The Battle of Narva, 1944

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Mansal D

The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Mansal D »

Hello all I just wanted to inform the forum of my book that is about 80-90% completed and is due for sale May / June 2010. Many of the members from these forums were extremely helpful in putting this work together and I really enjoy coming here. What a great atmosphere we have here! :D If anyone wants to pre-order you can send me a private message on these forums with your name and e-mail. There is no pre-pay at the moment, just simply an accumulation of names to send an e-mail to when the book is available for purchase (kind of a newsletter :wink: ) Thank you to the website and individuals again for all your help!

Here is the text from the website of my publisher (the website is still under construction, but here is the English and German text):

Mansal Denton

The battle for Narva, 1944
Vounteers Fighting Against Bolshevism

The struggle at the Narva bridgehead represents the struggle of World War II on the eastern front itself. The German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Estonian, and even Russian volunteers had signed up to fight against what they saw to be the Communist threat looming to the east. As other German units in 1944 failed to hold ground in Russia, Heeresgruppe Nord held one of the last occupied positions near Russia; the Estonian city of Narva. This toehold was what these volunteers would fight so dearly for in winter conditions, enormously outnumbered by their enemies.

On the other side lay the Soviet troops with revenge on their minds, and rightly so. After enduring months of starvation at Leningrad and Oranienbaum the soldiers would finally get their chance to fight the enemy that had invaded their home. The city itself was fought over for months with gruesome hand-to-hand fighting often erupting, leading to thousands of casualties.

This publication takes a somewhat unique approach in portraying the battles of 1944 by incorporating large amounts of photographic evidence. The photographs and their captions offer great insight into the life of the normal soldier wanting nothing more than to survive another day. In some cases the photos from 1944 are even contrasted with the same location as seen today. The photographic evidence is effectively mixed with a precise historical text and geographic information so the reader may fully understand the context of the battle.

This study includes many historical photographs, most published for the first time. Extensive archival research was combined with eyewitness accounts to fully inform the reader of these events in 1944.

Publication roughly: German: I-2011 / Englisch: II-2010

and

Mansal Denton

Die Schlacht um Narwa, 1944
Freiwilligenverbände in der Wehrmacht

Der Kampf um den Brückekopf bei Narwa ist gleichbedeutend mit dem Kampf um die Ostfront des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Holländische, dänische, norwegische, schwedische, estländische und sogar russische Freiwillige traten der Wehrmacht bei, um ihren Beitrag gegen die kommunistische Bedrohung im Osten zu leisten. Während andere deutsche Truppen es nicht schafften, ihre Fronten zu stabilisieren, hielt die Heeresgruppe Nord eine der letzten Positionen unmittelbar an der Grenze zu Russland: die estnische Stadt Narwa. Dieser Stützpunkt war es, den diese Freiwilligen im Winter beherzt und den Gegnern an Zahl massiv unterlegen verteidigten.

Auf der anderen Seite lagen die sowjetischen Truppen, zu recht auf Vergeltung drängend. Nachdem sie in Leningrag und bei Oranienbaum monatelang ausgehalten und gelitten hatten, eröffnete sich ihnen nun die Möglichkeit, den Gegner niederzuringen, der in ihr Land eingedrungen war.

Um die Stadt Narwa wurde während Monaten gekämpft: Grausame Nahkämpfe entfachten sich und führten zu tausenden von Toten und Verwundeten auf beiden Seiten.
Diese Publikation stellt die Kämpfe von 1944 dar, indem Fotografien ein grosser Raum gegeben wird. Diese Bilder und ihre Bildlegenden eröffnen dem Leser einen vertieften Einblick in das Leben eines normalen Soldaten, der kein anderes Ziel hatte, als den Tag zu überleben. Manchmal sind den historischen Bildern als Kontrast Aufnahmen von heute zur Seite gestellt. Der bebilderte Abschnitt des Buches ist begleitet von einer präzisen historischen Schilderung, geografischen Informationen und Tabellen zu den beteilgten Truppen, die es dem Leser ermöglichen, die Kämpfe von 1944 in ihrem Gesamtkontext zu verstehen.

