SS Kampfgruppe Peiper

Lucas takes the bare bones of a real operation by a Kampfgruppe commanded by Jochen Peiper in February 1943 in which he assisted in bringing the 320th Infantry Division out of a possible encirclement. Lucas used the divisional diaries and other sources to come up with a bare bones factual account of the operation, but then presents it as a story using the real life characters involved. He thereby brings a potentially boring military book to life and brings home the horrors, fears and elations of the front line soldiers of both sides.

James Lucas
Paperback, 201pp, 2001