SS Wotan Books In Order

Publication Order of SS Wotan Books

Chronological Order of SS Wotan Books

Leo Kessler was the pen name used by Charles Whiting. Whiting also used the pen names of John Kerrigan, Ian Harding, K.N.Kostov, Duncan Stirling, Klaus Konrad, and Duncan Harding for his books. This British author is known for writing over three hundred books, both fiction and nonfiction. He was also a military historian.

Whiting was born on December 18, 1926 in York, England, in the Bootham Area. He would attend Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at sixteen years old in 1943 so that he could join up with the British Army (something that he achieved by falsifying his age). He was part of the 52nd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment and was active in multiple countries towards the end of World War II. He would also be promoted to sergeant. When he was a soldier, he would bear witness to the various conflicts between the British and American generals that would later be incorporated into his writing.

The author got married to his wife Irma in 1948. When the war was done, he stayed in Germany for a time, taking a correspondence course to complete his A-levels and teaching English there. He then studied at Leeds University focusing on history as well as the German language. He also had the chance to take on undergraduate study at different universities in Europe such as Cologne University, Leeds, and Saarbrucken. While at Leeds, he finished The Frat Wagon.

The Frat Wagon would be published in 1954 by Jonathan Cape. After that he would write a few more thriller novels, all set during the time of war. These became 1956’s Lest I Fall (this won the Cheltenham Literature Festival’s George Dowty Prize in 1956). It would become optioned but never was filmed to be made into a movie. The book also was able to help the author pay for a tour of study throughout North America and a University of Maryland University College contract. Another would be Journey to No End and The Mighty Fallen.

‘Kessler’ paused his career in literature for a time and earned his degree, working in the U.S. and abroad in Europe. He taught in Maryland as an assistant professor and then Bradford University before going back to Germany in 1958. He would also lecture at Bielefeld and Saarbrucken, going back in 1973 to Britain. He was a translator at a chemical factory in Germany, a publicist, journalist corresponding for The Times, and a feature writer and correspondent for a variety of periodicals.

He would live abroad and tour countries while teaching history of the military and strategy to the Army. This was when he first met his first wife. They resided for a time in a village in Belgium and would eventually have a son together named Julian. Whiting continued to write and put out novels at a very quick rate that seemed far too fast for his publishers occasionally at the time. Publishers attempted to get into different markets to contend with the rate that he was writing books and used different pseudonyms as well.

Kessler would become an author full time and continue to write multiple novels a year until he passed. He would also lecture and write educational weekly columns. He was also responsible for setting up a language center in Trier, Germany and a department on English studies at Bradford. Whiting’s first wife passed away and he would get married in 2005 once more to Gillian Tidmus. The author passed away in York on July 24, 2007.

Leo Kessler is the author of the fictional S.S. Wotan series of novels. The series first got started in 1974 with the publication of the debut novel, S.S. Panzer Battalion. That was followed by the publication of the sequel, Death’s Head. From there followed the third novel Claws of Steel and numerous installments of the series came after. This historical thriller series has many stories to enjoy and is well worth checking out if you are interested in reading something suspenseful!

S.S. Panzer Battalion is the first novel in the S.S. Wotan series by author Leo Kessler. Check this novel out and see what started this popular series off!

The year is 1940 and the month is January. This winter appears to be one of the coldest that has ever occurred recently. At this time, the Western front remains paralyzed, kept in place by the war. At the same time, at Adolf Hitler Kaserne, new S.S. troops are being trained in one of the toughest programs that the German army has ever brought forth.

The members of the S.S. Assault Regiment Wotan know that they’re getting ready for a secret mission referred to only as Zero. The only person that knows that the objective is the Belgian fortress at River Meuse and Albert Canal’s junction is Major Horst Geier, the Vulture. The site is Europe’s best stronghold and it must be taken. Even if there is a human toll to be paid.

It may be key to keeping Hitler’s forces in check if the S.S. Panzer troops make certain moves. Can the top secret mission be pulled off according to plan? Read this novel, first in the S. S. Wotan series, to find out!

Death’s Head is the second novel in Leo Kessler’s S.S. Wotan series of fictional novels. If you thought that the adventures of the first book were intriguing, stick around and check out the events of this sequel!

This book follows the adventures had by the S.S. Assault Battalion Wotan, who are possibly the most toughened troops that Europe has to offer. Now they are being put on a mission that may be impossible. Faced with the Soviet Army’s elite members, it’s clear that this is happening so that Operation Barbarossa can be made ready to launch.

Readers meet up with the man known as the Vulture once more, Major Geier, and aristocrat Captain von Dodenburg as well as cynical viewer of war Sergeant Schulze. Much rides upon the actions of the Wotan group. Can they cut it or will they fail miserably? Read this book to find out!