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Legion of the Damned Sven Hassel 9780263822397 Books

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Legion of the Damned Sven Hassel 9780263822397 Books

Hassel writes a believable first person fictional history of a WW-II Werhmacht soldier. I had a good friend who was a German soldier in WW-II who described the day he was captured at Alamein as the happiest day of his life. Hassel's character is not inconsistent with my friend's history. Hassel's character describes the horrors of war and the horror that he became as a member of the Legion of the Damned. While there is some controversy with respect to Hassel's WW-II stories this book reads to me as an unapologetic confessional of a young man caught up in the horrors of an impossible situation.


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Legion of the Damned Sven Hassel 9780263822397 Books Reviews

I read all of the Sven Hassel books way back in the early 80's. I thought I would revisit them, as they are available as digital versions. They are still a good, if a little lightweight, read - even after all these years,

Easy to read and get through reasonably quickly (I think my reading ability has vastly improved and sped up since I was 19 or 20 years old).

I wouldn't take the entire story at face value, I would say that after the first book or two in the series that the author has taken some artistic license with the internal details and absolute historians would quibble over some of the scenarios.

Don't let that put you off though; they are a great snapshot of the terrible time the world found itself in WW2, as well as an insight into the brutality of war and the obscene regime of the Nazi's.

The book and the series would suit young men 18 years and over. The style and format lends itself well to start those who are not readers off and, hopefully, develop a thirst for more, and more complex, reads.
I discovered Sven Hassle my senior year of high school with his book "Wheels of Terror". I find his writing to be very accurate, descriptive, and on point of his themes presented in his writing. He does not write with historical accuracy and his timelines leave something to be desired.

He writes with excitement and holds the reader's attention as he brings alive just how horrible, sad, terrorizing, and disgusting war is. Along with the killing, torture, and mass murders all results of prejudice, propaganda, totalitarianism, and hate. I highly recommend this book and all other books by Mr. Hassle.
I first came across and bought this book at a book store in Grand Central Station, NY in a paperback edition back in 1964 and was instantly HOOKED. I have since read all of Hassel's books which are all great and highly recommended but, in my opinion, this was the best one (it is also #1 in his wonderful series).
Like all great historical fiction it must be (1) believable and (2) accurate as to the background (i.e. weapons used, food eaten, attitudes, etc.) Hassel, who was there, apparently fictionalized his wartime experiences and did it magnificently. If this book was not written from the German side of WWII it would have been a blockbuster movie at the very least and considering the additional books in the series (all highly recommended) a movie dynasty.
The question of whether Sven Hassel's "Legion of the Damned" is a memoir, an oral history posing as a memoir, or outright fiction has persisted for decades. The rough style and breaks in narrative, along with incidents so strange they'd be hard to make up, the relative concentration on everything but combat, and even the simplistic but presumably hard-earned politics give the book an air of authenticity. If it's an imitation, it's a good one.

I have a theory about Hassel's books. It has the feel of common sense and the advantage of there being very few facts to complicate or counter it. I suspect that Hassel wrote the memoir he'd promised his comrades with no idea of how popular it would become. Its success led to sequels while a growing confidence in his writing (or that of his wife, rumored to be his ghostwriter) led to his elaborating on incidents from the first book, telling tales he knew only at second- or third-hand, and using compression, elaboration, rearrangement and other techniques of fiction. More than anything else, it was the appearance of sequels and the growing sophistication of the writing that sparked questions about Hassel's memoirs being what they claim.

Whatever the truth, "Legion" is exciting, depressing, and often shocking. In style and content, it's a cross between "The Devil's Guard" and "Papillion," two other wildly popular and fascinating memoirs of uncertain legitimacy. Mentioning the latter book reminds me of its sequel, "Banco," a tale of misadventure lacking only "Papillion's" poignancy. It seems largely forgotten, but it shouldn't be. Read "Legion of the Damned" and hunt down "Banco."
Supposedly based on the author's experiences this is the first of a series of novels and most likely the closest to the truth, if that matters. It is by turns funny and fearsome not for the squeamish, as soldiers live close to sex and death all the time in Hassel's stories. This is a juvenile pleasure, a remembrance of times past, of reading under the covers in bed, slipping out of class to read "trash." In between more ponderous reads I plan to read the whole series again and be glad I missed the misery and gore and high adventure of World War Two. Hassel's war netted him a fortune and us a series of modern cowboy adventure stories. If you can accept the premise of comradeship even among Germans in that conflict you can marvel at this comic book style of story telling. Otherwise keep well away. Even as a convict in that fight, it's hard to accept in the real world that anyone could support Hassel's side coming out on top. He fought hard for the Germany that put him in prison then took him out of his cell and gave him a tank to drive through Hitler's enemies! He says it was to save his own skin but it was not to save those of Nazism's victims. You have been warned!
Hassel writes a believable first person fictional history of a WW-II Werhmacht soldier. I had a good friend who was a German soldier in WW-II who described the day he was captured at Alamein as the happiest day of his life. Hassel's character is not inconsistent with my friend's history. Hassel's character describes the horrors of war and the horror that he became as a member of the Legion of the Damned. While there is some controversy with respect to Hassel's WW-II stories this book reads to me as an unapologetic confessional of a young man caught up in the horrors of an impossible situation.