Fallschirmjager in Portrait

Book excerpt: A little more than 30,000 men of the Wehrmacht and SS qualified to wear the famed Fallschirmschtzenabzeichen, or Paratrooper Badge, between 1936 and 1944. The badges they wore, and the images of the men who wore them, are avidly sought by collectors and historians around the world today. The authors have assembled over 300 indoor and outdoor posed portrait photographs of the Fallschirmjger for this volume, most never before published, providing a fascinating representation of the photographers art in World War II and a superb study of their uniforms, badges and insignia. In poses ranging from fierce to thoughtful and even poignant, the German paratroops of World War II are seen here in perfect focus, as they wanted to be seen, preserved in deliberate portraiture for posterity.