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Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Unit History
Review: An excellant account of one Div in the fight of WWII. As this unit fought on the Western Front it differs in the action accounts of the "Fight to the Death" that went on in the Eastern Front.
Very descriptive accounts of battles fought and what went wrong on the German side and how they countered the Allied assaults. Sometimes successful and sometimes not....there are no one "we won every battle" descriptions but an honest account of how this division "the Greyhound" Division fought.
Having been the only major unit to make it to the beaches on D-Day but not having the resources to consolidate their gains and then fight a continuous withdrawl action for the rest of the war, I found this book easy to follow. I was not lost and the maps made following the battles extremly easy to navigate which unit fought who.
Well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: For WWII enthusiasts, Heinz Gunther Guderian's _From Normandy..._ is a must! "The little Guderian," who was the 116th's (1a) and awarded the Knight's Cross for leading the division's remnants out of the Falaise Gap, first published it in 1994, some twenty years after retiring from the Bundeswehr. Fortunately for those of us language hindered, Aberjona Press has just issued an excellent translation.This is much more than a book about panzer battles and includes astute observations about the political realities of 1944-45 and how they impacted on the German military. It's also a succinct revelation about the French and German cultures. For example, Guderian discusses some prevalent French thought about the Transportation Plan's relentless bombing of the Seine bridges and Normady's RR system. As one French woman told Heinz Gunther, "they'll bomb us until we turn German," an observation I picked up on when living in Vernon(Eure), France in the 1950's. I adopted _From Normandy.._ "cold" (prior to publication) as a text for my American Military University World War II(ETO) course and am glad I did. However, I wasn't taking many chances since I had just used _Six Days in January, the 6th SS Mountain in NORDWIND_ and knew the quality of publications Abjerna puts out. See Aegis Consulting's website for some great maps which correspond to Aberjona's books.
Rating:
Summary: Best German Divisional History Ever Written
Review: Heinz Gunther Guderian has produced the best divisional history written to date on a panzer division during World War 2. He has obviously conducted extensive research into the activities of both American units opposing the 116th Panzer Division as well as subordinate and attached units of that division. Since the 116th Panzer Division fought in many crucial battles, to include Normandy, Aachen, Hurtgen Forest, and the Bulge - this book provides the reader with a German perspective of virtually the entire campaign in North West Europe during 1944 - 45. Guderian is candid in his assessment of both German and American combat performance. His analysis of events transforms the book into something much more than a dry recounting of engagments and battles. A must read for those interested in armored warfare and WW2.
Rating:
Summary: Best German Divisional History Ever Written
Review: Heinz Gunther Guderian has produced the best divisional history written to date on a panzer division during World War 2. He has obviously conducted extensive research into the activities of both American units opposing the 116th Panzer Division as well as subordinate and attached units of that division. Since the 116th Panzer Division fought in many crucial battles, to include Normandy, Aachen, Hurtgen Forest, and the Bulge - this book provides the reader with a German perspective of virtually the entire campaign in North West Europe during 1944 - 45. Guderian is candid in his assessment of both German and American combat performance. His analysis of events transforms the book into something much more than a dry recounting of engagments and battles. A must read for those interested in armored warfare and WW2.
