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johnthebiker300's review against another edition
3.0
Another well researched book from Damien Lewis.
I do wonder how ‘polite’ the SAS men were when questioning the captured Nazis.
Only 3 stars from me as found it all a bit tedious towards the end.
The interesting bit was about Ernst and his whereabouts and the ‘hit squad’ mentioned in the afterword.
I do wonder how ‘polite’ the SAS men were when questioning the captured Nazis.
Only 3 stars from me as found it all a bit tedious towards the end.
The interesting bit was about Ernst and his whereabouts and the ‘hit squad’ mentioned in the afterword.
dtab62's review against another edition
4.0
The Nazi Hunters is a fast-paced book about two separate subjects. The first is a secret SAS mission behind German lines in France that began in the summer of 1944. The mission was to last a few weeks until Patton's Third Army broke through and relieved them. But as the ground war in Europe actually played out, (operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge etc.) the breakthrough anticipated in the summer of '44 never actually came to pass until early 1945.
During that time, the SAS did its best under nearly impossible conditions to raise hell behind the German lines, in concert with the French resistance. But they were tasked with harassing rear guard, second string troops. They had no way of knowing that there was a massive German program underway to ruthlessly combat rearguard actions. While the SAS did an effective job of attacking German leadership and sabotaging logistics, the cost was high. Not only did the Germans take out reprisals on the local populations, but the fate of captured SAS troops was grim.
This takes us to the second half of the book. Although the SAS was formally disbanded in October of 1945, a small group was absorbed into the War Office and able to hunt down the perpetrators of Nazi war crimes committed in their area of operations.
Not surprisingly, many of the French civilians in the area were happy to help with the investigations and helped the investigators to discover that many of the missing SAS soldiers were murdered in cold blood, along with hundreds of locals.
I don't wish to provide any spoilers, so I will let it go at that and encourage you to read how the investigations and the ensuing war crimes trials played out.
I highly recommend this book. The reason I gave it four stars not five was that I felt it ended too soon. It left the fate of one of the most hunted Nazis unanswered. Also, I am a big fan of wrapping up history books with a "what later became of..." and this book omitted that.
During that time, the SAS did its best under nearly impossible conditions to raise hell behind the German lines, in concert with the French resistance. But they were tasked with harassing rear guard, second string troops. They had no way of knowing that there was a massive German program underway to ruthlessly combat rearguard actions. While the SAS did an effective job of attacking German leadership and sabotaging logistics, the cost was high. Not only did the Germans take out reprisals on the local populations, but the fate of captured SAS troops was grim.
This takes us to the second half of the book. Although the SAS was formally disbanded in October of 1945, a small group was absorbed into the War Office and able to hunt down the perpetrators of Nazi war crimes committed in their area of operations.
Not surprisingly, many of the French civilians in the area were happy to help with the investigations and helped the investigators to discover that many of the missing SAS soldiers were murdered in cold blood, along with hundreds of locals.
I don't wish to provide any spoilers, so I will let it go at that and encourage you to read how the investigations and the ensuing war crimes trials played out.
I highly recommend this book. The reason I gave it four stars not five was that I felt it ended too soon. It left the fate of one of the most hunted Nazis unanswered. Also, I am a big fan of wrapping up history books with a "what later became of..." and this book omitted that.
jmkemp's review against another edition
4.0
A very well researched account, with a lot of detail on the SAS operations in the Vosges. While it does cover the post-war war crimes investigations most of the book is actually about the period leading to the war crimes. This is very interesting, and shows how they were operating and why so many SAS soldiers ended up in enemy hands. It also sort of explains the personal nature of the SAS War Crimes Unit's all consuming involvement in hunting down the perpetrators.
traditionson's review against another edition
5.0
A very interesting look into the original Nazi Hunters, long before the American faction came into being. It looked at both the historical and tactical moves during the war from behind enemy lines which assisted the end of the war to come about far more smoothly. I was fascinated at the real lives involved in the fight and their mental fortitude despite all the darkness, horror and adversity they faced. Having had family on both sides of the war I can understand why they did this but also the damage it caused on both sides. A must read for all history buffs or any Nazi Hunters fans who want to meet the team that were doing it long before.
kirstymaria1996's review against another edition
5.0
This a fantastic book for anyone interested in the second world war. It brings to light the stories buried in history
bethlovescake's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
The has a bit of an introduction by the author then once the story officially starts it feels very fast-paced.
It's incredible to think that the mission was 'off the books' and kept secret for 75 years!! It's very interesting and informative as well as being full of action and tension.
The atrocities that this book dictates are truly horrific and it really show the very worst of humanity when such immense power is in the hands of evil in human form. I hope books like this ensure history doesn't repeat itself.
I'm glad the book also runs through the punishments of the nazis mentioned too as it gives a little closure even if the punishment doesn't match the crime.
One if the things that really tugged at my heart strings was the loyalty the villagers showed. They had to endure so much hardship and were even faced with torture or death but they were still loyal to the soilders! Truly incredible!
It sounds stupidly obvious but the men described in this book were insanely brave, almost incomprehensibly so. I'm so glad they are now recognised as the heroes they are.
All in all I'm glad I read this, the author did an amazing job as always collecting all the information and presenting it in an immersive and thought-provoking way. Sometimes I had to remind myself that it was all true as it comes across like a fictional military action novel. I'm sure I'll be reading more of Damien Lewis in the future.
It's incredible to think that the mission was 'off the books' and kept secret for 75 years!! It's very interesting and informative as well as being full of action and tension.
