GoldLyrics.com - Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45
Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 940.541343092 EAN: 9781874622161 ISBN: 1874622167 Label: Helion and Company Ltd. Manufacturer: Helion and Company Ltd. Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 144 Publication Date: 2004-05 Publisher: Helion and Company Ltd. Studio: Helion and Company Ltd.
Few new personal accounts by Waffen-SS soldiers appear in English; even fewer originate from the multitude of non-German European volunteers who formed such an important proportion of this service's manpower. Twilight of the Gods was originally written in Swedish, and published in Buenos Aires shortly after the end of WWII. Erik Wallin, a Swedish soldier who volunteered for service with the Waffen-SS, and participated in the climactic battles on the Eastern Front during late 1944 and 1945, later telling his story to this book's editor, Thorolf Hillblad.
Wallin served with the Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, a unit composed mainly of non-German volunteers, including Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes. The division enjoyed a high reputation for its combat capability, and was always at the focal points of the fighting on the Eastern Front in the last year of the war. During this period it saw combat in the Baltic, in Pomerania, on the Oder, and finally in defence of Berlin, where it was destroyed.
Erik Wallin served with his unit in all of these locations, and provides the reader 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 reader - 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.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: On a par with/possibly better than great reads like The Forgotten Soldier Comment: Where to start...I've read a hell of a lot of books dealing with the Eastern Front, a lot of them written from a German point of view. Books like Soldat, The Forgotten Soldier, Black Edelweiss, In Deadly Combat, Memoirs Of A German Sniper, Five Years Four Fronts, With Our Backs To Berlin... and so on. As someone who is intrigued by the German mindset on the Eastern front, this book is absolutel gold. The mindset of a Swedish SS VOLUNTEER. If you crave the vivid combat scenes and wish to learn more of what fighting was like in an armed reconnaissance unit, as dismounted infantry, alongside kingtigers, then this book is for you. Detatiled accounts of ambushing Ivan, counterattacking against all the odds, its an incredible read.
To those of you criticising the author, i say, are you not looking for an account of a member of the 11th ss panzergrenadier division Nordland? Do you not wish to read of his experiences? Do you not wish to learn how he thought? Why he fought? Or do you want some sugar coated edited version where the author shows how remorseful he is. This is how he thought. This is how he fought. Accurate history and a brilliant account. Nothing more. Nothing less. Buy it If you wish to get an incredibly vivid account of how brutal fighting from Pomerania to Berlin really was. Customer Rating: Summary: A very poor book Comment: I do think this is a very poor book.
The author's style is really poor.
Secondly, he expresses his strong national socialist and racists views throughout the whole book. The scenes descriptions are therefore very annoying and the book becomes boring. Without any meaningful reflection or analyses.
The only interest in this book is the opportunity to read one fanatical SS's mind and way of thinking. It really fits their reputation. Even after the war, the author still believes the waste superiority of the enemy numbers defeated Germany. How can this be?
I would rather recommend readers to choose instead "the forgotten soldier "from Guy Sajer or "Seven days in January".
This book is not worth buying, I'll send you mind for free if you want.
Best regards.
Customer Rating: Summary: outstanding read Comment: This is among the finest first-hand accounts I have read.The author pulls you in and you almost live through these times with him. His strong anti-communist feelings shine though, it is obvious this book is written soon after the end of the war by his unbashfull, or unrepentant expressing of his feelings and thoughts. What a fortunate man to survive all he did!!And to firmly believe in saving Europe from Stalin and his ilk untill the itter end! Customer Rating: Summary: Action packed Comment: I have read the priceless "Forgotten Soldier" and never thought anything could touch it but this book does. The story begins with much of the war already lost for the Germans on the Eastern front and fights on until the final battle for Berlin. My only regret is the story does not start with his experiences from the start. He leaves good detail of the Russians he is fighting and really opens your eyes to the amount of Mongolians and other ethnic groups serving with the reds. A great book and a must have! Customer Rating: Summary: A Swedish Volunteer in the War Against Communism Comment: Both Eric Wallin, and the editor, Thorolf Hillblad served as Swedish volunteers in the 11th Waffen-SS PanzerGrenadier Division "Nordland". This was a truly elite division made up of volunteers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, and even a few Britons. This divsion was, in 1945, the single most effective unit in the defence of Berlin against Stalin's communist hordes. Wallin's description of the communist enemy is quite descriptive. These were, after all, the same enemy that we fought in Korea and Vietnam. I would have liked this book to be longer, covering his experiences as a volunter in Finland fighting the red invasion in 1939, and his earlier experiences in the Waffen-SS. However, this book is still an excellent addition to those interested in Hitler's preemtive war against Stalin, and communism. Those interested in the non-German volunteers that served in the WAffen-SS may want to read the following: "The Last Knight of Flanders" by Brandt, "European Volunteers" by Strassner, "Campaign in Russia" by Degrelle, "The Patriotic Traitors" by Littlejohn, "Charlemagne's Legionnaires" by Landwehr, "Latvian Legion" by Silgailis, "Galicia Division" by Logusz, and "Waffen-SS Encyclopedia" by Rikmenspoel.
