Jul, 2006 sven hassel is good but he does get a bit repetitive at times. Avoids history of wimer and post weimar europe, role of longheld traditional antisemitism, versailles devastation and famines of europe and most notably, the influx of militant communism especially rosa luxembourg sdp member and kurt eisner of the bavarian soviet republic a deliberate stab into the. An extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of europe new york timeslegion of the damned is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice. If this book is over 5 years old, then please expect the pages to be yellowing or to have age spots.
Author sven hassel fought as a soldier in russia, italy and france. The sven hassel collection ebook written by sven hassel. Sven hassel, peter rabbit, mad padre and the mystery of the page view spike for a few days now, ive been puzzled by a spike in the number of visits to mad padre. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. The familys less than appealing financial situation drove sven to join a merchant navy when he was only 14. The sven hassel collection by sven hassel goodreads. He joined the danish merchant marine when he was 20, and a year later moved to germany. His books including legion of the damned, monte cassino and liquidate paris have. Sven hassel was born sven pedersen in fredensborg, denmark on april 19, 1917. He began to write his first book, legion of the damned while he was interned.
In fact this proposition along with the elements of antiwar sentiment in the books is the reason that sven hassel s books or at least this first book have raised the reputation of his writing by some to the point where he is considered to be one of the great antiwar authors of his time. The legion of the damned is the first book written by sven hassel about his life as a penal soldier in the german naziarmy during wwii. The first tells the sory of the author who as a sixteen year old in 1941 joined the german army and ended up in the elite gross deucthslandsp division. Wheels of terror is a book about a guy named sven hassel. Download audiobooks matching keywords sven hassel to your device. In the face of overwhelming allied firepower, sven hassel and his comrades are ordered to hold the fortress at all costs. The only other sven hassel book i have found was a beat up copy of r. Convicted of deserting the german army, sven hassel was sent to a. He was a pow, so he certainly saw the horrors of war first hand. Sven hassel is good but he does get a bit repetitive at times. I read this book as a teen, and just finished rereading it. Written in the first person, ssgeneral is based on the adventures of a group of german penal battalion soldiers in the battle of stalingrad. I mean if your like me and wont buy books online for fear of reciving a credit card bill that resembles the national debt in size and magnatude.
Although he is arguably one of the most sold danish authors, at most second to hans christian andersen, danish public libraries, as of 2012, did not stock his books. Sven hassels iconic war novel about the russian front. Sven hassel, who has died aged 95, wrote 14 massively popular novels about life in the wartime german army. Sven hassel s iconic novel about the battle for monte cassino. While there is some controversy with respect to hassel s wwii stories this book reads to me as an unapologetic confessional of a young man caught up in the horrors of an impossible situation. Textbooks will typically have an amount of underlining andor highlighting, as well as notes.
Born in 1917 in fredensborg, denmark, sven hassel joined the merchant navy at the age of 14. Sep 21, 2012 sven hassel 19 april 1917 21 september 2012 in barcelona was the pen name of the danishborn borge willy redsted pedersen who wrote novels set during world war ii. Used to buy one on the market 2nd hand on a saturday then return it the next week and buy another. Having survived the horrors of the eastern front, the 27th penal regiment are posted to italy. Alan silitoe stationed on the russian front and now equipped with armoured vehicles, sven hassel and his comrades. Starting in 1953 he published 14 novels, written in the first. Legion of the damned was the first of 14 novels written by. The complete series has to this day been published in. Review of legion of the damned by sven hassel 1953.
Normally, this humble little blog gets 3040 visits a day no, not all from me, i dont count those. Despite having released his first novel, hassel continued his employment at copenhagen free port as a coordinator to support his family. Soldier who won the iron cross and wrote bestsellers. Sven hassel, whose factbased tales of second world warfare have sold millions, has created another horrific war novel, this time set on the deadly russian front. The sven hassel collection by sven hassel nook book ebook. Fordomtes legion is the first in a series of fourteen world war ii novels written by sven hassel. Audible provides the highest quality audio and narration. While a prisoner, he started work on his first and bestknown book, legion of the damned, which was published in danish in 1953 and in english. He began writing his first novel, legion of the damned in a prisoner of. He was released in 1949 and was planning to join the french foreign legion when he met his future wife.
