I have read a lot of books about WWII written from various points of view, but never one from the German side.

Very interesting accounts of soldiers in the German army and a story about a Norwegian woman who fell in love with a German soldier.

The author of this book had clearly done his research and I marvelled time and again that these men survived the war at all. There was a lot of luck involved - right place, right time kind of thing and timing is everything, it seems. I wasn't familiar with a lot of the places that were mentioned but it didn't detract from the story or lessen my interest in it in any way.

Eye-opening. It really brought home to me the futility of war; those young fellas had no idea what they were signing up for.

4 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword.

Author Klaus G Förg published the book “I Somehow Survived: Eyewitness Accounts from World War II” in 2020 (November). Mr. Förg has published several books though most are only available in German.

I categorize this book as ‘PG’. The book contains the stories of five who survived WWII. Four of the people covered are men who served in the German military. The fifth is the story of a Norwegian woman who married one of the invading Germans. The accounts are first hand and come from interviews conducted by the author.

I thought that the 4.5 hours I spent reading this 192-page wartime history were interesting. Most accounts I have read of WWII are written from the Allied perspective. This book gives a different point of view. The cover art is OK. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

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Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of this book via netgalley!

Nothing is more profound than hearing a person recount the horrors of war they themselves witnessed and experienced. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit down with the numerous individuals that recount their stories in this book. Second best to sitting down directly with them. Lest we forget.

If you have been reading my reviews, you know that I am currently obsessed with WW2 genre, mostly historical romance and Holocaust. But when I saw this book on NetGalley I was intrigued. True stories from those who were there, those who fought, those who were part of it. There is no better way to learn history. And there is no better gut wrenching way to feel a part of it.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

The compelling thing about this book is the range of perspectives brought to bear. So often readers are offered a single perspective and books like this demonstrate why diversity of view adds such value when looking back on key periods in history. I found it especially interesting to hear from members of the Luftwaffe. I have read a lot of about WWII but generally from the perspective of the allied forces so this was a real eye opener.

An interesting collection of stories from actual survivors of the war. These are the stories of little known people and their struggles. I found their stories compelling and interesting.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.