Waffen SS: The encyclopedia

Marc J. Rikmenspoel's book is one of the most detailed book's available on the Waffen-SS. It gives the background and summary of operations of all divisions, and has outstanding diagrams that outline the structure of early war motorized infantry divisions, panzer divisions, panzer-grenadier divisions, mountain divisions, cavalry divisions, and grenadier (infantry) divisions. It describes both the German and non-German troops of the Waffen-SS, which believe it or not included volunteers from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Belorussia, Czechia, Estonia, France, Georgia, Hungary, India, Ireland (recruited from the IRA), Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, North Caucasus, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, and Ukraine! This book has a great section on the famous figures of the Waffen-SS and how they influenced it throughout the war. It has a brief section on the Waffen-SS weapons (with helpful photos) that serves as a good introduction to the subject. And finally, perhaps the best part of the book is the "Myths about the Waffen-SS" at the end. This answers questions about common myths about the Waffen-SS, such as whether or not they really possessed superior weaponry to the army. Also, there's a very informative appendix which gives details on the weapons of the Waffen-SS, and the bibliography serves as a great starting point for looking for more information on the Waffen-SS. Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it's written in an easy-to-understand format, making it the perfect book for both experts and beginners. This book is highly recommended to all World War Two buffs.

Ok, this is the last review until I finish a few more books.....anyone got any titles, LOL OK, I found this book really well done and to the point. I would say it is more along the research type of book, as it is NOT a memoir or not really a story. The chapters cover everything I would want to know about the SS. SS units, weapons used, Bio's on major characters (brief but with good information, and a good read). How the SS DIV were broken down and of course where the Divisions fought, and how they ended the war. One of the chapters covers all the countries that supplied volunteers to the German elite units and has a break down of wounded/killed and what happened to the soldiers at wars end. This is a really good read in my mind. Most of the photos have not been seen by me. I found myself going back to this book to re-read certain chapters to help explain other books. I know I will be using this book to compliment later books. Highly recommended as a research book.

Whether your interest lies in hard core research of World War II or you just happen to watch the History Channel too often, this book will be an enjoyable source of information. Personally, being of the second group, I had rarely been exposed to unbiased views toward anything in 20th century Europe, particularly not early century Germany. This book was fantastic with providing in depth information with every topic touched upon. Formations of, Nationalities of, Personalities of, and Weapons of the Waffen-SS were all well researched and well presented. While the book could possibly contain more information, it truly seems to hold the most pertinent information about the Waffen-SS. To effectively go more in depth would have required a separate published work for each separate topic. This is a complete, unbaised work on the Waffen-SS and would make a pleasant experience for anyone interested in topics relating to early 20th century Europe. I personally was shocked how much I enjoyed this title.

Marc J. Rikmenspoel's Waffen-SS Encyclopedia is a tour-de-force piece of military history. Certainly encyclopedic in content but written with a literary flair that makes it readable - this is not Encyclopedia Britainica der Waffen-SS! Rikmenspoel wastes few words in the 285 pages of Waffen-SS Encyclopedia. For example, right at the outset he states that his purpose is not to "rehash, cut or paste material from previously published works to create a new volume on the subject", but rather to provide in one work a source of valuable and accurate information related to five basic topics: 1) the order of battle for various Waffen-SS formations; 2) the personnel makeup of these units - with added emphasis on "Germanic" formations; 3) summaries of some of the more notorious and decorated leaders of the Waffen-SS; 4) generalized and specialized weapons usage in various units; and 5) an introduction to some common misconceptions and controversial topics associated with the Waffen-SS. Rikmenspoel hits a home run on all counts! The most encyclopedic portion of the book is the first section dedicated to the order of battle for various units (pp. 1-58) and structure of Waffen-SS divisions (pp. 59-82). As is inherent in this type of information, the facts are the facts. Rikmenspoel doesn't clutter the facts with a lot of non-sense drivel. Yet, he provides enough text to make this section readable. In addition to the dry facts (unit makeup, history of command, etc.) the author provides a synopsis of combat history and organization-reorganization of these combat units. These histories are expanded and tied together textually in later sections, thus tying in the "dry" matter (basic facts) with the "meaty" matter (larger stories). The section on weapon usage (pp. 235-250) is also a bit dry textually but provides ample information. Each of these encyclopedic sections is further supplemented for the reader with great photographs and illustrations - again not a la Encyclopedia Britainica, but tastefully and not wastefully. The second and third sections of the book provide the most griping prose. The second section is divided between discussion of Germanic (pp. 83-180) and non-German/non-Germanic units (pp. 181-194) of the Waffen-SS, with the first section clearly providing the most interesting fodder for both the author and reader. Rikmenspoel has more than competently melded an information-rich treatise on the subject with minimal use of space and words. This in no way should imply that the author cut corners or did minimal research. Quite the contrary, Rikmenspoel simply condenses material to its minimal components that are necessary and sufficient for reader understanding and education. Few authors can take such information-dense material from disparate sources, rework it, and put it to paper in a readable prose that maintains the content sufficiently. Rikmenspoel can and has! Another perfect example of Rikmenspoel's talent is the third sectio

Aberjona Press' "The Waffen-SS Encyclopedia" is a revised addition of "Waffen-SS The Encyclopedia" which was written and published for a military book club in 2002. With the "Waffen-SS Encylopedia" author Marc J. Rikmenspoel tries to do what many authors before have tried- to write a thorough overview of the Waffen-SS. This is not an easy task, the Waffen-SS might be one of the most complex fighting force in modern history. Long before Rikmenspoel George Stein tried to write an overview of the Waffen-SS, he did a good job but his book contained a lot of mistakes and even some consistent myths that have surrounded this organization. In the Encylopedia Rikmenspoel tries to have as accurate information as possible and his analysis are well-grounded. The strength of Rikmenspoel's book is the reliable and accurate information that is presented. Surely, many books have been written about the Waffen-SS but unfortunately old errors have been repeated without the authors doing the necessary checking of facts. With that in mind Rikmenspoel presents a whole chapter about the misconceptions and inaccuracies that have surrounded the Waffen-SS. This he do a great work with. What I miss in Rikmenspoel's book is some tables with figures and statistics. This would have been very usable and if presented in the right way these can often alter an inaccurate view of something. For example it would have been interesting to see some statistics about awards and such recieved by members of the Waffen-SS. There's also a part about the weapons of the Waffen-SS which feels somewhat superfluous. There are plenty of books which goes into the depth of that subject and very little differed between the Waffen-SS and the regular German army when it came to weapons, vehicles, equipment and so on. A chapter about uniforms, ranks and insignia would have been more suitable as the Waffen-SS had to develop these from scratch rather than relying on old traditions like for example the German army did. At the end of the book there's an annotated bibliography where Rikmenspoel presents more or less all books connected to the Waffen-SS that have been written. Unit histories, bibliographies, photo books, all sorts of topics concerning the Waffen-SS. With a few sentences about each title Rikmenspoel gives a good presentation of the literature written about this field of research. The author stays objective throughout the book. He focus on accurate information and keeps the focus on the basic things. He has done a good work and I personally believe that this book has the potential to be the leading reference book on the Waffen-SS for many years to come. I would like to recommend "The Waffen-SS Encylopedia" to anyone who has an interest in this organization. No matter if the reader has read many, few or no books on the subject before she will find this book very useful.