This historical narrative by two top scholars of World War II German military captures the daily life of a typical German infantryman from 1939 through 1945. Topics covered range from training, indoctrination, and life on leave to life on the Russian Front, service in the Afrika Korps, commanders, and imprisonment in Allied POW camps. A wealth of first-person accounts provides the most minute details of life in the Third Reich, during training and in combat, on the Eastern Front and in North Africa with Rommel. Occupational units, Panzer forces, and the major battles are all covered.