Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-Boat Battles of World War II | 
 enlarge | Author: Herbert A. Werner
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $17.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:  89 reviews
Sales Rank: 197567
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 388
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 030681160X
Dewey Decimal Number: 940
EAN: 9780306811609
ASIN: 030681160X
Publication Date: June 2002
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Condition: 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Some highlighting, underlining or notes/answers filled in.
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Product Description
The former German U-boat commander Herbert Werner navigates readers through the waters of World War II, recounting four years of the most significant and savage battles. By war's end, 28,000 out of 39,000 German sailors had disappeared beneath the waves.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 84 more reviews...
Emotionally Wrenching Account of War at Sea November 15, 2008
Revolutions of religious faith excepted, no set of events ever resulted in greater changes to human civilization than did those of the Second World War. Within the context of the war, the Battle of the Atlantic was among the most important of those events. Had the allies lost that campaign, the very outcome of the war might have been different.
That battle was waged primarily by the German U-boat (submarine) fleet against Allied freighters, carrying men and materiel to Britain, and their protective escort ships and planes.
Mr. Werner, a mid-level German field officer for most of the events described in the book, offers an historical perspective of that conflict that no academic could hope to match or even approximate. The most remarkable part of the book to me was not the numerous descriptions of sea battles, (although these certainly were riveting) but of the social dynamics between Werner and those around him as he does what he can to prevail in the War. Some of his activities described strike a 21st century person such as myself as mildly ignoble and inappropriate. Later in the story, however, insights are discovered as to how the impossible pressures of combat danger make these proclivities understandable, even admirable. I was initially critical of Mr. Werner because I had no conception of the life he faced during the years chronicled here. Coming to even a limited understanding of this man via his book was a remarkable epiphany, and I was well rebuked in hindsight.
Most of the WWII veterans have passed on now. My own father, who fought in the Pacific theater, is now 87. We often see surveys that show younger Americans cannot identify the USA's allies and enemies during the conflict, nor when it was fought. For any parents concerned about this trend, put this book in your children's hands. Once they start, they'll want to finish, and maybe a generation's grasp of a vital history will endure at least a little longer.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Best WW2 from German Viewpoint. October 4, 2008
And there are alot out there. This is superb, I could not put it down. I will read it again someday. Sledge's "With the Old Breed" is slightly better, but that is splitting hairs. If you have to buy 2 books on WW2, get these 2.
Addicting September 2, 2008
This book will take you on a wonderful journey from the innocence of a young german sailor to the plagued life of a U-Boat captain. Every encounter will draw you deeper into the stress and emotions of the men inside the "Iron Coffin." Before, the germans may have been viewed as the enemy but from this book your paradigm will shift and the similarities of the Allied and Axis forces will become closer that ever could have been imagined.
 THRILLING July 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is great. After viewing the movie DAS BOOT I had to learn more about the glory and tragedy of the U-boats of WWII. This book is an edge of the seat thriller. I've bought several more books on the U-boats and if they're half as good as this one I'll consider it money well spent.
A Very Personal and Accurate Account of the U-Boat War July 6, 2008
If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would - it is absolutely excellent. Herbert Werner was born in 1920, and served active duty aboard German submarines from 1941 until the very end of the war in May 1945. He survived the war, which is no small accomplishment. Of 40,000 World War 2 German submariners, 30,000 never returned home alive. But on a personal level, he suffered tremendous losses. More than 90% of his comrades did not survive, and even worse - his parents and only sister were killed in an Allied fire-bombing raid over the German city of Darmstadt. His lovely Blonde girlfriend and her parents were killed in an earlier Allied air raid over the German capital city of Berlin. It is hard to think of real stories more tragic or more sad than this. As a naval officer, this young man (age 25 at the end of the war) was incredibly well-experienced, proficient, and even somewhat lucky. But I would give far more weight to experience and proficiency than to luck. If more young German submarine commanders had Herbert Werner's on-the-job training and experience, many more would have survived. Their senior commanders and above all their senior national leadership (under Hitler) were reckless men who ruined them, their country (Germany) and many other unfortunate people of their tragic time.
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