The Outlaws

By: Ernst Von Salomon

Narrated by: Aaron Waters

It is November 1918. Germany has just surrendered after four years of the most savage warfare in history. It is teetering on the brink of total social and economic collapse, and the German people now lie at the mercy of new liberal politicians who despise everything Germany once stood for.

The Communists are rioting in the streets, threatening to topple the new government in Weimar and bring about their own revolution. The frontline soldiers are returning from the hell of the war to find an unrecognizable land, the principles and traditions they had sacrificed so much to defend now the stuff of mockery.

The narrator of The Outlaws, a 16-year-old military cadet, is too young to have served in the trenches, but feels the sting of this betrayal no less than them. Since Germany’s armies have been all but disbanded, he joins the paramilitary Freikorps - groups of veterans who refuse to lay down their arms, and who have pledged to stop the Communists - and begins fighting, first in the streets of Germany’s cities, and then in the Baltic states, defending Germany’s eastern frontiers from Communist subversion, while ignoring the calls to disengage by the meek politicians at home.

After months of intense fighting abroad, the Freikorps soldiers return to settle scores with their enemies in Germany, dreaming of a nationalist counterrevolution, and, their trigger fingers still itchy, fix their sights on bringing down the hated new government, once and for all.

The Outlaws is a chronicle of the experiences of the men who fought in the Freikorps, but it is also an adventure and a war story about an entire generation of soldiers who loved their homeland more than peace and comfort, and who refused to accept defeat at any price.

©2013 Arktos Media Ltd. (P)2021 Arktos Media Ltd.

Almost great

An an incredible story for sure from an interesting perspective in an overlooked period of history. However if you are familiar with the life of Ernst Von Salomon there are definitely some omissions and strategic editorializations. The story jumps around a lot, it can be really difficult to follow and figure out who is who. The book is entertaining but rarely very insightful. In my opinion, a lot of Salomon's philosophical diatribes are a little underwhelming, however his personal anecdotes are captivating. A couple of my favorites were his participation in the Courland wars and the third upper Silesian insurrection. I really love Weimar history and especially from the perspective of a Freikorps member on Audible is incredible.

The performance is listenable. Other reviews mention that the Canadian accent is strong and a turnoff which I agree with. After a while I got used to it though. There are some pretty basic recording issues at various points as well as un edited retakes that the narrator had to do while doing the original recording that were left in.

This is definitely worth your time especially if you are interested in a ground level perspective of the Weimar era that is not particularly politically correct.

It's an excellent book into the mind of a 15 year

It's a curious book into the mind of a 15 year old To fight to fight to World War I And ultimately loses himself N truer to have a purpose but never fully realizes that what hes doing is evil

Hop on Salomon’s Wild Ride

I have never heard of any memoir where the most unbelievable and outrageous passages were also the easiest to corroborate, nor any which is so direct and unapologetic about so many misdeeds of so much magnitude, but these traits give this book an aura of fascination for “insane people” fans like myself.
If you want an action-filled-yet-thoughtful adventure through one of the most criminally unknown eras of the 20th century (post-WW1 Germany), there may be no equal

Story Great, Narrator at Not

The story is fantastic, but the narrator's Canadian accent is so strong it takes me out of the story.

Gripping

Memoir? Fictionalized? Doesn't matter. von Salomon has written a captivating account of a lesser-known piece of German history, which serves to link the First World War and what is more commonly known about the Weimar Republic. This is the account of a member of the Freikorps. A military cadet who became an irregular soldier. An outlaw. A prisoner.

Assuming he is the unnamed narrator, I felt I was walking in von Salomon's shoes throughout. The action of the first half of the book kept me enthralled, and having some idea of what was ahead, I wondered if I would lose interest once he became imprisoned.

Well, he managed to keep me hooked throughout his time of imprisonment to the end of the book. Was it his dry humor? His fascinating attention to detail? The fact that I had already marched thousands of miles "in his boots" and needed to know the end of his story?

Throughout the book, von Salomon also takes time to record what was going on in Germany before delving into his particular part in it. Maybe not information someone wants if they are simply interested in the narrative, but as an amateur historian I found it valuable. The narrative itself may be gripping for fans of adventure stories or other types of "outlaw" stories.

The audiobook was read by Aaron Waters. While some listeners complained about his style, I found it believable. Perhaps this is what a young man of 16 to 25 would have sounded like, thought like, spoken like. The only complaint is that there are a number of mistakes that were not edited out in production. Unfortunate but certainly not a dealbreaker.