Black Angels

by Rupert Butler

In Nazi Germany the SS was an instrument of terror and repression. From them sprang the Waffen-SS, a superbly trained paramilitary force wich rolled back the Allied Armies in Poland, Russia and France, numbering over half a million men by the end of the war. This detailed history looks closely at the dual identity of the SS formations--as a hand-picked elite of magnificent fighting men and as a force of cruel fanatics capable of hideous atrocities.

Genres: History, Military History, World War II, Nonfiction, Germany

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Edwina Book Anaconda]

I hate to say it but this book bored me out of my mind.
Now I remember why I didn't like History class in school ...
The only reason that I'm giving it 2 stars is because of the detail provided about Himmler's suicide.
He deserved every second of those 12 minutes that it took him to die.

[Greynomad]

Just an incredible history read. Well written

[Brian]

The history was precise when I read it in the 1980's. But, looking back on what I know today, the author was trying to disassociate the Waffen SS from the general SS.

[Hyper]

Well written highly informative. As this book stands as one of few that acknowledges the fact that Waffen-SS may well be the greatest army the world has ever seen. It depicts details of the forces that combined over relatively short time that was highly trained and motivated and who quickly became virtually insurmountable due to their collective pride and belief.
As very well equipped and trained yet overwhelmingly battle inexperienced soldiers they rapidly gained confidence and their reputation preceded them.
As their sheer daring, cutting edge tactics and popularity became irrevocably questioned by the actions of a relative minority, Their collective integrity and self esteem were taken beyond human endurance with the demise of chain of supplies and command structure.
Having spoken with former members of Waffen-SS and reading a number of the few published non-fiction accounts, this should be regarded as compelling, a hard to put down page turner, and well worth reading as testament that atrocities attributed to the Waffen-SS as a whole was more than likely abhorrent to the majority of these outstanding combatants.