Rating:
Summary: Rare Insight
Review: Heinz Günther Guderian's "From Normandy to the Ruhr The 116th Panzer Division in World War II," should be required reading for everyone with an interest in ground operations in Europe after the D-Day landings. Guderian's diligent and comprehensive research of both the American and German plans and operations makes this book an essential for professional soldiers and historians. The Aberjona Press does an excellent translation to English. The selection of military terminology of both sides and explanatory comments by editor Keith E. Bonn are helpful for all readers. There is a remarkable collection of detailed maps and photos of the participants and battle scenes. This book is at the top of World War II history list for the reading public. Further details can be viewed at the Aegis Consulting Group, Inc. web site: http://www.116thpanzer.net/
Rating:
Summary: Rare Insight
Review: Heinz Günther Guderian's "From Normandy to the Ruhr The 116th Panzer Division in World War II," should be required reading for everyone with an interest in ground operations in Europe after the D-Day landings. Guderian's diligent and comprehensive research of both the American and German plans and operations makes this book an essential for professional soldiers and historians. The Aberjona Press does an excellent translation to English. The selection of military terminology of both sides and explanatory comments by editor Keith E. Bonn are helpful for all readers. There is a remarkable collection of detailed maps and photos of the participants and battle scenes. This book is at the top of World War II history list for the reading public. Further details can be viewed at the Aegis Consulting Group, Inc. web site: http://www.116thpanzer.net/
Rating: 
Summary: Deadly Dull But Essential
Review: I had a hard time rating this book since it is so incredibly, teutonically dull, but at the same time I don't want to sell my copy since it is chock full of the kind of detail that serious students of the history of WW2 require. So as a reference book it is 5 star while as entertainment it has no stars, hence the compromise of 3 stars overall. Read "Condemned to Live" by Franz Frisch or Hans Von Luck's "Panzer Commander", among many others, if you are interested in the experiences of German soldiers in WW2. Keep this one on the shelf along with Manstein's "Lost Victories" if you are a serious student of military history and need some heavy detail and your German isn't up to reading the original after action reports and reams of other documents that the Wehrmacht left behind.
Rating:
Summary: Required Reading for the More than Casual Student of WWll
Review: Reviewer: Lou Witt, a WWII combat infantryman from Catonsville, Maryland If you are looking for easy narrative reading, stick to Stephen Ambrose. If you are looking for WWII history glossed over, try Charles Whiting. However, if you are looking for an inside view of the almost daily operations of a German panzer division on the Western Front during the last year of the 3d Reich, Heinz Günther Guderian's book 'From Normandy to the Ruhr' was written for you.
This book is not light reading, but neither is it ever dull. It was written by an expert on the subject of armored warfare. Guderian was born into a military family, the son of the man considered to have been a leading proponent of modern combined arms warfare. The author served with the 16th Panzer Grenadier Division on the Eastern Front prior to his extensive experience in the west. After the war, he served as a Bundeswehr tank battalion and brigade commander, and finally, as a general officer, as Inspector of Armored Troops. Guderian served as the First General Staff officer of the 116th Panzer Division from its formation in early 1944, through its training in preparation for resisting the anticipated allied landings, and on until the division's destruction. As I was not familiar with the German title of "First General Staff officer," I learned that his job was essentially a combination of the positions of division chief of staff and G-3 (Operations Officer) in an American division. As such, he was certainly an officer who was completely "in the know" about his division's combat actions from battalion level up, as well as the decisions at corps, army, and even army group echelons of command. Not only did this book provide me with an excellent, in-depth appreciation and understanding of the structure of a German panzer division, but the strategies and execution of battle plans as well. It has also inspired me to learn more about, among other topics, German tactics, equipment, and replacement training, and then to be able to compare them with those of the US Army with which I am more familiar.
More than the author's style, it is the rich detail and important insights he provides that compelled me to read this book from cover to cover.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book to flesh out your knowledge of the West Front
Review: Sort of like Forrest Gump in the 60's, the 116th Panzer Div was in the middle of many of the famous and key battles in the Western Front in '44 and '45. This book is an excellent description of the battles from the German point of view. The writing and research are fair and scrupelous. If you've read the major histories by American or British authors, this one will fill any voids, correct a few misunderstandings, and explain the other side of the story. You might want to keep those major histories handy, because sometimes I got a little confused about the larger picture (though Guderian describes the action on either side of the 116th).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book to flesh out your knowledge of the West Front
Review: Sort of like Forrest Gump in the 60's, the 116th Panzer Div was in the middle of many of the famous and key battles in the Western Front in '44 and '45. This book is an excellent description of the battles from the German point of view. The writing and research are fair and scrupelous. If you've read the major histories by American or British authors, this one will fill any voids, correct a few misunderstandings, and explain the other side of the story. You might want to keep those major histories handy, because sometimes I got a little confused about the larger picture (though Guderian describes the action on either side of the 116th).
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