He joined the danish merchant navy at age 14 and served a mandatory stretch in the danish military before joining the german army in 1937. Sven hassel 19 april 1917 21 september 2012 in barcelona 1 2 was the pen name of the danishborn borge willy redsted pedersen 3 4 5 who wrote novels set during world war ii. A british colonel is angry with his superiors after his entire platoon is slaughtered by the germans in what he saw as a suicide mission. The legion of the damned no ordinary novel of war, this has the special quality of being an accurate account not only of armies fighting but of the opposed loyalties of individuals fighting within themselves while remaining loyal not to a dreadful system but to the known and treasured friends. The legion of the damned was the german penal battalion in which the author, a dane, found himself after having spent several months in concentration camps on a charge of desertion. Sven hassel was born sven pedersen in fredensborg, denmark on april 19, 1917. Legion of the damned the official legion of the damned webshop. This iconic antiwar novel is a testament to the atrocities suffered by the lone soldier in the fight for survival. The film is based on danish writer sven hassels 1979 war novel wheels of terror. Never before had violence been described in such hideously graphic detail.
Aug 14, 2003 the question of whether sven hassel s legion of the damned is a memoir, an oral history posing as a memoir, or outright fiction has persisted for decades. They made a name for themselves during the age of apostasy, where they fought well and were rewarded with the destruction of their homeworld, zhoros, by thermal bombs. With chad anthony, jack boyd, mark skanes cady, kym chambers. Photograph of two german soldiers purportedly tiny and portas who featured in hassel s books. His works include the legion of the damned novels and the mutant files series. Those who appreciate its admittedly roughedged message are advised to seek out other sven hassel novels for what is, i can assure you, one hell of a ride through the battlefield. He was fortunate enough to see wheels of terror receive a film adaptation in 1987. The legion of the damned was originally a space marine chapter known as the fire hawks, made from the geneseed of the ultramarines or so they claim. He is on a mission to give his family a burial at sea. March battalion cassell military paperbacks by sven hassel. We have 44 legion ofthe damned other torrents for you. Battle of stalingrad in popular culture encyclopedia article.
Autobiography legion of the damned, wheels of terror, comrades of war, march battalion, assignment gestapo, monte cassino, liquidate paris, ss general, r. He served throughout the second world war on all fronts except north africa. Danish author of fourteen world war two novels based around the experiences both tragic and comedic of 2 section a unit of the 27th penal panzer regiment, made up of courtmartialed soldiers and former inmates of concentration camps and prisons, conscripted as expendable cannon fodder for the nazi cause. Jul 19, 2014 also known as the misfit brigade produced with cyberlink powerdirector. About the author born in 1917 in fredensborg, denmark, sven hassel joined the merchant navy at the age of 14. Legion of the damned by sven hassel war fiction at the works. Synopsis legion of the damned was the first of 14 novels written by sven hassel, a danish volunteer who served in the german army throughout world war ii. Fordomtes legion is the first in a series of fourteen world war ii novels written by sven hassel.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read legion of the damned. In recent interviews 1997 and 1999 sven hassel has said that he is writing a new book, possibly titled the glorious defeat and based on events surrounding the 1944 assassination attempt on grofaz. Assignment gestapo legion of the damned series book 5 sven hassel. Born in 1917 in fredensborg, denmark, sven hassel joined the merchant navy at the age of 14. The novels are ostensibly told from the pointofview of the author, though some. The dead the damned and the darkness 1 hours and 30 minutes movie 2014 in a savage land where zombies roam freely lieutenant colonel sawyer is armed with machine guns, body armor and courage. The narrative, made up of fragmentary experiences rather than a complete and unified series of events, speaks symbolically for the horrible and ridiculous aspects of war, which are its main concern, for hassel. Convicted of deserting the german army, sven hassel is sent to a penal regiment on the russian front.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading legion of the damned. While there is some controversy with respect to hassel s wwii stories this book reads to me as an unapologetic confessional of a young man caught up in the horrors of an impossible situation. He began writing his first novel, legion of the damned, in a prisoner of war camp at the end of the second world war. Sven hassel legion of the damned sad statue by legionofporta. Wartime drama from italy, starring jack palance, wolfgang preiss and curd jurgens. The legion of the damned, a novel by sven hassel legion of the damned warhammer 40,000, a chapter of space marines in the fictional warhammer 40,000 universe this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title legion of the damned. His books including legion of the damned, monte cassino and liquidate paris. Watch the misfit brigade full movie in hd visit movie 21840 war story of the 27th panzers, hitlers heavyduty combat regiment. Obergefreiter joseph porta updated their cover photo. When they caught him, he was sent to a penal regiment on the russian front.
