Rating: 
Summary: Rare account of an infantryman's war
Review: In Five Years, Four Fronts, Georg Grossjohann provides an account of his wartime military career. What the thoughtful reader will learn is that this man was an exceptional professional soldier and a humble human being.
This book is based on Grossjohann's highly personal and private papers, which were not written with intent to publish and which were printed posthumously. To make up the gaps the editor offers the historical context which Grossjohann could no longer provide.
We read of Grossjohann's participation in many actions, from the fruitless and costly assault on Fortress Fermont in the Maginot Line, to numerous vicious battles in the Soviet Union such as those at the Mius River, Cherkassy, and Uman, and eventually to the withdrawal from the beaches of southern France to the ideal defensive terrain of the Vosges Mountains. If the narrative is not lurid it is because Grossjohann was not the type of man to self-aggrandize or belittle the sacrifices made by the soldiers of either side. We see him constantly doing his duty and always thinking of his men and-because of his basic humanity-the circumstances of the enemy as well. One example of this is his attempts at Hohneck in the Vosges to convince the surrounded French to pull out rather than experience their own destruction. Typically, Grossjohann ends this account by correcting the existing historical record. A booklet on the combat in the Vosges Mountains mistakenly credits him with commanding the difficult final assault on Hohneck.
His accounts of dealing with pencil-pushers, puffed-up superiors, and incompetents remind the reader that armies are bureaucracies and regardless of the situation or crisis at hand continue to operate as such. How else could one explain why in March 1945, Grossjohann, who by then had commanded three different regiments in combat, was transferred from the front to attend a course for regimental commanders?
The foreword by General Ted Mataxis is a valuable introduction to anyone interested in understanding military history. It demonstrates, through the school of his hard experience in combat in three wars, that soldiers of belligerent armies have much in common. He suggests that, at its core, combat has immutable elements which bridge time and space. Lastly, this is a handsome and well-made book.
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Summary: Big John's Memoir
Review: Of the many excellent memoirs by German veterans of WWII now available in English, this one is unique. The problem I find with so many of the other books in this venue, granted, classics in their own way, is the numbing recitation of desperate battles, especially if the author served on the Eastern Front. You can only absorb so many attacks and retreats before those events begin to blend together. Georg Grossjohann's is really a very personal account of his wartime service during which he saw some very close combat, but the Historical Commentary by Keith Bonn and Wolf Zoepf and the excellent maps supplied by the publisher suffice for the background and do not get in the way of Grossjohann's lively reminiscences of the men he served with in peace and war. Grossjohann was in the Reichswehr before Hitler came to power and the stories he tells about his garrison service are worthy of a book by themselves (which I understand Aegis is planning on publishing). Erwin the Only is but one, if perhaps the most memorable of the colorful, finely drawn characters Grossjohann remembers with a wry sense of humor throughout this book. Highly recommended to the serious student and the casual reader alike.
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Summary: Authentic, Informative, Insightful
Review: This is a book about everyday life and combat in the backbone of the Wehrmacht-the common infantry division. At a time when there is a growing stack of memoirs, monographs and photo books about parachute, panzer, and both famous and obscure Waffen-SS units, Georg Grossjohann's Five Years, Four Fronts is a refreshing and important look at the wartime experiences of that vast majority of combat soldiers and tactical commanders who served in the hundreds of infantry divisions that bore the overwhelming brunt of the fighting for the Germans in World War II. Beginning with his service in the invasion of Poland and ending with his release from rather brief American captivity, this is a book by a professional soldier that is especially long on military reminiscences and mercifully brief on personal details about pre- or post-war life.Although there is a great deal about combat in this book, there is not a lot of "blood and guts." With most of his combat experience as a commander at the company, battalion, and regimental levels, such was not the author's focus. However, readers should be aware that the author was rather highly decorated, earning the Iron Crosses, 2nd and 1st Classes, the German Cross in Gold, and the prestigious Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (there are even photos of the certificates for the latter two included in the book-a nice touch in an era when there are so many phonies, from all armies, publishing their "memoirs."). Major Grossjohann was also wounded in combat twice, and a photo of the certificate for his Wounds Badge in Silver is also included in the book. The engrossing narrative is written in a straightforward and sometimes wry fashion, and includes numerous flashbacks to the author's earlier service as a enlisted man before the war and even before the Nazi era. These help build a 3-dimensional protagonist, and also provide rare insights into the little-understood processes by which so many non-commissioned members of the pre-war German Army were developed into the officers who led German soldiers into combat from 1939 on. This book features introductions to each chapter written by an American professional historian with the assistance of another WWII German officer to doubly ensure objectivity. These introductions provide historical overviews of the fighting at the strategic and operational levels, and really help make the author's micro-historical, personal views much more meaningful for most readers. Supported by a couple of dozen photos from the author's private collection and an unusually large number of tactical maps to allow the reader to follow the action, this is a superb book that is indispensable for understanding the German Army in World War II.
Rating: 
Summary: Five Years, Four Fronts, Three Stars
Review: This is the story of Georg Grossjohann's rise from Feldwebel to Major. He saw and survived his share of combat. As is somewhat common in German memours, he talks of what happens between battles, but not of the battles. The book has merit if you wish to experience a little of how the German army worked. He was a member of several infantry units - in the early war years Germany created cadres for new divisions by splitting existing formations; later he was moved around to support ad hoc reactions to Allied victories. He always managed to get wounded or transferred in time to avoid destruction. The most interesting portion of the book, in my opinion, is when his unit is pretty much wiped out and he becomes available for other duties. I never realized there were "bridge commanders" or "town commanders". Now I know. In summary, the book is thin on combat but has good info on the various duties and experiences of a combat offocer.
Rating:
Summary: Five Years, Four Fronts
Review: Thrilling, breathtaking, and inspiring to say the least. Georg Grossjohann draws from his five years of bitter fighting during the Second World War to give the readers a real taste of what it was like to experience fighting from 1939-1945. The book covers some of his training right before the war and then begins the story of Major Grossjohann's ordeal covering five years of combat and four fronts(Poland 1939, France 1940, Russia 1941-1944, France 1944-1945, with little stints of leave throughout the German territories during WWII). The book is so real, colorful, and descriptive one can picture themselves actually on the front with Major Grossjohann. The stories of battle are very vivid and real, leaving a very detailed image/picture in the head of the reader.
This book is not like many other books that are written by generals and seem to go on forever without saying anything....this book teaches the reader so much from start to finish. Instead, the book is written by a field grade officer who was in the thick of the fighting and has lead more counterattacks, attacks, and defenses than any of us can imagine. He teaches the reader more about human bravery, kindness, honor, professonalism, death, and personal loss than many books out there.
I suggest this (and any other book from the same company) for any person wishing to learn about World War II or how to be a leader (for those who aspire to be officers in the military) or for to anyone who just wishes to know what it was like to be an officer on four fronts during a conflict. It would behoove readers to pay close attention to what Major Grossjohan says as the book has so many invaluable lessons to convey to its readers.
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