Title: Hitler's Armies

Author: Chris McNab

Publisher: Osprey

Price: £30.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: The German Army

Category: Nazi Germany

This is the definitive work on Hitler's war machine charting its evolution from the formidable force which won stunning victories during the Blitzkrieg in 1940, to the hard campaigns it fought in the deserts of North Africa and the frozen wastelands of the Soviet Union to the eventual retreat to the Fatherland itself. Drawing upon Osprey Publishing's unique archive, this volume expertly weaves together the story of the development and deployment of Hitler's armies displayed alongside a stunning collection of original artwork and photographs to show the kit and equipment of the various land forces.

Title: Heinz Guderian

Author: Pier Paolo Battistelli

Publisher: Osprey

Price: £11.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Heinz Guderian

Category: Nazi Germany

Some consider Guderian to be the founding father of blitzkrieg warfare, and he certainly brought the whole concept to public attention and prominence, chiefly through the publication of his book "Achtung Panzer" in 1937. He commanded the XIX (Motorized) Army Corps in the 1939 Polish campaign, and Panzergruppe Guderian during Operation Barbarossa. In March 1943 he became chief inspector of the Panzer forces, but even the great tank commander could achieve little more than to delay the inevitable defeat of Germany.

Title: Hitler's Tank Killer

Author: Hans Seidler

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Price: £14.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: German Army

Category: Nazi Germany

Sturmgeschütz III was originally designed as an assault weapon, but as war progressed it was increasingly used in a defensive role and evolved into an assault gun and tank destroyer. By 1943 its main role was providing anti-tank support to the units in its area of operation. This consequently led to many StuGs being destroyed in battle. Nonetheless they were very successful as tank killers and destroyed, among others, many bunkers, pillboxes and other defences. The StuG was not considered to be a true tank because it lacked a turret. The gun was mounded directly in the hull, in a casemate-style fashion, with a low profile to reduce vehicle heights, and had a limited lateral traverse of a few degrees in either direction. Thus, the entire vehicle had to be turned in order to acquire targets. Omitting the turret made production much simpler and less costly, enabling greater numbers to be built. Its significantly shorter vertical profile as compared to contemporary tanks made the StuG more difficult to hit. Most assault guns were mounted on the chassis of a Panzer III or Panzer IV, with the resultant model being called either a StuG III or StuG IV respectively. The StuG was one of the most effective tracked vehicles of World War II, and over 10,000 of them were eventually produced. During the course of the war StuG III assault guns were issued to Sturmartillerie Batteries, Sturmgeschütz Abteilungen, Sturmgeschütz Brigades, Sturmartillerie Batteries, Ersatz (Reserve), Abteilungen and Funklenk (Remote Control) Companies. StuG III assault guns served on all fronts of WWII until the end of the war.

Title: Blitzkrieg in the West

Author: Ian Baxter

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Price: £14.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Blitzkrieg

Category: Nazi Germany

This superbly illustrated book captures the dramatic action of May and June 1940. The speed and ferocity of the German onslaught took the Allies by surprise as Hitler’s land and air forces annihilated the inferior opposition. After 9 months stalemate the collapse was cataclysmic and Holland and Belgium quickly fell leaving the British and French forces outflanked and outfought. Panic set in and huge numbers of civilian refugees clogged the roads making the Allies’ withdrawal even more precarious. The miracle of Dunkirk saved vast numbers of British and French forces but could not prevent the surrender of France, leaving Britain to fight on virtually alone. The splendid photographs in this Images of War series book tell the story of this extraordinary period of history. They include previously unseen images of Rommel’s Ghost Division.

