About the Author

Stephen G. Fritz, professor of history at East Tennessee State University, is the author of Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East and Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich.

Reviews

""A moving account of personal observations combined with a thoughtful commentary in which the author provides numerous insights into the combat environment."" -- American Historical Review

""Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life of the Landser -- the ordinary German infantryman of WWII -- and takes an unblinking look at the stark realities of combat.... Helps explain why the German army was so relentlessly efficient in battle."" -- Publishers Weekly

""Fritz does an impressive job of detailing what war was like for the average German soldier on the front lines in World War II."" -- Paper Wars

""So readable as to be difficult to put down.... Should prove enlightening to students of German as well as military history."" -- Virginia Quarterly Review

""A moving account of personal observations combined with a thoughtful commentary in which the author provides numerous insights into the combat environment."" -- American Historical Review

""Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life of the Landser -- the ordinary German infantryman of WWII -- and takes an unblinking look at the stark realities of combat.... Helps explain why the German army was so relentlessly efficient in battle."" -- Publishers Weekly

""Fritz does an impressive job of detailing what war was like for the average German soldier on the front lines in World War II."" -- Paper Wars

""So readable as to be difficult to put down.... Should prove enlightening to students of German as well as military history."" -- Virginia Quarterly Review