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About this book:
On June 21, 1941, as the Wehrmacht stormed forward across the frontiers of the Soviet Union, Hitler instituted a new, higher grade of the Knight’s Cross decoration for gallantry and leadership: the silver clasp of the Oak-Leaves with Swords. It would be awarded to only 159 men of the approximately 15 million who served in the German armed forces during World War II. This third in a sequence of four titles describes and illustrates a selection of the recipients: from much-wounded front line infantry officers, to Hitler’s brother-in-law; from a sergeant pilot fighter ace, to the commanding general of the greatest tank force ever gathered on the Russian Front.