Geplante Erscheinung: Deutsch: I-2011 / Englisch: II-2010
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Richard Hargreaves
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Richard Hargreaves »

Welcome to the world of the published Mansal. Research + first-hand accounts = winning combination as far as I am concerned. :D

Not a battle I can claim to have any knowledge of; the only book I have on the subject is the highly-regarded http://www.amazon.de/Trag%C3%B6die-Newa ... 811&sr=8-1 which, sadly, I've never got around to reading. Time to broaden my understanding. :[]

Best of luck.
No-one who speaks German could be an evil man
Mansal D

Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Mansal D »

Thanks for the encouragement Richard! After a nice shower I'm just sitting down to a nice book entitled Blitzkrieg Unleashed. I wonder which mastermind wrote that? :wink:
panzermahn
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by panzermahn »

Hello Mansal

As far as I know, the Battle of Narwa are seldom covered in English literature. If I am not mistaken, Richard Landwehr wrote a book about the Battle of Narwa in the 80s and Wilhelm Tieke covered the battle of Narva from perspective of Germanische III SS Panzerkorps in his Tragedy of the Faithful. I believed Maat Laar authored a book on the Estonian Legion that covers the battle of Narwa from the Estonian SS legion perspective.

Your book would be interesting and if possible, I would love to get a signed copy from you next year.

I believed during the Battle of Narva, the Soviets launched of their last amphibious operations in the war, during the landings at Merekule in February 1944, where the Soviet battalion (500 men) were cut to pieces by two companies of Estonian SS.


Panzermahn
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hucks216
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by hucks216 »

Sounds like an interesting book. A good book that covers the battle is The Last Knight Of Flanders by Allen Brandt about the RKT Remy Schrijnen and the Langemarck Division.
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by book lover »

Hi,I will buy a copy if there is an english version.
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kwilper
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by kwilper »

I'm very interested in this battle. I'm looking forward to the english version :up:
andrus
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by andrus »

Is it possible to see bibliography?
Stephan H.
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Stephan H. »

This looks like a very interesting offering! :up:

Do you have a sense of the text to photo ratio?

Stephan
Mansal D

Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Mansal D »

The photo section is actually quite a bit more extensive than the text portion. The text portion (with a few maps and photos included) combined with Appendices is 60-70 pages at the moment. The photo section is quite a bit more (maybe 90-120 pages). Hasn't been completely worked out yet, but the photo history is an important aspect.
Stephan H.
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Stephan H. »

k98_man wrote:The photo section is actually quite a bit more extensive than the text portion. The text portion (with a few maps and photos included) combined with Appendices is 60-70 pages at the moment. The photo section is quite a bit more (maybe 90-120 pages). Hasn't been completely worked out yet, but the photo history is an important aspect.
That sounds like a good mix. Personally, I'm no fan of the photomontage history unless the text is robust and offers some context.

I'll keep an eye out for it!

Cheers,
Stephan
Rudi Salvermoser
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Rudi Salvermoser »

Hello Mansal,
I wish you the best for the publication of your book about Narva.
From one who was there,
Rudi
Mansal D

Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Mansal D »

Rudi Salvermoser wrote:Hello Mansal,
I wish you the best for the publication of your book about Narva.
From one who was there,
Rudi
Rudi,

Thank you for the wishes! It was a pleasure working with you and even more enjoyable to personally get to know you.

May it continue.

Best regards,
Mansal
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Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by book lover »

Just finish reading my copy of the battle of narva.
fantastic!
Excellent photos!

Everybody should get a copy.

Thanks mr. Denton.Excellent work.


Cheers
Eric
Mansal D

Re: The Battle of Narva, 1944

Post by Mansal D »

Hello! Thank you for your kind words. I am the most glad when someone enjoys my book as you have. Best regards, Mansal
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