Books on Sturmgruppen

[WEISNER]

Well, there you have it, too bad about Prien's IV./JG3 work not in the future. this I think would be an excellent unit to read about..... and as far as Luftwaffe books go.... may be a decent seller? are any worthy book publishers reading this?
What a great complimentary book this would be for the JG300 works?
I would pre order it if it were ever to be published.
Kevin

[leonventer]

Originally Posted by WEISNER

too bad about Prien's IV./JG3 work not in the future. ... I would pre order it if it were ever to be published.
Kevin

I'll second that.

Leon Venter

[FalkeEins]

a much better bet guys would be Barry Smith's forthcoming books on the Sturmstaffel and the story of this unit's pilots through to the end of the war...this is apparently a two volume work nearing completion ...publisher still undecided..

[Erich]

you guys need to give yourself credit as the Jochen Prien IV./JG 3 is easily understood in the German language.

will agree with Neil as I have been in touch with Barry for some years on the Sturmstaffel 1 / 11.und 14.Sturm/JG 3 book volumes will be in very concise detail and heartely recommend them when published.

and ......... if the 445th bomb group ever can get their data in book form you will be able to read another book as an example of the Sturmgrupen versus the 445th on 27 September 44. My understanding is that one English author has a book already to be published on this terrible battle and it is just a matter of time ......

E ~

[Del Davis]

Like Eric I have been hearing about Barry Smith's work for a long time. Is it really close to publication?

[FalkeEins]

probably not ..depends who's publishing... if you get my drift. Back in October Barry was thinking of self-publishing & starting the lay out of Vol 1 in Jan 2007 - he visits here occasionally ..perhaps he might post some news..

[kb]

Originally Posted by WEISNER

Well, there you have it, too bad about Prien's IV./JG3 work not in the future. this I think would be an excellent unit to read about..... and as far as Luftwaffe books go.... may be a decent seller? are any worthy book publishers reading this?
What a great complimentary book this would be for the JG300 works?
I would pre order it if it were ever to be published.
Kevin

I would highly recommend buying yourself a good German-English dictionary and try reading Herr Prien's work in the original text. I began doing this about ten years ago and while by no means "fluent" in reading German, I have reached the point where I can understand about 70% of what is written without resorting to the dictionary to translate every word. Given the huge amount of fantastic work produced by Herr Prien, it beats relying on the whims of UK/US publishers.

[Ruy Horta]

Although I have an advantage through my native tongue dutch, I actually prefer to read in German when it concerns the German armed forces. Comparing the original with the translations always illustrates that something is lost in the translation.

Sometimes it is just a matter of style or small errors, but more important, almost always the feel is lost, especially when it concerns biographies or (early) unit or campaign histories. These are rich with jargon and military slang, all lost when translated.

Although I have a fair share of English translations, I prefer to collect the original, even if it means that I have to read Fraktur. Again, something that takes a little to get used to, but once you have adjusted it reads (almost) as easily as normal latin script. However reading late 19th century (Moltke, Schlieffen etc) and (post) WW1 literature in Fraktur just adds to the experience.

Some people tend to regard reading the original German to be superfluous, I regard it to be essential.

Now if only I could read Russian and Japanese... now that would leave me with no time to eat, drink, (not to mention "explicit",) sleep and er... work.

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by Ruy Horta

Comparing the original with the translations always illustrates that something is lost in the translation.

...you'll forgive me if I say that I completely disagree with you - 'always..' ?? what a crass generalisation ! in many cases the translator will have 'enhanced' the original...see the comments from Peter Spoden on my website with regard to my translation of his foreword for Theo Boiten's forthcoming Nachtjagd War diaries....'superb & cultured English, much better than we pilots talk..'
There are plenty of other examples of good translations, Galland's memoirs (French edition), Steinhoff Straits of Messina (English), Norbert Hannig's memoir (John Weal)...anything by Dave Johnston... perhaps your problem is that you are not a native English speaker..

http://members.aol.com/falkeeins

[Ruy Horta]

Of course a generalization, but you illustrate my point more than you may realize. Perhaps the rough original, incl. rough pilot slang and jargon are what I regard as more important than a translation that has removed the rough edges (for the english reader).

My german reading skills are equal to my english language skills, so no preference in terms of ability.

It is clear we will not agree on this issue.

Tastes differ, as do opinions...