Legion of the damned is undouubtably the best book i have ever read. For sven hassels legion of the damned, it was more interesting researching the author than reading the book. In 1943, this motley tank crew is sent on a suicide mission behind enemy lines to destroy a soviet train thats carrying fuel for the red army. Legion of the damned kindle edition by dietz, william c. An extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of europe new york times legion of the damned is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice. Reign of hell legion of the damned series book 9 sven hassel.
Legion of the damned read online free book by sven hassel. Introduction to the legion of the damned the first in the sven hassel series of novels was, according to erik haaests hysterical biography of hassel, actually written by georg gjedde, a staff writer at the danish grafisk forlag publishing house. When porta is dying in the legion of the damned his last words are something like give old adolf a kick up the arse for me. Legion of the damned is a film programme that first aired in 1969 and has been classified a 18 certificate. Sven hassel was a huge seller in the uk in corgi paperback editions in the 1960s and 1970s. They can become part of the legion as cyborg soldiers. He adopted his mothers maiden name, hassel, when he began writing. Sven hassel was living in barcelona, spain when he passed away. Legion of the damned is ultimately about more than its authors identity or past, and should be read for what it has to offer as a book independent of warbuff minutiae. Sven hassel s iconic war novel about the russian front. It was during his time in prison that hassel started writing the legion of the damned. Sven hassel official site official sven hassel site. He published his first book, legion of the damned, in 1953. The movie is wheels of terror misfit brigade, song.
Comrades of war legion of the damned series book 3 ebook. The book covers a chronological period of a number of years, starting with the protagonists arrest and time in german concentration camps, and ending with his being an officer and company commander on the russian front. Legion of the damned is the first novel in the legion of the damned series and was released in the year 1993. The critically acclaimed legion of the damned has already been translated into 15 languages, and will soon reach the attention of even more readers when it becomes a movie. Sven hassel was a world war ii novelist, who completed a series of fourteen books, that tell the battles of a penal regiment on the eastern front. The question of whether sven hassel s legion of the damned is a memoir, an oral history posing as a memoir, or outright fiction has persisted for decades. Sven hassel legion of the damned sad statue youtube. Visit now to browse our huge range of products at great prices. Sven hassel project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Soviet union, nazi germany, battle of stalingrad, world war ii, death metal.
Starting in 1953 he published 14 novels, written in the first. Legion of the damned cult of the dead 2008, cd discogs. The legion of the damned by hassel, sven, 1917publication date 1957 topics world war, 19391945. He grew up in the seattle area, served as a medic with the navy and marine corps, graduated from the university of washington, and has been employed as a surgical technician, college instructor, and television news writer, director, and producer. He is graphic, at times brilliantly so, but never brutal or bitter. The tank regiment of the 12th panzer division will form the head of the attacking wedge, with the ss guards as reserve on the right flank. So for his next mission, he takes along a platoon a convicted criminals to prepare the normandy beaches for the dday landings. He did his compulsory years military service in the danish forces in 1936 and then, facing unemployment, joined the german army. Sven hassel 19 april 1917 21 september 2012 in barcelona was the pen name of.
In this scene, the little legionaire tries to end a quarrel between. Sven hassels iconic war novel about the russian front. Although he is arguably one of the most sold danish authors, at most second to hans christian andersen, danish public libraries, as of 2012, did not stock his books. I remember it quite differently to the present reading, perhaps coloured by the other books. Buy legion of the damned by sven hassel online from the works.
It is a shocking but quite human story and many believe this book to be at least based in fact, even if the rest of his oeuvre may be little more than a cashin. Legion of the damned is a graphic and unflinching depiction of the. Explore releases from legion of the damned at discogs. Those that are terminally ill, victims that no one can save, and condemned criminals have only one choice.
