In Deadly Combat

Name: In Deadly Combat
Price: 76.99 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9780700611225

A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front

Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, Denis E. Showalter, Derek S. Zumbro , Derek S. Zumbro

$76.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We will update you on expected arrival time to us. If this delay is too long, please let us know within 2 business days and we can give you options regarding cancelling or adjusting your order. More details on cancelling your order can be found in our Terms of Trade.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

German

University Press of Kansas
30 June 2000

Biography: historical, political & military; History; European history; Second World War; Military life & institutions

Series: Modern War Studies

Wounded five times and awarded numerous decorations for valor, Gottlob Herbert Bidermann saw action in the Crimea and siege of Sebastopol, participated in the vicious battles in the forests south of Leningrad, and ended the war in the Courland Pocket.

In his memoir, he shares his impressions of countless Russian POWs seen at the outset of his service, of peasants struggling to survive the hostilities while caught between two ruthless antagonists, and of corpses littering the landscape. He recalls a Christmas gift of gingerbread from home that overcame the stench of battle, an Easter celebrated with a basket of Russian hand grenades for eggs, and his miraculous survival of machine gun fire at close range. In closing, he relives the humiliation of surrender to an enemy whom the Germans had once derided and offers a sobering glimpse into life in the Soviet gulags. Bidermann's account debunks the myth of a highly mechanized German army that rolled over weaker opponents with impunity.

Despite the vast expanses of territory captured by the Germans during the early months of Operation Barbarossa, the war with Russia remained tenuous and unforgiving. His story commits that living hell to the annals of World War II and broadens our understanding of its most deadly combat zone.

By: Gottlob Herbert Bidermann
Introduction by: Denis E. Showalter
Edited by: Derek S. Zumbro
Other: Derek S. Zumbro
Imprint: University Press of Kansas
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 239mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 27mm
Weight: 550g
ISBN: 9780700611225
ISBN 10: 0700611223
Series: Modern War Studies
Pages: 344
Publication Date: 30 June 2000
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , A / AS level
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front

Since 1945, the front-line realities of Germany's Russian war have been submerged under so much myth that a book like this represents a welcome reality check. The 132nd's story, and Bidermann's, are part of the 'master narrative' of a 'demodernizing' Wehrmacht, whose men held against unbelievable odds and in the end were sacrificed to one of history's most purely evil causes. It is a story worth making available to American readers. --Dennis Showalter, author of Tannenberg: Clash of Empires Stands head and shoulders above the many other books in this genre. Bidermann's style is crisp, succinct, and lucid and Zumbro has done a great job of translating. --David Glantz, coauthor of The Battle of Kursk and When Titans Clashed What distinguishes Bidermann's book are his soldier's insights on the German army and the Eastern Front. Rather than glorifying the war as Germany's eastern crusade, Bidermann looks at the lives and the feelings of the soldiers as they relate to their adversaries and the battles they fought. --Parameters