Legion of the Damned, Sven Hassel
Legion of the Damned, Sven Hassel
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Legion of the Damned

Author: Sven Hassel

Narrator: Rupert Degas

Unabridged: 8 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/29/2014

Synopsis

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 ... He is graphic, at times brilliantly so, but never brutal or bitter. He is, too, a first-rate storyteller' - WASHINGTON POST

Convicted of deserting the German army, Sven Hassel is sent to a penal regiment on the Russian Front. He and his comrades are regarded as expendable, cannon fodder in the battle against the implacable Red Army. Outnumbered and outgunned, they fight their way across the frozen steppe...

This iconic anti-war novel is a testament to the atrocities suffered by the lone soldier in the fight for survival.

Sven Hassel's unflinching narrative is based on his own experiences in the German Army. He began writing his first novel, LEGION OF THE DAMNED in a prisoner of war camp at the end of the Second World War.

Read by Rupert Degas

(p) 2014 Orion Publishing Group

About Sven Hassel

Born in 1917 in Fredensborg, Denmark, Sven Hassel joined the merchant navy at the age of 14. He did his compulsory year's military service in the Danish forces in 1936 and then, facing unemployment, joined the German army. He served throughout World War II on all fronts except North Africa. When the war ended in 1945 he was transferred between Russian, American and French prison camps, and upon returning to Denmark, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for treason. He began writing LEGION OF THE DAMNED during his time as a prisoner of war. His fourteen World War II books, which draw on his own encounters and experiences as a soldier, have sold over 53 million copies worldwide and have been published in more than 50 countries. He peacefully passed away in Barcelona in 2012, where he had resided since 1964.

About Rupert Degas

Rupert Degas has narrated over a hundred audiobooks. He has recorded a diverse range of authors, from Andy McNab, James Patterson, Wilbur Smith and Chris Ryan to children's authors such as Derek Landy, Darren Shan, Jamie Rix and Philip Pullman. He has narrated books by Patrick Rothfuss, Haruki Murakami, Mervyn Peake, Rose Tremain and Cormac McCarthy as well as recording classics from Kafka, Conan-Doyle, Lovecraft and Wilde. Rupert has lent his voice to numerous cartoons, including Mr Bean, Robotboy, Gumball, Thomas & Friends and Bob the Builder and has performed in over fifty radio productions for BBC Radio 4, including The Brightonomicon and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He spent eighteen months in the West End performing in Stones in his Pockets and was in the original London cast of the smash-hit comedy The 39 Steps.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Overhaul on May 08, 2023

Que gran obra, que frío y cruel realismo. La gran falta de soldados hace que Hitler usa cualquier posibilidad para llamar a filas. Criminales, presos políticos y desertores son amnistiados y mandados a la guerra. Todos terminan en un batallón de castigo y son mandados a los peores misiones. La obedec......more

Goodreads review by Tessa on September 22, 2022

"Dar asta e razboiul in toata splendoarea lui, monstruos pana la absurd." Un roman care imi aduce aminte de copilarie, imaginea pe care o vad in fata ochilor fiind aceea in care ma chinuiam sa ajung la raftul al 3-lea din biblioteca unde se afla aceasta carte, iar atunci cand intrebam de ea mi se ras......more

Goodreads review by iunia b. on January 27, 2020

After 100 pages read from this book I've already said to myself that I DO not like this book, because it's too boring even though it's about WW2, which is my obsession. But at some point, the main character, Sven, said that people think that war is someting wow, something romantic and they always ex......more

Goodreads review by Mr. Matt on April 22, 2018

War is hell. Sherman said it, but it might just as well have been said by a German tank soldier on the Eastern Front in the Second World War. Partially auto-biographical, and partly historical fiction, Legion of the Damned is the story of one such soldier, Sven. Sven isn't an eager soldier. He hates......more

Goodreads review by Razvan on May 12, 2023

This is the first one from the famous series of fourteen WWII novels written by someone who was a war combatant. The story was published for the first time in 1953 (well, that's already 70 years ago...) and it's about German soldiers on the Eastern Russian front. I presume this is far from being eve......more

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