Sven hassel, left, started work on his first and bestknown book, legion of the damned, while he was held as a prisoner of war sven hassel, who. The bloody road to death by hassel, sven paperback book the cheap fast free post 5 out of 5 stars 9 product ratings 9 product ratings the bloody road to death by hassel, sven paperback book. But the toms, dicks and harrys must first bang their fists on the table and let it be known who holds the power and how that power is to be used. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the sven hassel collection. Sven hassel was a pseudonym, and the sven character, narrator of the books, an alter ego of the dane sven pederson. Sven hassel based his unflinching narrative on his experiences in the german army. He served throughout the second world war on all fronts except north africa. Dec 23, 2010 sven hassel s ultimate tank warfare novel. Gestapo by sven hassel and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
First of all, i have only read one or two of hassels books, while highly entertaining i will not go into a debate on whether fictional history is a good thing or not. The sven hassel collection by sven hassel books on. Oct 02, 2012 sven hassel, left, started work on his first and bestknown book, legion of the damned, while he was held as a prisoner of war sven hassel, who has died aged 95, wrote 14 massively popular novels. The sweep of his narrative from highlevel down to the mudbetweenthefingernails of trench warfare can be thrilling in its fast pace. However i followed a link from portas kitchen where hassel claims that his main characters were actually based upon real people. Typical hollywoodesque fair of nazis as one dimensional utterly despicable monsters. Nov 14, 2012 sven hassel was a remarkable but controversial author who wrote successful novels set on the eastern front in the second world war. Buy sven hassel books and get the best deals at the lowest prices on ebay. He did his compulsory years military service in the danish forces in 1936 and then, facing unemployment, joined the german army. Sven hassel was a huge seller in the uk in corgi paperback editions in the 1960s and 1970s. Sven hassel has 48 books on goodreads with 28864 ratings. Sven hassel was a pen name that borge willy pedersen used to write novels set in the second world war. I first read this 30 years ago and have read all his books. He had started work on his first and bestknown book, legion of the damned, while still a prisoner.
Sven hassel official site official sven hassel site. The definitive ebook collection of sven hassel s iconic, violent war novels. Sven hassel was a world war ii novelist, who completed a series of fourteen books, that tell the battles of a penal regiment on the eastern front. Other times, hell make a really big deal out of it and let you get to know the unlucky soldier partisan civilian first. Buy a cheap copy of the commissar book by sven hassel.
I remember it quite differently to the present reading, perhaps coloured by the other books. Sven hassel was born in 1917 in nyhuse, frederiksborg county in denmark. Hassel served with the 2nd panzer division stationed at eisenach and in. For sven hassels legion of the damned, it was more interesting researching the author than reading the book. Legion of the damned is undouubtably the best book i have ever read. The style that sven hassel wrote this book is unique and graphic. He was released in 1949, and was planning to join the french foreign legion when he met dorthe jensen. Books by sven hassel author of legion of the damned. Dec 17, 2018 sven hassel battle scenes often feel like that. Haaest also alleges that hassels first novel was ghostwritten and that, when it became a success, he employed his wife to write the rest of his books. Supposedly, this is because its the authors autobiography, but i was just listening to a podcast in which one of the two hosts said that, if you give a woman a sven hassel novel, shell think its shit, and if you give it to a literary critic, the critic wont understand a thing. Dec 23, 2010 legion of the damned ebook written by sven hassel. Great savings free delivery collection on many items. The story focuses on a doomed platoon of german soldiers on the western front in 1944, with sven hassel as one of.
Sven hassel was a remarkable but controversial author who wrote successful novels set on the eastern front in the second world war. The sven hassel collection by sven hassel from the fight for survival against the ferocious red army and the icy, shellravaged wastes of the vicious russian winter, to the bloodiest battles on the eastern front, sven hassel s gripping novels are based on his own experiences in the german army. This is a book of horrors, and should be left alone by those prone to nightmares. First started to read them as a year old way back in 1979. It was said that stalingrad had been burning since august, ever since the first german bombs were dropped. He published his first book, legion of the damned, in 1953. He adopted his mothers maiden name, hassel, when he began writing. Hassel s character describes the horrors of war and the horror that he became as a member of the legion of the damned. Legion of the damned by sven hassel, paperback barnes. Danish writer sven hassel was born in fredericksborg, denmark, in 1917. Starting in 1953 he published 14 novels, written in the first person, which were translated into 25 languages and published in 50 countries.
Feb 11, 2014 sven hassel 19 april 1917 barcelona 21 september 2012 was a danishborn writer who wrote novels set during world war ii. He began to write his first book legion of the damned while he was interned. Sven hassels descriptions of the atrocities committed by both sides are the most horrible indictments of war i have ever read. From the fight for survival against the ferocious red army and the icy, shellravaged wastes of the vicious russian winter, to the bloodiest battles on the eastern front, sven hassel s gripping novels are based on his own experiences in the german army. Sven hassel was the pen name of the danishborn borge willy redsted pedersen 19 april 1917 21 september 2012 who wrote novels set during world war ii. Some allege that hassels first novel was ghostwritten and when it became a success. Mar 17, 2020 i first read the legion of the damned as a teenager, along with a number of others in the series. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read legion of the damned. Gestapo by sven hassel and a great selection of related books, art and.
