I looked forward to reading this book immensely, and I was not disappointed. Also I highly recommend reading the following "CENSORED" books:
1) "THE HOAX OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY" by Arthur R. Butz.
2) "NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG" by Carlos W. Porter.
3) "FLASH POINT" by Ingrid Weckert.
4) "ALBERT SPEER: THE END OF A MYTH" by Matthias Schmidt.

I would not rate this book a detailed encyclopedia. This book gives the general reader an overview of the Waffen SS. Therefore, the volume is a good source of basic information. However, one can go online to Wikipedia for much of the same general information in articles that are easy of read (8th grade level) on the Waffen SS.

I agree that the best sections of this volume are the first two covering: the Waffen-SS unit formations, the history of the divisions and order of battle. The rest of the book is painted with a broad brush. The weakest sections are the later ones of short biographies of thirteen members/officers of the Waffen-SS and weapons of the Waffen SS (which is short and seems to have been included as more of a passing thought). I don't know how the author decided who should be included and not included as far as the biographies. Certain men one would expect to be included are not, such as: Wilhelm Mohnke, Joachim (a/k/a Jochen) Peiper, Kurt "Panzer" Meyer and Michael Wittmann.

For a long-time history buff or student of the World War II era, it makes a good quick reference guide. In the end, there are other books in combination that cover the Waffen-SS in greater detail and depth, such as: J. J. Fedorowicz publications: "The Leibstandarte: (Volumes) I to IV/2", "Das Reich: (Volumes) I to IV"; R. James Bender Publishing (book): "Uniforms, Organization and History of the LAH: Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"; R. James Bender Publishing (book series): "Foreign Legions of the Third Reich (Volumes) 1 to IV"; Paladin Press publication: "Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations Of The Waffen-SS".

I would not rate this book a detailed encyclopedia. It is more comparable to Chris McNab's recent book: "SS DATABOOK: 1923-45", published in 2009 by Amber Books, Ltd. This book gives the general reader an overview of the Waffen SS. Therefore, the volume is a good source of basic information. However, one can go online to Wikipedia for much of the same general information in articles that are easy of read (8th grade level) on the Waffen SS.

I agree that the best sections of this volume are the first two covering: the Waffen-SS unit formations, the history of the divisions and order of battle. The rest of the book is painted with a broad brush. The weakest sections are the later ones of short biographies of thirteen members/officers of the Waffen-SS and weapons of the Waffen SS (which is short and seems to have been included as more of a passing thought). I don't know how the author decided who should be included and not included as far as the biographies. Certain men one would expect to be included are not, such as: Wilhelm Mohnke, Joachim (a/k/a Jochen) Peiper, Kurt "Panzer" Meyer and Michael Wittmann.

For a long-time history buff or student of the World War II era, it makes a good quick reference guide. In the end, there are other books in combination that cover the Waffen-SS in greater detail and depth, such as: J. J. Fedorowicz publications: "The Leibstandarte: (Volumes) I to IV/2", "Das Reich: (Volumes) I to IV"; R. James Bender Publishing (book): "Uniforms, Organization and History of the LAH: Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"; R. James Bender Publishing (book series): "Foreign Legions of the Third Reich (Volumes) 1 to IV"; Paladin Press publication: "Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations Of The Waffen-SS".

This book is well written and provides an excellent overview of all the SS divisions and regiments. It includes loads of photographs, many of which you won't find in many other books (like a Dutch Indonesian SS-man), but I could not get myself around the constant revisionist undertone of the book. The last chapter includes blatant defence of documented SS war crimes against civilians and allied POW's, and not to mention their complicity in the Holocaust. He completely exonorates the Waffen SS of all war crimes and instead tries to frantically shift the blame on the SD, the Gestapo, and the like, not noting that the Gestapo or the SD did not have the manpower to carry out the ethnic cleansing in the east. "Blame shifting" between Senior SS, SD and Gestapo at the numerous war crime trials nearly mirrors the view espoused by the author.

Also, he seems to "forgets" mentioning crimes and some vital details in the otherwise excellent history of certain SS formations. The Dutch Landstorm formation, far from being the disciplined, tough and combat-worthy sentinels of Dutch home defence Mr. Rikmenspoel makes them out to be, were an unmotivated division consisting of untrained members of the Dutch equivalent of the Hitlerjugend, men as old as 65, and people avoiding labour service in Germany which performed badly in combat and suffered from massive desertions when faced with free Dutch Army units. Official SS reports cite the Landstorm as an embarassment, and SS Inspectors said "They [the Landstorm] was guilty of just about every crime possible, and then some". The author also neglects to mention that one third of the division served as concentration camp guards.

Read the book for the details on deployment, order of battle, the photographs, but take caution.

The SS were not soldiers like any other- both SS-men and their enemies could agree on that.

This book is an essential reference on your shelf about the Waffen-SS organization. The book covers a vast spectrum of information about the SS.
1. Background
2. Division Operations, including great diagrams about motorized infantry, panzer units, mountain troops, etc.,
3. German Units vs. Non-German Units. Believe it or not, there were non-German SS units formed from volunteers gathered from a number of non-Aryan countries. Ultimately, Himmler knew that he needed bodies to fill his boots. These volunteers were from Albania, Bosnia, Estonia, France, Georgia, Netherlands, Scandinavia and more. One was a Muslim SS Division.
4. Famous SS Soldiers - this section gives details on their lives, service and final disposition.
5. SS Weapons used throughout the war.

Overall, a great reference on the subject.