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Das Reich: The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France, June 1944 (Zenith Military Classics) Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,044 ratings

A world-renowned British historian recounts the actions of one of Hitler’s most elite armor units in one of World War II’s most horrific months.

June 1944, the month of the D-Day landings carried out by Allied forces in Normandy, France. Germany’s 2nd SS Panzer Division, one of Adolf Hitler’s most elite armor units, had recently been pulled from the Eastern Front and relocated to France in order to regroup, recruit more troops, and restock equipment. With Allied forces suddenly on European ground, the division—Das Reich—was called up to counter the invasion. Its march northward to the shores of Normandy, 15,000 men strong, would become infamous as a tale of unparalleled brutality in World War II.

Das Reich is Sir Max Hastings’s narrative of the atrocities committed by the 2nd SS Panzer Division during June of 1944: first, the execution of 99 French civilians in the village of Tulle on June 9; and second, the massacre of 642 more in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane on June 10. Throughout the book, Hastings expertly shifts perspective between French resistance fighters, the British Secret Service (who helped coordinate the French resistance from afar and on the ground), and the German soldiers themselves. With its rare, unbiased approach to the ruthlessness of World War II, Das Reich explores the fragile moral fabric of wartime mentality.

Praise for Das Reich

“A gripping blend of narrative and investigation.” —
Evening Standard

“This classic account of WWII is a microcosm of the global conflict. Hastings brings to life the horror that the 2nd SS Panzer division, Das Reich, inflicted upon the citizens living in a bucolic corner of France.” —Dennis Showalter, author of
Patton and Rommel and Hitler’s Panzers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Extremely detailed and well researched, the book provides a fascinating insight into the events of the period, overturning many 'cherished' beliefs. Balanced, with input from both sides of the conflict, it provides a thorough understanding of all of the issues involved, including the 'bigger' picture often overlooked. Particularly interesting for me as someone living in this area, surrounded still by evidence and residual feelings of the campaign. --Mike France (SW France)

Das Reich is a look at wartime France, the SS, and the horror and cruelty of war. It is a consideration of the French resistance, supported by the British and Americans, and the role they played in disrupting and slowing the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich in its journey from Toulouse to the bocage of Normandy. A journey that should have taken only a few days instead took over 15, due to the efforts of the resistance and of Allied air cover. That this journey was slowed is not vital to the outcome of WWII, but it did have a significant impact on the second battle of France. One of the things that Das Reich makes clear is the fractured and fragmented nature of the French resistance - some little better than criminals, some communists seeking political power, and many simply young men who thought running off to the forests was a better option than being forcibly shipped to Germany to work in German factories. Most Frenchmen seemed not to mind working for the Germans, so long as it was in France, but being sent to Germany was a different matter altogether. It is also clear that being anti- a particular resistance group - especially the more political ones - was not the same as being pro-German. Basically, France was a horrible place to live in 1944, although probably better than being in Russia in 1941. Of course, the Das Reich division was in Russia at that time, fighting a brutal war on the Eastern Front. In early 1944 it was moved to southern France to reform and rearm. Hastings points out why the SS were as fiercely loyal to Hitler as they were: generally, they were working class men who would not be fully accepted in the blue blooded Wehrmacht. They Nazi party gave them a chance, and they took it and gave unfailing loyalty in return. The author seeks to be as evenhanded as it possible to be when discussing war crimes, and it is pretty clear that those occurred on both sides during the events covered Das Reich. It is spelled out repeatedly that simply shooting a maquis resistance member was not a war crime, as they were not in uniform and not covered by the Geneva convention. The problem was, in Tulle 99 men were hanged from lampposts on mere suspician, and that in Oradour-sur-Glane 642 men, women and children were brutally murdered, shot and burned to death. These acts were horrific and can never be excused or explained. The role of the Allied forces in guiding the resistance is discussed - the liaison officers and spies, from Violette Szabo to radio operators in the UK. Hastings finishes the book with a chilling quote from a former SS officer, to the effect of "compared to the Eastern Front, the massacres were nothing". This book is an excellent companion to any WWII history of D-day and the liberation of France. It serves to bring out the true horror of war, which is that real evil lurks in the hearts of men. --By John Middleton (Brisbane, QLD, AUST)

