Duel in the Mist: Kampfgruppe Peiper, Stoumont, December 19th, 1944 v. 1: The Leibstandarte During the Ardennes Offensive (Bluejacket Books) [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

This book is one of the more unusual ones that I have read, and deals with Kampfgruppe Peiper at Stoumont during December 1944 of the Ardennes counterattack.
This particular battle marked the high water mark of the battlegroup when its advance was stopped 6km on from Stoumont, and was finally forced to retreat in the face of superior Allied forces and lack of fuel and ammo.
The authors have spent considerable and painstaking time researching this book.
In a foreword from Michael Reynolds (The Devils Adjutant, Men of Steel, Sons of the Reich) he describes how this particular action in his own book The Devils Adjutant is described in 5,000 words.
The authors account is written in 36,000 words and many of the superb photos have been published for the first time.
The layout is unusual in the fact that it is a "landscape' type book which just squeezes into my bookshelf.
It is written from both a German and American point of view and is based on after action reports of the units involved. It also draws upon the recollections of veterans from both sides which make the book well balanced.
The book is printed on fine glossy paper for excellent photo reproduction and has some great photographs of the men and armour during the battle.
The wonderful photos which are all well captioned and superbly reproduced are particulary well done.
These wartime shots show large numbers of the "during and after " type photos, destroyed German tanks, and battle action shots.
At end of the book are a number of Appendix covering such things as the SS Panzer Regiment 1 between Normandy and the Ardennes, war crimes committed by the battle group, The order of battle for the Panzer regiment and last but not least, the Camouflage patterns and markings of the various Panthers involved in the battle through colour profiles.
This was interesting in its self, as the authors through their research were able identify from the tanks camouflage pattern where a particular Panther was assembled and when.
There are a number of simple maps to follow throughout the book and are in black and white.
Finally as this is volume 1 of what projects to be a great series, I await the next offering from this group of authors with great anticipation.

This book is an important contribution to the study of KG Peiper.

It is difficult to review it after purchasing the volume 2 in the series. Indeed, the authors have benefited from the feedback they received for the volume 1 and have generally improved the series with their latest book Duel in the Mist 2 (color pictures of the surroundings as of today, color maps, more relevant pictures, etc...).

These comments put aside, I do think that this book needs to be acquired by anyone with an interest in KG Peiper.

If you want to know the men of KG Peiper, what they did, probably did, what vehicles they were ridding, what these vehicles looked like, how they were lost, in what location and at what time, this book is definitely for you.

The level of information, research and analyses is of the highest quality and gives a closer insight in what was KG Peiper beyond the myth and general knowledge. Although it may feel disjoint at a time, I do not regret an instant my purchase neither mind the supposedly lack of cohesion. Personally, I will take this type of work over 4 or 5 different books each covering a different aspect. Yes, it is disjoint, nevertheless, I'm extremely grateful the authors still went with it. The plea is real: do not retain information... In this case, the "more" is absolutely the "better" and it is truly appreciated.

It is interesting to note also that one can find a non judgemental, rational analysis of the war crimes based on interviews and trial archives. The light it sheds on what may have happened over there is far better than anything I have read so far and completes the topic of KG Peiper in a very professional way. Indeed the truth has never seemed so close.

The book deserves 5 stars on numerous aspects -analyses, historical research, passion and dedication of each contributor, overall quality- but its younger brother vol 2 surpasses it, hence the 4 stars.

In short: buy Vol 2. Duel in the Mist 2, don't hesitate a second to complete your collection with Vol 1. I cherish both my purchases.

Great book. Nice layout. Very factual and accurate. Good pictures. A good account of both sides. You won't be able to leave it alone. A good book if you can find it.