War story of the 27th panzers, hitlers heavyduty combat regiment composed of prisoners. Sven hassel s books have sold 52 million copies worldwide. Legion of the damned, sven hassel war classics by sven hassel. Sven hassel and the strange obsession with nazi fiction. Sven hassel, who has died aged 95, wrote 14 massively popular novels about life in the wartime german army. Legion of the damned film, legion of the damned novel, sven hassel, legion of the damned warhammer 40,000 read more. He began writing his first novel, legion of the damned in a prisoner of war camp at the end of the second world war. The novels are based on his own experiences in the german army. Sven hassel the critically acclaimed legion of the damned has already been translated into 15 languages, and will soon reach the attention of even more readers when it becomes a movie. In the movie sven hassel s wheels of terror sometimes known as the misfit brigade, ports is played by bruce davison. Legion of the damned legion of the damned series book 1. The story focuses on a doomed platoon of german soldiers on the western front in 1944, with sven hassel as one of. He is, too, a first rate storyteller washington post convicted of deserting the. Legion of the damned cassell military paperbacks sven.
Sven hassel project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. As with a lot of the italian exploitation films around this period, its a cashin on the success of robert aldrichs 1967 wwii adventure the dirty dozen. Knalhard vof baden powellstraat 18 5212 bw shertogenbosch the netherlands. In 1957 sven hassel suffered from an attack of a sickness caught during the war and was paralyzed for almost two years. The first novel published under the name of sven hassel was the legion of the damned in 1957, which lays the basis for much of the above. The positions are to be broken through with a view to a drive on moscow. He began to write his first book, legion of the damned while he was interned. Sven hassel was the pen name of the danishborn borge willy redsted pedersen 19 april 1917 21 september 2012 who wrote novels set during world war ii. Legion of the damned kindle edition by dietz, william c download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
His first novel, the legion of the damned, was published in 1953. An extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of europe new york times. He is, too, a firstrate storyteller washington post. Monte cassino legion of the damned series book 6 sven hassel. Nov 14, 2012 sven hassel was a remarkable but controversial author who wrote successful novels set on the eastern front in the second world war. Hassel, a danish volunteer who served in the german army throughout wwii, based this story on his own horrific experiences fighting on the russian front. During the events in this novel we are introduced to sven and his friends and fellow convicted soldiers in the 27th penal panzerbatallion. The legion of the damned sven hassel official site. Although he is arguably one of the most sold danish authors, at most second to hans christian andersen, danish public libraries, as of 2012. We have 44 legion of the damned other torrents for you. Hassel was actually part of the german panzerkorp during the war and. Download legion of the damned torrent at torrentfunk. See the complete legion of the damned series book list in order, box sets or omnibus editions, and companion titles. Sven hassel audio books download, free sven hassel audiobook.
Download legion ofthe damned torrent at torrentfunk. The story is about death, destruction and struggle. Review of legion of the damned by sven hassel 1953. An amish teenager on rumspringa falls in with the likes of a volatile onepercenter biker gang known by legend and legacy as the hades hands. At the time of writing, sven hassel is alive and well and living in barcelona, spain. Shop for vinyl, cds and more from legion of the damned at the discogs marketplace. Hassel s character describes the horrors of war and the horror that he became as a member of the legion of the damned. Sven hassel legion of the damned sad statue duration. The story focuses on a doomed platoon of german soldiers on the western front in 1944, with sven hassel as one of them. Sven hassel is a major brand in fiction with global book sales since first publication of legion of the damned in 1953 of 53 million copies, of which 15 million are in the english language. The complete series has to this day been published in. Sven hassel, whose factbased tales of second world warfare have sold millions, has created another horrific war novel, this time set on the deadly russian front. Sven hassel was the pen name of the danishborn borge willy redsted pedersen 19 april. The style that sven hassel wrote this book is unique and graphic.
Legion of the damned by hassel, sven and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The legion of the damned book series by sven hassel includes books the legion of the damned, wheels of terror, frontkammerater, and several more. From the movie the misfit brigade which is based on the book. Legion of the damned legion of the damned, book 1 by sven. Legion of the damned is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice. Legion of the damned by sven hassel, paperback barnes. Sven hassel s unflinching narrative is based on his own experiences in the german army. The commissar had the biggest secret of the russian war.