I was inspired to buy this book after having read Martin Walker's Caves of Perigord for the second time. I just found I needed to know more about WW2 in France. I was not disappointed, though the book is more about the French than about the German panzer's history. --By Johan Fredrik Fjeldstad (Oslo, Norway)

From the Back Cover

Sir Max Hastings, recipient of the 2012 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing, has written one of the classic accounts of World War II. Days after the D-Day invasion, a Division of battle-hardened soldiers from the vicious and unrelenting battlefields on the Eastern Front, the 2nd SS Panzer, “Das Reich,” marched north from the safe confines of the south France to reinforce the defenders of Hitler's Fortress Europe on the beaches of Normandy. During their march they were hounded for every mile of their march by saboteurs of the French Resistance, as well as by agents of the Allied Special Forces. Das Reich profiles - in Hastings’ characteristic prose - the horrific reprisals that the 2nd SS Panzer Division exacted upon the citizens of Tulle and Ordour-sur-Glane, which resulted in 99 and 642 deaths, respectively. Das Reich is a chronicle of the some of the most appalling atrocities of World War II.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00DEJRURA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zenith Press (June 15, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 15, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 15614 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 298 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,044 ratings

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Sir Max Hastings
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Max Hastings is the author of twenty-seven books, most of them about war. Born in London in 1945, he attended University College, Oxford before becoming a journalist. In 1967 he was a World Press Institute Fellow in the United States, then stayed to report the 1968 US election. Thereafter he worked as a reporter for BBC TV and British newspapers, covering eleven conflicts including Vietnam, the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the 1982 South Atlantic war. His first major book was BOMBER COMMAND, published in Britain and the US in 1979. He has since authored such works as VIETNAM, CATASTROPHE, ARMAGEDDON, RETRIBUTION, WINSTON'S WAR, THE KOREAN WAR AND INFERNO. Between 1986 and 2002 he served as editor-in-chief of the British Daily Telegraph, then editor of the London Evening Standard. He has won many awards both for his books and his journalism, including the 2012 $100,000 Pritzker Library prize for lifetime achievement, and the 2019 Bronze Arthur Ross medal of the US Council For Foreign Relations for VIETNAM. He lives in Berkshire, UK, with his wife Penny and has two grown-up children, Charlotte and Harry. Max says: 'I am lucky enough to have been able to earn my living doing the things I love most: travelling and hearing incredible stories from people all over the world, then writing about their experiences in war, when mankind is at both its best and worst'. Among the scariest moments of his career as a war correspondent, he cites following the embattled Israeli army on the Golan Heights in October 1973, and reporting the last weeks in Vietnam in 1975, before flying out of the US Embassy compound in its final evacuation.

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4.2 out of 5 stars
1,044 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book readable and informative. They appreciate the well-researched and detailed historical details. Readers praise the writing quality as excellent and the author as a genuine historian. However, some feel the pacing is disjointed and slow at times, with mixed up facts and names.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

23 customers mention "Readability"23 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and well-written. Many consider it a good read for WWII history enthusiasts.

"...across France from the Dordogne to Normandy after D-Day is a remarkable book...." Read more

"...The book was a good read but I would have loved to follow them along for the rest of the war but that was beyond the scope...." Read more

"...Well worth reading, particularly for those poor folks who idolize Das Reich." Read more

"...Not likely. A great read - I just wish it were a complete history...." Read more

22 customers mention "Information quality"22 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-researched and informative. They appreciate the detailed descriptions of important activities in France as a result of the Normandy landings. The author provides accurate information about the French resistance, British agents, and intrigue. Overall, readers find the book insightful and well-documented.

