This book of photos shows one path taken by one soldier during the war, and we can surmise that he was content to simply catalog the whirlwind around him, using photography to distance himself from it (as photographers are able to do). At face value it appears that he was careful to avoid peering into the true depths of war, by meticulously clicking away from the horrors of the front line or the despair of the Soviet civilians (it was against German rules to photograph some elements of the battlefield). However, as mentioned in the introduction, and witnessed in my personal exploration of these photographs – the real strength of this book comes from what is NOT shown, or what is just out of camera shot in many of these images. How difficult it must have been for anyone on either side of the war to avoid the grim reality that was everywhere around them. The fact that Willi was so careful in his subject selection speaks volumes about how truly horrible things must have been.

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Final thoughts: I really can’t find any faults with this volume. The pictures are what you’d expect given their age (most are very good quality), they are presented in a clean, streamlined manner and some have explanations on location or personages added by the editor. There are a wide variety of pictures to peruse, mostly focusing on the day-to-day life of a German motorcycle unit. Other scenes include river crossings, burning villages, German officers, landscape portraits, and damaged and captured equipment in the Soviet theater. For the reader interested in learning more about everyday life and the "mundane" surroundings of combatants, this book is an excellent resource (students solely interested in seeing larger German vehicles or AFV’s might be disappointed since they were not the focus of his pictures). There are a lot of shots of motorcycles and bicycles to be sure!

The opening essay explains a lot about German propaganda photography, and puts Willi’s photographs into historical perspective. It does a good job of educating the reader in some of the technical aspects of photography, and explains why selected pieces of this collection are important. Since I have an amateur interest in photography, I found much of this information to be very informative. This interesting book does exactly what it sets out to do, putting you into this landscape almost as a first hand participant. If you are willing to let yourself step further into the shoes of this soldier, you might also come away with a better understanding and appreciation of the paths this man (and many like him) had to travel. It is worth your effort.

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