Title: 1938: Hitler's Germany

Author: Giles MacDonogh

Publisher: Constable

Price: £20.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Nazi Germany

Category: Nazi Germany

In this masterly new work, acclaimed historian Giles MacDonogh explores the moment when Hitler gambled everything. Until 1938, Hitler could be dismissed as a ruthless but efficient dictator, a problem to Germany alone; after 1938 he was clearly a threat to the entire world. In that year The Third Reich came of age and the Führer showed his hand – bringing Germany into line with Nazi ideology and revealing long-held plans to take back those parts of Europe lost to ‘Greater Germany’ after the First World War. The sequence of events began in January with the purging of the army, and escalated with the merger with Austria - the Anschluss, and the first persecutions of Viennese Jewry. MacDonogh’s access to many new sources gives insights into what life was like under the eye of the regime, revealing the role of the Anglican Church after the Anschluss, saving those Jews who were willing to convert, and also the Kendrick Affair – the still-secret details of the Austrian double agent who brought down the whole MI6 operation in Austria and Germany, just as the Chamberlain government began negotiations with Hitler at Munich. A remarkable and revealing account of Hitler’s opening moves to war.

Title: Karl Brandt: The Nazi Doctor

Author: Ulf Schmidt

Publisher: Continuum

Price: £18.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Karl Brandt

Category: Nazi Germany

Born in 1904, Brandt played a major role in the first mass killing programme of the Third Reich, the so called 'euthanasia' programme. As Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation, Karl Brandt became the highest medical authority in the Nazi regime; he initiated experiments on concentration camps inmates and was eventually put in charge of biological and chemical warfare. How was it that a rational, highly cultured, literate, young professional could come to be responsible for mass murder and criminal human experiments on a previously unimaginable scale? In this riveting biography, Ulf Schmidt explores in detail that Brandt belonged to a generation of a young 'expert elite', who in the 1930s and 1940s were willing, and empowered, to support and conceive an oppressive, militarist, and racist government policy, and ultimately turn its exterminatory potential into reality. Through a critical biography of Brandt, Schmidt re-evaluates the system of communication at the centre of Hitler's regime. The book extends our understanding of the culture of detachment between a regime that was geared towards total destruction, and a government that was almost totally removed from its people.

Title: The Hitler File

Author: Patrick Delaforce

Publisher: Michael O'Mara

Price: £9.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Adolf Hitler

Category: Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler may be one of the most infamous men of the twentieth century, and the legacy of his terrible crimes will live for centuries, but what do we really know about him, beyond the scale of his atrocities? Too many biographies are long and daunting, but "The Hitler File" is easily accessible and covers the life and actions of Hitler from birth right through to his death in 1945. What drove Hitler and his megalomania, and what brought about his, and Nazi Germany's eventual downfall? At once fascinating, objective and encompassing many subjects, Patrick Delaforce's latest book roots out things that you never knew about the multi-faceted dictator, including: Hitler's Olympic rivalry with the British; The young Hitler as church acolyte and choirboy; School reports and teacher's opinions; Hitler's art phase; and, Hitler's relationship with Eva Braun, the 'bird in a gilded cage'.

Title: The Third Reich: A Concise History

Author: Martin Kitchen

Publisher: Tempus

Price: £9.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Nazi Germany

Category: Nazi Germany

Seventy years have passed since Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor, and in the intervening years a vast amount has been written on the origins and nature of the Third Reich. The years from 1933 to 1945 cast such a grim shadow that the moral, ethical and religious elements embedded in the narrative are such that the subject still resists treatment as part of a historical past. Fierce debates still rage over both the how and the why of these terrible events. In this concise and accessible account, Martin Kitchen addresses the major issues - How did Hitler come to power? How was the Nazi dictatorship established? What was the essential nature of the regime? What were the reasons for Hitler's extraordinary popularity? Why did Germany go to war? What led to the Holocaust? What was the legacy of National Socialism?

Title: Panzergrenadier Divisions

Author: Chris Bishop

Publisher: Spellmount

Price: £20.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Panzer Tank

Category: Nazi Germany

Illustrated with detailed artworks of German vehicles and their markings with exhaustive captions and specifications, this is the definitive study of the equipment and organisation of German motorized divisions during World War II. Organised by division, the book describes in depth the various models of tank and other armoured and soft vehicles in German service during the war with each individual panzergrenadier division. It comes complete with listings of the unit commanders and any famous commanders. Each divisional section is further broken down by campaign, accompanied by orders of battle, a brief divisional history of the campaign, any specific unit markings and formation badges. With information boxes accompanying the full-colour artworks, all drawn to the same scale, this book is an essential reference guide for modellers and any enthusiast with an interest in the motorized divisions of the German armed forces.

Educational Websites

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