'an extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of Europe' - ' is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice. He is graphic, at times brilliantly so, but never brutal or bitter. He ...'an extraordinary book, which has captured the attention of all of Europe' - ' is an incredible picture of totalitarianism, of stupefying injustice. He is graphic, at times brilliantly so, but never brutal or bitter. He is, too, a first rate storyteller' - convicted of deserting the German army, Sven Hassel is sent to a penal regiment on the Russian front.