"...Yet, the Das Reich was seriously delayed. In all, a fascinating study of a few critical days after D-Day, As Chesterton said, madness is normal..." Read more

"...I have read many of Hasting's books. I love how much detail he brings to his work...." Read more

"...This provides a unique and informed view of the way France operated under the Nazis, especially the resistance groups and their true effectiveness..." Read more

"Das Reich was a thoroughly researched book on Das Reich's movements through France during the last world war, but I purchased this book to be..." Read more

14 customers mention "Historical detail"14 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting and well-written. They appreciate the detailed stories of those who were there. The book also explores human motivation and survival in difficult times, as well as despicable actions and infamy.

"...There are three major stories in this book...." Read more

"...It is also the story of the despicable actions and the infamy that this, as well as other SS divisions, gained by conducting the war in accord with..." Read more

"...Fascinating story of human motivation and survival in difficult times." Read more

"...There are lots of detailed stories of those who were actually there and participated in the dramatic efforts of the resistence and the germans to..." Read more

14 customers mention "Writing quality"14 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and readable. They appreciate the author's storytelling and research. The book provides an interesting description of Nazi activities after World War II and chilling details about one of the Nazis' most horrible war crimes.

"...authors' books over the years, and this book is another quality piece from the author...." Read more

"...It also provides a chilling description of one of the Nazi's most horrible war crimes...." Read more

"Das Reich is an interesting description of two activities taking place after the Allied Normandy landings, June 6 1944...." Read more

"...A wonderful well written book." Read more

5 customers mention "Pacing"0 positive5 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book disjointed and slow at times. They mention that the first half is a little disjointed and stretched. There are also errors like mixed up names and facts. Overall, customers feel the pacing is not up to Hastings' usual standards.

"...But the scanning / editing of the Zenith edition seems hasty and amateurish...." Read more

"Lot of stuff wrong, names especially., Facts are terribly mixed up. Very poor research in my opinion...." Read more

"although I did enjoy it the first half was a little disjointed and appeared to be stretched out a bit trying to fill the book." Read more

"A little slow at times. Too much focus on French resistance organizational structure and too little about the Das Reich division itself." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2014
    Re-issued after thirty years, this focus on the movement of the SS Das Reich across France from the Dordogne to Normandy after D-Day is a remarkable book. Hastings has a superb ability to put the SS in context, a self-created military ethos with a weird nobility mixed with vicious cruelty. They thought of themselves as elite professionals and the Resistance as terrorists. They slaughtered civilians to paralyze the terrorists and sadly, they succeeded to a great degree.
    British and US special services promoted the Resistance but in a romantic and impractical way, which lead to untrained armed civilians being mown down by tanks. Yet, the Das Reich was seriously delayed.
    In all, a fascinating study of a few critical days after D-Day, As Chesterton said, madness is normal behaviour set in a different place. OK, a paraphrase but if you sit in the turret of a Panzer, it all makes hideous sense.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2014
    If you are a student of WW 2 in Europe you will enjoy this book. If you are just beginning your WW2 journey, this would not be a good place to start.

    There are three major stories in this book. The first is the movement of Das Reich as it tried to get to Normandy in time to thwart the Allies advance inland from the invasion beaches. The second is the atrocities they committed during that march. The third is the part the French resistance played prior to and after the June 6th landing.

