Review:Tigers in the Mud

[sniper1shot]

Title: Tigers in the Mud
Authour: Otto Carius
ISBN: 0-8117-2911-7 (Paperback)
Publisher:Stackpole
Stars 4.5 (out of 5)

Hello all and here we go in the New Year with my first review. I could not find a good original copy no matter how hard I searched so I bought the new reprint.
I was really impressed with the authours candid descriptions of his peers and superiors. That was good to read. You could get the feel of how the soldiers qualities over the war years changed from excellant to those that did not want to fight.
The battle descriptions are very vivid and you get the feel of actually being in the Tiger with the authour. I especially liked that description of the ambush of the Soviet column later in the war.
The Authour also keeps you up to date on how many Tigers were destroyed-recovered-repaired or were ready for each attack.
The only....and I mean only part I did not like was that there were not enough of these scenes described. The authour is credited with over 150 enemy vehicles/tanks destroyed yet if you add all that he has described you come no where near this total. Still, what has been described is well worth the book.
The photos are also excellant to look at and at the end of the book you can see the citations that Mr. Carius received for his awards and some after action reports that he filed for some of the attacks that he fought in.
There are only a couple of hand draw maps to show how a situation looked and no actual maps that show the units movements.
All in all an excellant memoir, in my opinion, worth getting.

[Tom Houlihan]

I'm going to have to agree with Dan on this one. Excellent book! It definitely allows you to join the men "in the trenches," so to speak.


No comments about the maps...

[Spandau]

Avete,

I agree with the above reviews but I must admit that "Tigers in the Mud" is only marginal in the literary sense. What Carius has to say is very interesting, but how he says it is rather dry. As a writer Carius leaves a lot to be desired, but it is an good memoir nonetheless and I highly recommend it.

Valete,

-Spandau

[Helmut Von Moltke]

thanks for the intrestin reviews! I'm about to buy it

[panzerschreck1]

Indeed, a nice book but Carius makes some weird claimes at the end of the book, saying that the AIDS virus was created as an bio-weapon
a cross section of the human flue virus H5N1 and the Vishna virus.

I think mr Carius is a little bit confused !

[Helmut Von Moltke]

Indeed, a nice book but Carius makes some weird claimes at the end of the book, saying that the AIDS virus was created as an bio-weapon
a cross section of the human flue virus H5N1 and the Vishna virus.

I think mr Carius is a little bit confused !

heh heh

[Spandau]

Indeed, a nice book but Carius makes some weird claimes at the end of the book, saying that the AIDS virus was created as an bio-weapon
a cross section of the human flue virus H5N1 and the Vishna virus.

Avete,

What?!?
How did I miss that?

Valete,

-Spandau

[Bittrich]

I enjoyed reading the book from cover to cover myself. It was worth the twenty dollars that I spent on it.

[Dale]

maybe Carius knows something covert -- he is a pharmacist !
heh heh

[Rigel]

I enjoyed this book, though the arrogant attitude of the author is a bit grating at times. He never lets an opportunity pass to denigrate American troops, even though he only fought them in the Spring of 1945 when the average GI and German as well knew the war was over and just wanted to get home alive.

[Sarge1st]

I have to agree that Carius comes across as too arrogant and condescending at times, but he does paint a vivid picture of life in the Panzer war. This is definitely worth reading. We sometimes look at Panzers as mere machines without thinking about what the men inside them endure. I recommend this book.

[Epaminondas]

Alot of americans get pissed off about Carius.

Why?

Read his comments objectively- what he is actually saying is that american tankers were to smart to fight head to head with a jagtiger in a sherman.

That is pretty smart- particularly when the war is won, and you want to go home.

So why get worked up about it? All he is really saying is that Americans used better tactics and were less willing to die then Russians.

Big deal.

[Sarge1st]

I don't necessarily agree that "Pissed Off" is the best term to use in this case. As a rule I have found that Germans tend to be a bit more vocal with their opinions than we here in the West (US). This does not mean that we are "Pissed Off" with their opinions, we merely have a different opinion. There is also the potential for misinterpretation to consider. I have spoken to many German WWII Vets over the years and was initially taken back by their blulntness in discussing military or political matters, whether it was about the Nazi era or current day situations. I have learned to listen with a more finely tuned ear now and understand the foundation that they are coming from. It should also be noted that for many German Vets who spent years fighting in the brutal arena of the East (Russia) it was quite a different war when they moved to the West. After the brutality of the Russian campaign (on both sides) it is not hard to see why some Vets view the Americans/Brits/Canadians/etc as being "Soft" or not as aggressive as their old Russian foe. The desensitization to brutality created within the Russian campaign appears to me to be what makes the Germans look so aggressive and brutal in their fighting across France, etc. This is how I viewed Carius's comments re: the Americans.

[sniper1shot]

Well, I am really happy to see this many responses to my review, however it is just a book review and we should not start to get into a "pissing match" over what a veteran meant or how a memoir says something.
There are other forums for this type of discussion.

All in all it is a good book worth reading.

[Uncle Joe]

If I may add, Tom Jentz´s Panzertruppen contains a combat report which says that at the time of writing it was still possible to operate the tank in combat with hatches open in the Western Front while being impossible on the Eastern Front due to aggressiveness of Soviet infantry tank hunters (in comparable terrain).