Waffen-SS Encyclopedia

Stone & Stone Second World War Books (December 2004)
"For a single volume reference work on the SS, this is probably the best book to put on your shelf."


Book Description
World War II spawned some of the most famous-and infamous-fighting organizations the world has ever known. None was more feared by its battlefield foes or more hated by political enemies of the National Socialist regime than the Waffen-SS. Six decades after the last Waffen-SS unit capitulated or was annihilated, the facts about many aspects of this organization are still shrouded in legend and half-truth. Loathed by many as a criminal organization, yet also respected for the esprit, resolve, and valor of its component units and individuals, the Waffen-SS was unarguably a highly-complex, multi-faceted phenomenon, unique among the military organizations of the world. Marc Rikmenspoel has crafted the ultimate reference for those trying to understand the intensely controversial and complicated nature of the Waffen-SS. A comprehensive overview that will be useful to historians, buffs, wargamers, and re-enactors alike, no matter what your predisposition to the Waffen-SS, you will learn a great deal from this book. The book includes a concise history of every one of the major fighting formations of the Waffen-SS (those designated as "divisions"). Sections include: -Formations
— Structure of Divisions
— Germans in the Waffen-SS
— Germanics in the Waffen-SS
— Non-Germans and Non-Germanics in the Waffen-SS
— Leading Personalities
— Weapons
— Misconceptions and Controversies
— Weapons Tables Supported by 82 photos and extensive, 20-page annotated bibliography.


About the Author
Marc Rikmenspoel was born on 26 July 1970 in Albany, New York to a Dutch father and an American mother. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1992 with a B.A. in History and continues to reside in Fort Collins. This is his second book; the first, Soldiers of the Waffen-SS: Many Nations, One Motto, was published by J J. Fedorowicz in 1999. Since the first edition of Waffen-SS Encyclopedia, Rikmenspoel also co-authored For Rex and For Belgium: Leon Degrelle and Walloon Political and Military Collaboration, 1941-1945, published by Helion Books in 2004.


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