Book Description About the Author Doug Nash is a West Point Class of 1980 graduate and a retired U.S. Army Colonel with 32 years of active duty service in places like Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, Cuba, and Uzbekistan. His many works include Hell’s Gate: The Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket January to February 1944 and Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp: with the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division from the Huertgen Forest to the Heart of the Reich (which was nominated for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction). Read more Customers Review: This book is the best book on ?World War Two I have read this year. The author, Douglas Nash, has produced a book with the passages easy to read and captivating. I really like the way he starts the story by beginning with “what is in a Panzer Corps” and continues it with the narrative of the IV SS Panzer Corps in action. My only regret with this book is that I finished it! Nash as a style of writing that flows and is a real pleasure to read, he has become my new favorite author. I find it hard to wait for his other books i ordered to arrive! Read this book, you will not be disappointed!
Nash is a well-established and highly respected military historian specializing in Waffen SS combat operations in World War II. His research is deep and expansive, and that’s never been more apparent than in his latest book, From the Realm of a Dying Sun.The book is dense, and I mean that in a good way. The research is quite simply among the best. Nash has gone deep into the archives in Germany and Russia to unearth original documents from the IV SS Panzer Korps that have never seen the light of day until now. Nash was able to tap into daily reports on the combat effectiveness of specific units within the Korps, and even reports on the Korps by Heer (Germany Army) units that fought alongside it.If you’re new to studying the Eastern Front, starting with this book would be like taking advanced physics in kindergarten. That said, Nash offers his wealth of data in a straightforward and engaging manner that make it easy to read. Comprehension takes more work, but it’s worth the effort.At the beginning of the book Nash provides a historiography of what’s out there on the IV SS Panzer Korps and his thoughts on them. This really helps to contextualize what he offers with his book by pointing out the elements he found most helpful in his own research. This book is both a synthesis of the best research that preceded it and a trail blazer packed with new information and analysis.There are two b&w photo inserts with lengthy captions providing exceptional detail. My one quibble, and it’s pretty much universal with all military history titles, is the desire for more maps. Still, it’s a minor issue for an otherwise brilliant study of the least known SS Panzer Korps.I very much look forward to volume II. |
3 reviews