We all know that Start publications is highly regarded for its two major publications; Luftwaffe/U-boot im focus due to their super collection of unpublished images from the German side of WWII. To my knowledge, this is their first hardbound book. Published in landscape format, which is the best way to present a book with a lot of photos, this edition tells the German side of the story of the battles on the Eastern Front in the last months of the war.

The book has been ten years in the making as much due to the difficulty of finding unpublished late war images as anything. However, the work that has been put into the book is very much worth the effort. Printed on glossily, high density paper to give the best photo reproduction as possible are well over 150 images of the German soldier and his equipment during the hectic later months as the Soviets pushed relentlessly towards the German capitol.

Starting in October of 1944, the book covers all of the major actions of the time, illustrating them with images from that time period and those particular battles. Not only are the images superbly reproduced, but many of them are in full color, something very rare at this time of the conflict. In addition to the historical write-up on the events, there are well drawn and illustrated maps to help the reader get a sense of what was going on at this time.

Typical of Start books, this one has both the prose and image captions in both German and English, which makes the book much more desirable. It is German on the left side of the page and English on the right with the English italicized. This is really my only "I wish it wasn't" for the whole book as I have trouble reading small italicized print. Perhaps this can be changed in the next edition for surely there will be one on the Western Front.

I have to say that this is the best book of its kind that I have ever read. The prose and photos complement each other perfectly and it is well worth the effort that has been put into it. It is a book the will appeal to both the historian and the modeler alike. I can very much recommend it to you and can assure you that you will be just as delighted with it as I.

March 2010

Review book courtesy of  Luftfahrtverlag-Start  where you can order your copy and get up to date information on costs. American readers can get it at www.squadron.com as well as RZM Books.

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