Western Front SS: The Secret Archives

I purchased this book (SS: Secret Archives - Western Front) in addition to its companion, SS: Secret Archives - Eastern Front - also written by Ian Baxter. First the books are hardcover which is nice in this day and age of cheap paperbacks. The chapters in the book are set out logically and address the battlefield history of the SS from 1939 through 1945. The history is very brief and covers the main battles that the SS fought on the eastern and western front in a chronological order. If you have a splattering of knowledge and have read about the battles previously you will learn nothing new. The text is relatively well written, although a number of grammatical errors are evident. There are no maps indicating unit locations, so you will have to rely on your knowledge of geography to determine the locations written in the text. The images in the book are superb, and I was very impressed with the pictorial content. I had not seen 80% of the images. The images depict uniforms, weapons, armour, geographical scenes, award ceremonies and day to day life of an SS soldier. One image depicts an SS dentists at work in the field. I was amazed by the assortment of photographs of armoured fighting vehicles and accessory vehicles. Camouflage schemes and techniques are especially well covered - this would be an advantage to the model maker who seeks to view vehicles with winter wash patterns, etc. Beneath each image is a detailed examination of the photograph and other information relating to the scene such as unit, battle, time, etc. The author has strived to match photographs with the varying battles briefly mentioned within the historical part of each chapter. Therefore, for the most part the photograph observation notes augment the historical text. Although the author is portrayed as an expert on the SS, I discovered many factual errors, especially relating to the detailed examination of the photographs. For example: one image shows an officer wearing a Knights Cross with the caption stating he is receiving the Iron Cross (when he already has an Iron Cross on his tunic. Another image states that this is an SS artillery unit in Russia, however, the vehicle and uniforms belong to the Luftwaffe and the location is France. Another image depicts a SS battle group, however, the belt buckles are all Luftwaffe and Army buckles. Another image shows an armoured self propelled gun and claims to be from such and such division, yet the battle badges on the tunic are Luftwaffe and the helmets worn belong to the paratroops. This said, I am not an expert of SS regalia, formation These very basic mistakes shed concern regarding the credibility of the written observations regarding each photograph. But, despite these shortcomings, the photographs are sharp, provide outstanding detail and offer an incite into the Waffen SS on both fronts. I would definitely recommend the book based on the photographs alone. 7/10 (text) 10/10 (photographs)