The atrocities that this book dictates are truly horrific and it really show the very worst of humanity when such immense power is in the hands of evil in human form. I hope books like this ensure history doesn't repeat itself.
I'm glad the book also runs through the punishments of the nazis mentioned too as it gives a little closure even if the punishment doesn't match the crime.
It sounds stupidly obvious but the men described in this book were insanely brave, almost incomprehensibly so. I'm so glad they are now recognised as the heroes they are.
All in all I'm glad I read this, the author did an amazing job as always collecting all the information and presenting it in an immersive and thought-provoking way. Sometimes I had to remind myself that it was all true as it comes across like a fictional military action novel. I'm sure I'll be reading more of Damien Lewis in the future.
gautamsing's review
5.0
The Nazi Hunters is the story of an SAS mission in occupied France in 1944 that went wrong, and the clandestine (even by SAS standards) search for the 31 missing men. More importantly, when many of the 31 were found to be have been killed, the hunt for their killers began. Mr. Lewis writes a gripping book.
The mission was to arm the Maquis in the Vosges and prepare for SAS ambushes, to coincide with the expected arrival of General Patton’s army in August. Patton reached late and many of the Maquis and SAS were hunted down, caught and killed.
The story has many protagonists. Captain Druce, given command of the initial mission in the 11th hour. Captains Sykes and Gough. Colonel Franks who jumped into the Vosges himself later given the challenges. Major Barkworth who lead the 3 year hunt for the killers. Sergeant Rhodes, a key member of his team. Prince Yuri Galitzine, who discovered the first concentration camp Natzweiller and later arranged the clandestine survival of Barkworth’s unit when the SAS was disbanded. Etienne and Joubert of the Maquis. The indefatigable Madame Rossi, and Mlle’s Sophie and Bergeron. The German perpetrators, Karl Buck. Peter Straub, “Dr” Werner Rohde, Max Kessler, Erich Isselhorst, “Stuka” Neuschwanger, and the leader of them all, Hans Dietrich Ernst, who was never caught. Lastly, the people of the village of Moussey who never disclosed, at great cost, the location of hiding SAS and Maquis soldiers.
The books ends with a twist where it seems Isselhorst who was supposed to have been hanged, actually never was. Both he and Ernst survived as part of the post war pivot of the western world to prepare for the new foe – Soviet Russia. To do this, they were ready to use the skills, experience & contacts of (not even former) Nazi officers.
The first half of the book describes the doomed mission and the escape of those who could. The second half is about the discovery of the fate of those missing and the hunt for their killers. Both parts were vivid, but I found the latter half more gripping.
Two captures stay in my mind. Peter Straub, pushed 4 female SOE agents into an oven after “Dr” Rohde was supposed to have knocked them out with a lethal dose of phenol. The dose for one of them wasn’t enough and alive, she scratched Straub’s face when being pushed into the oven alive. Those tell take scratches were what netted him. She had spoken even from the grave. The second was when Max Kessler was caught as Sergeant Rhodes noticed 3 plates of soup at the dinner table, when there were only 2 people present.
On the last Sunday in September each year, the village of Moussey commemorates the deaths at their church in which an SAS banner proudly hangs.
An amazing story, brilliantly written by Damien Lewis.
The mission was to arm the Maquis in the Vosges and prepare for SAS ambushes, to coincide with the expected arrival of General Patton’s army in August. Patton reached late and many of the Maquis and SAS were hunted down, caught and killed.
The story has many protagonists. Captain Druce, given command of the initial mission in the 11th hour. Captains Sykes and Gough. Colonel Franks who jumped into the Vosges himself later given the challenges. Major Barkworth who lead the 3 year hunt for the killers. Sergeant Rhodes, a key member of his team. Prince Yuri Galitzine, who discovered the first concentration camp Natzweiller and later arranged the clandestine survival of Barkworth’s unit when the SAS was disbanded. Etienne and Joubert of the Maquis. The indefatigable Madame Rossi, and Mlle’s Sophie and Bergeron. The German perpetrators, Karl Buck. Peter Straub, “Dr” Werner Rohde, Max Kessler, Erich Isselhorst, “Stuka” Neuschwanger, and the leader of them all, Hans Dietrich Ernst, who was never caught. Lastly, the people of the village of Moussey who never disclosed, at great cost, the location of hiding SAS and Maquis soldiers.
The books ends with a twist where it seems Isselhorst who was supposed to have been hanged, actually never was. Both he and Ernst survived as part of the post war pivot of the western world to prepare for the new foe – Soviet Russia. To do this, they were ready to use the skills, experience & contacts of (not even former) Nazi officers.
The first half of the book describes the doomed mission and the escape of those who could. The second half is about the discovery of the fate of those missing and the hunt for their killers. Both parts were vivid, but I found the latter half more gripping.
Two captures stay in my mind. Peter Straub, pushed 4 female SOE agents into an oven after “Dr” Rohde was supposed to have knocked them out with a lethal dose of phenol. The dose for one of them wasn’t enough and alive, she scratched Straub’s face when being pushed into the oven alive. Those tell take scratches were what netted him. She had spoken even from the grave. The second was when Max Kessler was caught as Sergeant Rhodes noticed 3 plates of soup at the dinner table, when there were only 2 people present.
On the last Sunday in September each year, the village of Moussey commemorates the deaths at their church in which an SAS banner proudly hangs.
An amazing story, brilliantly written by Damien Lewis.