Buy ss general sven hassel war classics by sven hassel from amazons fiction books store. The commissar had the biggest secret of the russian war. The sven hassel collection by sven hassel books hachette. Sven hassel 19 april 1917 barcelona 21 september 2012 was a danishborn writer who wrote novels set during world war ii.
The complete series has to this day been published in more than 50 countries, translated into 25 languages. Never before had violence been described in such hideously graphic detail. Hassels books are not seen as a reliable source by historians, i find it very difficult to believe that a member of a penal unit who left school at age 14 becomes a lieutenant becoming an officer in the german military has always required abitur. Sven hassels unflinching narrative is based on his own experiences in the german army. He ended the second world war in a prisoner of war camp, where he wrote his first. The book covers a chronological period of a number of years, starting with the protagonists arrest and time in german concentration camps, and ending with his being an officer and company commander on the russian front. The thunder of the guns could be heard in rome, 170 miles away.
During the events in this novel we are introduced to sven and his friends and fellow convicted soldiers in the 27th penal panzerbatallion. Sven hassel books list of books by author sven hassel. Authorship was still not in the cards and certainly not a reliable means of income. Hitler has ordered that every position must be held to the last, and every lost position recaptured by counterattack. Sven hassel s descriptions of the atrocities committed by both sides are the most horrible indictments of war i have ever read. Explore books by sven hassel with our selection at.
Ssgeneralen is a novel by the danish writer sven hassel. Buy legion of the damned sven hassel war classics reissue by hassel, sven isbn. I first read blitzfreeze in 1978, as a young grade 10 schoolboy, and together with all of my friends eagerly read each of his novels as they became available. The story focuses on a doomed platoon of german soldiers on the western front in 1944, with sven hassel as one of them. See all books authored by sven hassel, including the legion of the damned, and reign of hell, and more on.
This is the first in a series of wwii books about a danish soldier serving in the german army, purporting to be autobiographical. Sven hassel is a major brand in fiction with global book sales since first publication of legion of the damned in 1953 of 53 million copies, of which 15 million are in the english language. Sven hassel 19 april 1917 21 september 2012 in barcelona 1 2 was the pen name of the danishborn borge willy redsted pedersen 3 4 5 who wrote novels set during world war ii. The sven hassel collection by sven hassel nook book. This is obergefreiter korporal porta and steges firs.
Thanks to sven hassel for his books, and to his family for keeping his legacy alive. He served throughout world war ii on all fronts except north africa. For sven hassel s legion of the damned, it was more interesting researching the author than reading the book. This is the first in a series of wwii books about a danish soldier serving in the german. Legion was the first book and supposedly the most autobiographical.
By the time the dane died in 2012 at the age of 95, he was one of the most popular and most prolific authors to come out of denmark. Two books i would highly recommend in this genre would be the forgotten soldier by guy sajer and the unknown soldier by vaino linna. Hassel served in the danish merchant navy till 1937, when he moved to germany to join the army. Sven hassel s most popular book is legion of the damned. His workingclass family consisted of seven children of which sven was the first. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Sven hassel s iconic war novel about the russian front. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Drafted into the german armyeven though he was not a german citizenhe served in a tank unit in 1939 during the german invasion of poland.
He describes the slaughter, the gore, the brutal conditions of war through the eyes of a group of german infantry soldiers fighting the russians. Ss general is the definitive stalingrad novel, a gripping portrait of wars brutal realities. Jun 11, 2014 in fact this proposition along with the elements of antiwar sentiment in the books is the reason that sven hassels books or at least this first book have raised the reputation of his writing by some to the point where he is considered to be one of the great antiwar authors of his time. He joined the danish merchant navy at age 14 and served a mandatory stretch in the danish military before joining the german army in 1937. His first novel, the legion of the damned, was published in 1953. Sven hassel project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Nov 10, 2008 from the movie the misfit brigade which is based on the book wheels of terror written by sven hassel. In 1957 sven fell seriously ill from a rare disease that doctors were not able to diagnose. The novels are based on his own experiences in the german army.
Sven hassel and his comrades are plunged into the maelstrom of stalingrad. Monte cassino is a classic sven hassel novel, a noholdsbarred account of frontline combat. Synopsis legion of the damned was the first of 14 novels written by sven hassel, a danish volunteer who served in the german army throughout world war ii. Like heinz g konsalik and willi heinrich, pederson lived through the war, but unlike those two the exact nature of his involvement in the conflict has been the subject of debate.
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