Ian Baxter

By March 1945, the Red Army had closed in on Berlin. Marshal Zhukov, with almost a million soldiers and 20,000 tanks and guns at his disposal, launched his assault of the Seelow Heights. While costly, with 30,000 Russians killed, it brought the Russian Army to the gates of the capital. On April 20, Hitler's fifty-sixth birthday, Soviet artillery began a massive bombardment of the doomed city. The Fuhrer ordered every soldier, Hitlerjugend, and...

After the defeat at Stalingrad in January 1943, the German Armys front lines were slowly smashed to pieces by the growing might of the Soviet Army. Yet these soldiers continued to fight gallantly. Even after the failed battle of the Kursk in the summer of 1943, and then a year later when the Russians launched their mighty summer offensive, code names Operation BAGRATION, the German Army continued to fight on, withdrawing under constant enemy ground...

Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord 1941 - 1945 is the 6th book in the Waffen-SS Images of War Series compiled by Ian Baxter. The book tells the story of the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord, which was formed in February 1941 as SS Kampfgruppe Nord (SS Battle Group North). The Division was the only Waffen-SS unit to fight in the Arctic Circle when it was stationed in Finland and northern...

This illustrated WII history provides a vivid account of the Red Army's devastating offensive against the invading German army. In the summer of 1944, the Soviet Army launched Operation Bagration. This massive offensive led to the destruction of the German Army Group Center and was the greatest military defeat ever experienced by the German Army during World War Two. With rare and previously unpublished photographs, this book provides an absorbing...

The Deutsche Afrika Korps (best known as simply Afrika Korps) built up a well-deserved reputation as a superb fighting machine. While this was founded on the leadership and tactical genius of its legendary commander Erwin Rommel and the fighting skills of its officers and men, another vital element was its equipment in general and armor in particular. This superbly illustrated Images of War book reveals the full range of German armored vehicles that...

Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia 1942 - 1945 describes how the occupying Nazis recruited Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian conscripts into the Waffen-SS. Unlike her Latvian neighbor, Lithuania had no plans to provide Germany with a National Legion. Although volunteers came forward, the majority did not. This was not the case for Latvia and Estonia,...

This fully illustrated WWII history presents an in-depth look at the Nazi war machine's most fearsome armored vehicles. From July 1943 to the Nazis' final defeat in May 1945, the Panther battle tank and its variants were the mainstay of Germany's armored forces. This superbly engineered fighting vehicle offered a lethal combination of firepower, mobility, and protection. As this classic Images of War series title reveals, the Panther saw nonstop...

Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, codename Operation Barbarossa, was arguably the pivotal moment of the Second World War. Initially the onslaught was staggeringly successful with, as the superb contemporary images in this book show, Waffen- SS armored divisions leading the charge. But the Nazis had underestimated the Russians' determination to defend their homeland and the logistical problems compounded by the extreme winter weather conditions. After...

This book is the most thorough study yet of the whole process of recruitment, indoctrination and performance of those responsible for the guarding of concentration camp inmates. It is not an attractive subject the conversion of human beings into murderers and individuals routinely carrying out appalling acts of cruelty are bound to be shocking. But it happened under the Third Reich on a massive scale. Of the 55,000 Nazi concentration camp guards,...

Hitler’s mountain troops or Gebirgsjager were a group of elite soldiers ready for battle, whatever the conditions. These mountain men were trained to ski, climb and endure long marches, survive appalling conditions and were given a role as crack shock troops. Yet many of the campaigns in which the Gebirgsjager fought were on level ground where they had little opportunity to demonstrate their unique skills. Instead, they were invariably employed...