The Legionnaire swings the MG-muzzle. The smoke eats its way into the officers’ stomachs. They drop to the snow-covered ground, coloring it red. Bestial shrieks sound from the woods as a wave of fur clad soldiers storm out. They are near the Finish-Russian frontline. The machine guns snarl till the magazines are emptied. Old Man’s platoon, with Tiny the giant and Porta in the lead, fights a rough battle behind Russian lines. Sven Hassel was sent to a penal battalion as a private in the German forces. Intensely and with brutal realism, he portrays the cruelty of the war, the Nazi crimes and the crude and cynical humor of the soldiers. With more than 50 million sold copies, this is one of the world’s best selling war novels. AMAZINGLY WELL WRITTEN - HASSEL TAKES HIS ANTI-MILITARY TENDENCIES TO THE NEXT LEVEL ARBEIDERBLADET, NORWAY