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Feuer! by Werner Adamczyk

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2002 9:34 am
by Rohrbach
I recently finished Feuer!: An Artilleryman's Life on the Eastern Front by Werner Adamczyk. I found it to be one of the best soldier autobiographies that I have read. It is well-written and straightforward. Mr. Adamczyk had a gift for description and appears to have been fairly objective. He certainly pulls no punches in what he has to say. It has become cliche to say that something should be a classic, but this book deserves the title.

I searched for the book for a number of months. It is out of print and I was shocked at the prices I found on the second-hand book sites. The last lowest figure I saw was USD 157. As much as I like books, I wouldn't pay that price for the stone tablets that Moses brought down from the mountain. The copy I obtained through the library loan system had not sat for more than a week at a time on it's home library's shelf over the past 18 months. I don't understand why this book has gone out of print, when controversial works such as Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier (which I liked) stay in print. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Mr. Adamczyk is deceased. I do know that if it is ever re-published at a decent price (not at all a certainty in today's book market), Feuer! will find a place on my bookshelf and probably on the shelves of many other people.

Rohrbach

Adamczyk's book

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2002 11:18 pm
by Marc Rikmenspoel
Rohrbach,

There was some trouble distributing the last few hundred copies of Feuer, but Tom Pettys at the Aberdeen Bookstore bought up a whole bunch, and still has some for sale at reasonable prices, the last I knew. So I would check at http://www.aberdeenbookstore.com to see about the availability. Good luck!

Now Out of Stock

Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2002 11:34 am
by Rohrbach
Hi Marc Rikmenspoel,

Thank you for the lead on the book. I contacted Tom Petteys. Unfortunately, he no longer has the book in stock. Hopefully, it will be published again one day.

Best Regards,

Rohrbach

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2002 6:09 am
by Frederick L Clemens
I can't praise this book enough. :D It is the way EVERY vet's memoir should be done - personal observations backed up by info from official records to place the events in context. No sloppy mistakes or hazy "somewhere, sometime in far-away Russia" scenes in this one! You'll come away from this book better educated about the German soldier's life in the East without having to ask yourself and others which part is fact and which is fiction.
It is a shame that a large publisher hasn't picked this one up for reprint. But of course, brand names like "The Forgetful...oops, make that...Forgotten Soldier" are easier to sell to the unwitting public. :x

Buy Feuer! if ever you can get it for a decent price!

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2002 6:40 am
by Snorre
Hi,

Three copies available via Amazon (link directly to the book) from appr. $150,- to $200,-

S 8)

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2002 12:44 pm
by Annelie
Greetings Guys:

Could I ask why the high price for the book?
I know it is purported to be excellent but still?

I am interested.....

Regards
Annelie

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 4:31 am
by Rohrbach
Hi Annelie,

At a guess, the price is what the market will bear. Feuer! is a well-written and informative book. It is just over 400 pages with a very good binding. It is out of print and it seems that a limited number of copies were published. There seems to be enough collectors, historians, and military history enthusiasists willing to pay the price.

Best Regards.

Rohrbach

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2002 5:56 am
by Annelie
Hello Rohrbach:

I have checked several places and there is none available except
at amazon and they are very expensive for an non - educational
research book. I will go to the library and check there about the inter-
branch loan books.

I guess what you say is correct. So few printed that the the book has
become an collectors item which means (money) :-)

Thanks for good information though.

Regards
Annelie

Feuer... for sale

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2002 8:50 pm
by Dale
Anyone still looking for this book ?
I have a copy possibly for sale...
post a reply or e-mail me:

[email protected]

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2002 1:38 am
by Jason Pipes
Can someone post a scan of the cover of this book, I'm curious to see if I have it! Most of my books are packed away and I can't recall! :?

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2002 9:37 pm
by D.W.
Image

This book is currently selling (with three days left) for $99.00 (minimum, no bids yet) on eBay.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 1975839005

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2002 9:47 pm
by Jason Pipes
Thanks! I indeed do not have a copy of this one, and it looks and sounds great. Too bad I can't afford one now. :( DAMN I hate being out of work... :oops:

Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2003 10:43 am
by Frederick L Clemens
Reposted message fom M.Tburg

Hello,
Some time ago there was a discussion on the book "Feuer" with several people indicating a desire to obtain a decently priced copy.

You might try this:

http://www.sonic.net/~bstone/blitzbooks/reich.html

1361. FEUER! An Artilleryman's Life on the Eastern Front. Werner Adamczyk. Detailed first-hand personal account of horror of war on the Eastern Front by an average soldier. HB, b/w photographs, 403p. $ 28

If the price is correct this is a steal.

M. Thornburg

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 6:34 pm
by Rohrbach
Hi M. Thornburg,

Thanks for the availability update.

Hey Frederick, you missed a couple of threads below in your housecleaning. :D

Rohrbach

Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 11:08 pm
by Frederick L Clemens
Rohrbach wrote: Hey Frederick, you missed a couple of threads below in your housecleaning. :D
Which ones?