capture the moment in a way to explain the action through the photos, making his photography come alive.  The photography for this book does just that.

One other photo that really struck me hard was on on page 27 of a Unteroffizier from the Munich recruiting office.  You can see the strain in his face and the very well worn look he sports of a war that is slowly sucking the life out of him.  I thought about that and it really bothered me because you can see the weary look in his face, for there is no smile in the photo.

The photos are excellent and the book is really well written.  Often we overlook the consequence of war, and how it plays with the lives of those that are simply fighting to stay alive until it's successful conclusion.  The following pages speak of this...I invite you to look at a few.

This is the Unteroffizier I was telling you about.  That face looks like it hasn't produced a smile for several months.

Highly Recommended for Beginner to Advanced builders.  I found this book to be an enjoyable one to have because it painted the picture of the Eastern Front combat photographer's image a little more.  Operation Barbarossa, which turned out to be a struggle for Nazi Germany to put down Communist Russia was one for world dominance and would finally see it's level of dominance come to a sudden halt.  The sheer information that one can glean from this reference book can make it look to the viewer that there is so much more to learn about what took place on the Eastern Front.

Thanks goes out to Casemate Publishing for this review sample.  It's a great book and one that I would recommend.

Reviewed by GLEN MARTIN

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