SS Totenkopf, part of a series of books on the divisions of the Waffen-SS, explores the background to the unit s formation, the men it recruited, the key figures involved, and its organisation. It also looks at the specialist training of the Waffen-SS, and the uniforms and insignia that members of the division wore. SS Totenkopf also provides a full combat record of the division, which fought on both fronts in World War II, increasingly serving as a fire brigade unit as the war turned against Germany, plugging gaps wherever they appeared in the front.
The book outlines the unit s involvement of the invasion of Poland, the fall of France, the invasion of Russia, the battle of Kharkov, the defence of Warsaw, and the final fruitless attempt to relieve Budapest in the last days of the Reich. Illustrated with rare photographs, and featuring an authoritative text, SS Totenkopf is a definitive history of one of Germany s premiere fighting units of World War II.