Combat biographies of eight Nazi German infantry soldiers during World War II, featuring an examination of infantry tactics.

This is an authentic account of German infantry aces—one paratrooper, two members of the Waffen-SS, and five Wehrmacht soldiers—common foot soldiers who were thrust into the maelstrom of death and destruction that was World War II. Enduring countless horrors on the icy Eastern Front, in the deserts of Africa, and on other bloody fields, these rank-and-file soldiers took on enemy units alone, battled giant tanks, stormed hills, and rescued wounded comrades. A cross-section from the world of the common soldier, their stories reveal the brutal heart of infantry combat.