Eric Warner does a wonderful, entertaining job at explaining the history and style of Kolsch beer. Well written with well detailed techniques and recipes. I recommend this to anyone who is going to brew a Kolsch.

If there were a graduate-level university course in the genealogy of the Continental nobility, this would be the textbook. Jackman began with the desire to understand the workings of medieval German government and found himself drawn into the eternal problems of medieval research: separating individuals of the same name, evaluating the reliability of sources whose authors themselves are only slightly known, and determining the intrinsic quality of data reported second- or third-hand. This extremely detailed test case begins with the progeny of Count Odo of Orléans and Ingeltrud of Paris in the 9th century and continues through Otto of Hammerstein, the last true Konradiner in the Hessian homeland. Those readers to whom this family means nothing will gain nevertheless by the author's tightly argued and rigorously documented work because (for example) the concept of explicit, inferential, and incidental data is as useful in 19th century England as in medieval Germany. A book to be read carefully and digested slowly.

Since I've just begun reading again, I finally decided to read Kriegspiel. I'd gotten the book, I'm embarrassed to say, nearly 6 years ago. But my past experience with military style books was that they were incredibly boring. Not this book! I couldn't set it down! I felt like I was in the middle of the battles myself. I hope Todd Stone writes more books in the future. I'll be first in line to read his next one.

The highly acclaimed French expert on the history of international relations portrays the political, economic and strategic aspects of the creation of European Union and the process of European integration. The book provides a comprehensive historical evaluation of development of the French-German relations, which were crucial for the creation of European Union. A must for anybody interested in Europe and international relations.

In many years of interviews with Steinhoff, it became clear that his insights and recollections regarding the Kommodores Revolt in January 1945 were historically accurate. The other surviving members of the conflict between the elite pilots and Goering collectively agreed with the contents of the book. Hitler's last minute intervention between Galland, Steinhoff, Lutzow, and Goering is detailed and fascinating. The reader will be drawn into the foray behind the scenes, and allowed to witness a different kind of war for survival by the aces fighting for their nation.

Put briefly, this is simply the greatest true-life adventure story that I've ever read. When the narrative appears to be complete, the story is only half over.

This book is the final word on the last days of Hitler. The research for this book is amazing and as the title infers, the author delves into the legends, the truth, and gives the evidence. There have been numerous books written on this subject including some highly regarded books like The Last Days of Hitler by Hugh Trevor-Roper, The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan, The Bunker by James O'Donnell, The Last 100 Days by John Toland, and The Fall of Berlin by Read & Fisher. However, this book is one step above all of these. I don't want to give any of the findings away, but this book clears up such facts as how Hitler killed himself and how Hitler's and Eva Braun's bodies were disposed of. It also delves into odd rumors such as Hitler having a double. A solid book which gives the final truth as to Hitler's final days and his death. Also, I was pleasantly surprised that despite the fact this book was translated from German to English it is still very easy to read, fast paced, and very interesting.

This book is wonderfully written, winding the story of a ruthless Nazi killer with survivors who he victimized. It gives a good amount of background such that this monster doesn't just appear out of the blue. It's truly seamless writing that is frankly a good story, even if it were used as a recreational read. Definitely worth buying for those interested in history, and who like a good story.

He covers the "making" of Schwammberger, his crimes, capture, and fascinatingly, his escape to South America. His years of living openly are so strange to those unfamiliar with the stories of groups like Odessa, or Project Paperclip. When entwined with the suffering of Holocaust victims, coming full circle to testify at Schwammberger's trial, offers a very well told account of some of the darkest times in history.

If you are looking for 1st hand accounts of the battles fought by the Wehrmacht between May1944-May1945 this is not the best book for that purpose. This book deals mainly with the German efforts to stave off defeat by numericaly superior foes through technology. There are chapters dealing with the East Front, the Western Front, Party Militias (the post war Wehrwolf movement is described here), Opposition to Hitler, Military Organization and most of all Weapons and Devices. I am sure many would argue the point but the fact is almost any weapon in the inventory of today's modern military can be traced to Germany in one way or another...they either invented it or refined it into a lethal weapon of war. In this book you will find alot of information about the German efforts to develop weapons that could change the course of events that the German military found themselves in during the last year of the war, some had been in research and development for a long time, others were products of desperation. For example, an anti-aircraft wind gun designed to flip a bomber over with a plug of compressed air, a sound gun which consisted of two large parabolic projector discs designed to kill through amplified sound, the V-3 cannon/rocket launcher which would hit London with a rain of high explosives (Iraq tried to copy this weapon in the late 80's). These may sound like fantasy but they were real and this book contains the pictures and documentation to prove it! On a more convetional note there are sections and photos which deal with the development of aurguably the worlds 1st assault rifle the Sturmgewehr 44, the gun todays M-60 is based on the MG-34/42, even the curved barrel "shot around the corner" urban sturmgewehr with a mirror on the tip of the barrel that has become some what of an urban legend(it's real)is here. A portable one man 88mm anti tank weapon called the Puppchen is explained and shown in a photo. Several heavy mortar weapons (you have to see the pictures to apppreciate the size) are explained, several of these mortars were used on the Eastern Front in Warsaw and Sevestapol of note. Although the V2 rocket is associated with the Luftwaffe it fell under the command of the Artillery General and those who launched it were Wehrmacht gunners, it is described and photographed here. Armoured vehicles are examined in depth, from light recon, flak/anti-aircraft, assualt guns, anti-tank (Jagdpanther and Tiger), self propelled artillery, rocket launcher(Panzerwerfer), mine clearing (Minenraumpanzer),armoured personel carrier to heavy battle tanks like the King Tiger(Koingtiger) and up to the Super Heavy Battle Tank Maus (more like a land battleship which never saw combat)are on display in this book, the Maus photos are hard to believe when you compare the U.S. soldiers next to it for scale. There are some neat stories about the exploits of Sturmbannfurhers Otto Skorzeny, Jochen Peiper, and especially about the German efforts to battle partisans on all fronts, but the strength of this book is it's illumination of German technologic efforts to tilt the scales, there is no mention of german efforts to build an A-bomb. A great book with alot of great photos. Highly recommended.

This book is a brilliant account of the final year for the Kriegsmarine. It is the story of a doomed generation of sailors who bravely and hopelessly went to battle knowing that theirs was a hopeless cause. Tarrant (as usual) provides an interseting text, and keeps the book moving along. He gives you a good impression of the overwhelming force deployed by the Allies at the end of the Second World War.