    I have read many of Hasting's books. I love how much detail he brings to his work. The downside is Hastings propensity to use long meandering sentences.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2022
    It's valuable to ensure that works like this don't go out of print. But the scanning / editing of the Zenith edition seems hasty and amateurish. A number of typographical errors weren't caught after scanning (e.g. "of which he assume command" in a photo caption, with the -d unscanned; "any different from that of a Gaul list" which obviously should read "Gaullist"). More seriously, one of the most important characters in the narrative, SS officer Otto Dieckmann (in some sources spelled Diekmann), consistently appears in the Zenith edition as Dickmann. I expected much better.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2024
    I'd read a few of the authors' books over the years, and this book is another quality piece from the author.
    I would highly recommend his books to anyone to read who is interested in history.
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2014
    The more I read about the German soldier the more I get to understand their general psyche. All the nipping at their heels in France by the partisans was infuriating. The assassination's of soldiers and officers, the constant sabotage that had to be repaired over and over again, the ill will they felt from the locals on a daily basis, it all led to a brutal and repressive effort on the part of this division to seek revenge. The French just didn't roll over and take it and the divisional leadership and your average SS soldier after all the indoctrination and the Russian Campaign had no compunction about just eliminating the problem. Unfortunately these were people not an infestation of vermin but that was the SS way. The book showed all this and more with examples of the brutality committed by this very committed bunch of Nazi fanatics. My Dad's division (3rd Armored) took them on several times in Normandy, Northern France and the Ardennes. They were tough and brutal and had to be annihilated or they would just keep coming. The book was a good read but I would have loved to follow them along for the rest of the war but that was beyond the scope. Good Book for those interested.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2013
    I first read Max Hastings' Das Reich, many years ago, and I enjoyed it immensely. My original copy, having gone into the hands of someone else long ago, gave me the perfect excuse to purchase the eBook edition for a second great read. Suffice it to say that Das Reich is an excellent look at war-time France and the underground movement to defeat the German occupiers. All who participated in this clandestine world of resistance put themselves at great peril, and this book captures the feel of what it was like with this famous SS division (as well as regular German Army troops) breathing down their necks. It is also the story of the despicable actions and the infamy that this, as well as other SS divisions, gained by conducting the war in accord with that peculiar mindset of the SS: No mercy. If you want to learn about the Das Reich Panzer Division, and their march through France, this is the book to read.
    17 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2013
    Very good book. Well written, of course, as is all Hastings' stuff. This provides a unique and informed view of the way France operated under the Nazis, especially the resistance groups and their true effectiveness as opposed to their post-war claims. It also provides a chilling description of one of the Nazi's most horrible war crimes. Well worth reading, particularly for those poor folks who idolize Das Reich.
    6 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019
    The June 1944 invasion of Normandy signaled the beginning of the Allied liberation of France. Behind the beachheads, the French Resistance, with UK and U.S. assistance, struggled with their German occupiers. That fight was as ugly in its own way as the fighting on the Normandy beaches, and far more controversial. Historian Max Hastings takes a hard-eyed look at what happened.

    The questions of who resisted and what they did was a open political sore in France for a generation or more. The Resistance was divided, poorly armed and trained, and all but incapable of a stand-up fight against trained German troops. As the author explains, any such fighting came with the additional significant risk of triggering German retaliation.

    One possible Resistance success is explored in detail. The deployment of the Das Reich SS Panzer Division is said to have been delayed by days and even weeks in its march to Normandy. The author's narrative is loaded with accounts by surviving witnesses, and with a hard-eyed sifting of the costs. Highly recommended to students of the conflict.
    9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • jumac
    3.0 out of 5 stars Authoritive account?
    Reviewed in France on July 13, 2021
    I found it a bit of a mish mash and not to the usual standard for this author. I guess I will just have to read it again.
  • J. J. Bradshaw
    5.0 out of 5 stars Remains a very fine book, very balanced and all the more powerful for avoiding emotive language.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2016
    This is book which deserves to be read widely. The movement of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich from Montauban to Normandy is one of the more harrowing stories of the second world war. Whilst the events of that movement would not be considered unusual if they'd occurred on the Eatern Front the Tulle and Oradour-Sur-Glane massacres were exceptionally brutal in the West.

    The book is perhaps slightly mistitled as the subject of the story is as much the French resistance and the various SOE, OSS and SAS elements that operated behind the lines as it is about the Das Reich Division. Max Hastings delves into the still controversial subjects of the relative contributions of the Communist and non-Communist resistance groups, the level of support for the resistance in wider French society and their military effectiveness. Hastings is I think balanced and fair, he recognises the courage of the resistance and those Allied agents that operated in France but is also honest in his assessment of their military effectiveness. This is not polemical revisionism but an objective assessment and whilst Hastings questions certain myths and exaggerations he also perhaps more sober and as a result credible in his ultimate recognition that the resistance did in fact make a valuable contribution to the Allied victory in Normandy be effectively delaying the movement of the Das Reich. The story of the SAS contribution is less than flattering in some respects yet also makes clear that their identification of sidings containing a series of oil trains followed by calling in air strikes to destroy this fuel made a crucial contribution to delaying German armoured movements. The decision to deploy a unit of the SAS deep behind enemy lines equipped with machine gun armed jeeps but no other guns beyond personal side arms struck me as inexplicable.

