The Waffen  holds an enduring fascination for students of WWII, and this new Concord volume caters to this interest. In particular, the book focuses on the Waffen  fighting on the Eastern Front. William Fowler is a new author to Concord, and he has done a superb job of collating relevant photos and providing informative captions.

The volume begins with a description of the role played by this elite fighting formation commanded by Heinrich Himmler. After the initial giddy successes subsequent to the 1941 invasion of Russia, the Wehrmacht and Waffen  both eventually ran out of steam at the very gates of Moscow. The  had grown from a force of 141,975 fighting men in September 1942 to 280,000 soldiers a year later. This statistic illustrates the importance attached to the formation, and how resources for it were prioritized. New divisions with names like 'Nordland' and 'Wiking' were established, joining others like 'Totenkopf' and 'Das Reich'. However, the ability of the Waffen  to extinguish hotspots could only delay Germany's inevitable defeat. This book, through the extensive collection of photos, traces the exploits of these elite soldiers in all areas of the Russian frontline and in all kinds of weather conditions. The black and white pictures show all manner of equipment and weapons in use.

In the center of the book is the familiar set of four color plates that characterizes this series. The artwork has been prepared by Dmitriy Zgonnik, and they show Soldiers in various kinds of uniforms and with different weapons. This is a well-researched and well-illustrated book that covers an ever-popular subject of WWII.