Convicted of deserting the german army, sven hassel was sent to a punishment regiment on the russian. Sven hassel s iconic war novel about the russian front. They made a name for themselves during the age of apostasy, where they fought well and were rewarded with the destruction of. Read online or download the commissar legion of the damned, book 14 pdf. 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. Sven hassels most popular book is legion of the damned. He was released in 1949 and was planning to join the french foreign legion when he met his future wife. I remember it quite differently to the present reading, perhaps coloured by the other books. It has an unique and different style of the other novels. Tanks of hitlers eastern allies 194145 by steven j. Legion of the damned by sven hassel, paperback barnes.
Sven hassel official site official sven hassel site. Sven and his new friends were expendable pawns deployed as sacrifices to keep the red army occupied. The eastern front is a sight of unprecedented destruction. Sven hassel project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks.
Hassel, a danish volunteer who served in the german army throughout wwii, based this story on his own horrific experiences fighting on the russian front. The legion of the damned sven hassel official site. His first novel, the legion of the damned, was published in 1953. All of sven hassels subsequent war stories, from a chronological point of view, fill in details. Sven hassel and his comrades are once more hurled into the ferocity of the frontline. He is graphic, at times brilliantly so, but never brutal or bitter.
Sven hassel has 48 books on goodreads with 28833 ratings. Fordomtes legion is the first in a series of fourteen world war ii novels written by sven hassel. Comrades of war legion of the damned series book 3. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Legion of the damned is the first in a series of fourteen world war ii novels written by sven. Sven hassel, who has died aged 95, wrote 14 massively popular novels about life in the wartime german army. Books by sven hassel author of legion of the damned goodreads.
The style that sven hassel wrote this book is unique and graphic. Legion of the damned 1 chapter match chapter match against the legion of the damned. Legion of the damned cassell military paperbacks sven. He began to write his first book, legion of the damned while he was interned. For fine examples of portas officer baiting style see three girls chapter 14 of legion of the damned or herr niebelspangs via dolorosa chapter 2 of blitzfreeze. The legion of the damned no ordinary novel of war, this has the special quality of being an accurate account not only of armies fighting but of the opposed loyalties of individuals fighting within themselves while remaining loyal not to a dreadful system but to the known and treasured friends. Uncommonly good collectible and rare books from uncommonly good booksellers. 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. He began writing his first novel, legion of the damned, in a prisoner of war camp at the end of the second world war. 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. I got my copy at the old worthington librarys book sale. The complete series has to this day been published in. Sven hassel was born sven pedersen in fredensborg, denmark on april 19, 1917. The massive armor battles of the russian entrance are well known, however the function of germanys jap allies isnt besides.
Review of legion of the damned by sven hassel 1953. Sven hassel, author of legion of the damned, on librarything. Sven hassel s unflinching narrative is based on his own experiences in the german army. Never before had violence been described in such hideously graphic detail. Legion of the damned legion of the damned series book 1. 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. Legion of the damned series by sven hassel goodreads. The soldiers there the tank battalions of hitlers penal regiments are considered expendable by the german high command. Sven hassel the critically acclaimed legion of the damned has already been translated into 15 languages, and will soon reach the attention of even more readers when it becomes a movie. Convicted of sven hassels iconic war novel about the russian front. 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.
He published his first book, legion of the damned, in 1953. Although he is arguably one of the most sold danish authors, at most second to. Find legion of the damned by hassel, sven at biblio. Legion of the damned is the first in a series of fourteen world war ii novels written by sven hassel. During the events in this novel we are introduced to sven and his friends and fellow convicted soldiers in the 27th penal panzerbatallion. Legion of the damned is undouubtably the best book i have ever read. 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 narrative, made up of fragmentary experiences rather than a complete and unified series of events, speaks symbolically for the horrible and ridiculous aspects of war, which are its main concern, for hassel. Sven hassel project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. This is the first in a series of wwii books about a danish soldier serving in the german army, purporting to be autobiographical. An extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of europe new york times legion of the damned is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice. Legion was the first book and supposedly the most autobiographical. Legion of the damned kindle edition by sven hassel. Sven hassel 19 april 1917 21 september 2012 in barcelona was the pen.
The legion of the damned was the german penal battalion in which the author, a dane, found himself after having spent several months in concentration camps on a charge of desertion. The book covers a chronological period of a number of years. His books including legion of the damned, monte cassino and liquidate paris. Legion of the damned is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice. The legion of the damned by hassel, sven, 1917publication date 1957 topics world war, 19391945. Sven hassel was the pen name of the danishborn borge willy redsted pedersen 19 april.
The novels are based on his own experiences in the german army. 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. He adopted his mothers maiden name, hassel, when he began writing. It is a shocking but quite human story and many believe this book to be at least based in fact, even if the rest of his oeuvre may be little more than a cashin. This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and if not signed in for advertising. For sven hassel s legion of the damned, it was more interesting researching the author than reading the book.
Like all the main characters in the legion of the damned, porta is of course killed off see chapter 31 theres a man lying out on the wire. First, the whole history follows a coehrent plot, instead of isolated chapters. The rough style and breaks in narrative, along with incidents so strange theyd be hard to make up, the relative concentration on everything but combat, and even the simplistic but. When they caught him, he was sent to a penal regiment on the russian front. Sven hassels iconic war novel about the russian front. The story focuses on a doomed platoon of german soldiers on the western front in 1944, with sven hassel as one of. The commissar had the biggest secret of the russian war. The book covers a chronological period of a number of years, starting with the protagonists arrest and time in german concentration camps.
The legion of the damned was originally a space marine chapter known as the fire hawks, made from the geneseed of the ultramarines or so they claim. March battalion legion of the damned series book 4 ebook. Read the sven hassel collection by sven hassel available from rakuten kobo. Legion of the damned isbn 9780297865735 pdf epub sven. Legion of the damned sven hassel sven hassel s iconic war novel about the russian front. Autobiography legion of the damned, wheels of terror, comrades of war, march battalion, assignment gestapo, monte cassino, liquidate paris, ss general, r. While there is some controversy with respect to hassels wwii stories this book reads to me as an unapologetic confessional of a young. Comrades of war is the third of fourteen novels written by sven hassel, and it, by far, the best of them all. Hassels character describes the horrors of war and the horror that he became as a member of the legion of the damned. Sven hassel legion of the damned sad statue youtube. An extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of europe new york times brconvicted of deserting the german army, sven hassel is sent to, isbn 9780297865735 buy the legion of the damned. The sven hassel collection sven hassel war classics ebook.