    The story of the Waffen SS troopers of the Das Reich is told in a non judgemental way. Hastings walks a tight rope in recognising the martial qualities and courage of these troops whilst making no effort to hide their brutality and penchant for acting in ways which violated all accepted codes of behaviour even in time of war. Hastings interviewed some of the survivors and the testimonies offered here are a valuable part of the historical record. The story of the Oradour-Sur-Glane massacre is shocking, Hastings refrains from some of the more gruesome tales told of that massacre but what he provides is horrific enough and in some ways Hastings restrained tone is actually more damning than some of the emotive versions of the story told elsewhere.

    Where the book is a bit weak is in its summary where Hastings considers why the Waffen SS could have perpetrated such outrages. His view is that the units had been brutalised in Russia (and certainly massacres like Oradour-Sur-Glane would not have been considered as being outside the norm there) and that peer pressure and conformity to the unit explained the behaviours. This argument is rather weak, it is not incorrect, but equally it is very light. The war in the East was very brutal but that brutality was a part of the Eastern front from it's inception with German orders for very harsh treatment of civilians and POWs in addition to the infamous commissar and Jew orders being in place at the outset of the German invasion. This brutality was an extension of German policy in occupied Poland and it is apparent that such institutionalised brutality was not limited to the Allgemeine SS and that both the Waffen SS and the German Army were a part of this brutality. I'd recommend the books "Ordinary Men - Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland" by Christopher Browning and "The Origins of the Final Solution:The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939 - March 1942" by Christopher Browning and Jurgen Matthaus for a more in depth analysis of the dehumanising effects of the war in the East and Nazi racial politics on the German Army and Waffen SS. Despite these books primary focus being related to the eradication of the Jewish people they provide much detail of German policy in the East in general. There is a tendency in some books to try and de-couple the Waffen SS from the atrocities committed against people such as the Jews, Soviet POWs and those unfortunate enough to live in the occupied territories yet I believe that it is now generally recognised that this is a separation that cannot be made, nor for the German Army. Perhaps where Hastings may offend some sensibilities is his acceptance that the German's had every right to execute captured resistants and SOE/OSS agents and also his recognition that irregular warfare has generated brutality and very harsh repression wherever it has been found. Yet he is undoubtedly correct in these assertions.

    Max Hastings is a very fine historian and writes in a very engaging style. For all that this book is now quite old it remains one of the best works available on the subject. Very highly recommended.
  • Keith Davidson
    5.0 out of 5 stars As accurate as he could be, in a style that encouraged reading the whole book. Very informative and easy to read.
    Reviewed in Australia on May 11, 2014
    This should be read in conjunction with Armageddon - The battle for Germany 1944-45. Das Reich is an event in a much larger disaster that can be put into context by reading Armageddon.
  • Peter Fenton
    4.0 out of 5 stars Poignant
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2024
    I visited Oradour-sur-Glane during the late 80's and wanted to know more about those that committed the atrocity and why it happened. This book describes the journey of Das Reich in the weeks following D-Day from Montauban to Normandy, and also the various resistance groups and factions tasked with attacking them and slowing their progress north. As with all Max Hastings books, this is thoroughly researched and listed in great detail. He offers insight into the mentality and values of the SS and the events at both Oradour and Tulle are listed without sentiment or judgement. I found this quite a tough read, but it's a book that I'm glad I completed and it will make an ideal reference point for any future research.
  • ERIC WALLACE
    4.0 out of 5 stars War is hell
    Reviewed in Australia on January 9, 2025
    War is indeed hell but sadly the Germans made it worse. Absolutely unforgivable and should never be forgotten. Oradour is still there.

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