Was Hitler 'the greatest strategic genius of all time' as Nazi propaganda would have us believe, or a facile amateur in military affairs? Why was the startling success of his campaigns in Poland and France followed by the blundering mistakes in Russia, Tunis and Normandy? Might the German General Staff have won the war without Hitler's continual disastrous interference? John Strawson answers these and other questions by showing how Hitler's insatiable preoccupation with war and conquest was translated into reality. While the willpower behind the revitalized German army was Hitler's the author examines the Fuhrer's eccentric use of the most formidable war machine the world had ever seen. This lucid assessment is brought alive by the accounts of those who served Hitler both on his staff and as field commanders.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good BOOK,
By miles (austin,tx,usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hitler as Military Commander (Pen & Sword Military Classics) (Paperback)
I found this book to be a great book in explaining the details of Hitler's military tactics of WW2. This book explains how Hitler first came into WW1 and was devistated by deafeat, which later leads to is his ideas to military expansion on all fronts. I personally thought this was a good idea to explain his WW1 experiences before you went into him gaining military power and beginning WW2. Its a good book for people who want to get an in depth look at Hitler's triumphs and his faults as a military commander. Faults that ultimately did him in. The book covers many campiagns from all fronts and even some naval battles. Most importantly this book explains Hitlers motivations as to why he built such a massive German War Machine and created such great military propaganda. I think this book is a must read short book for people interested in WW2. It goes over all of the War's European campiagns and tells the Allied and Axis outlook of each campiagn. The readers before me stated that Strawson thought you knew too much information already and it made it hard to clearly understand problems. This indeed confused me at times but i caught on quickly to what Strawson was trying to explain, so I overlooked this issue. All in all I would rate this book to be a five, for its descriptive pieces and narratives explaining Hitler's reflections on campiagns. This book covers all of the fronts of the war in Europe, all the way from the Blitzkrieg offensive on the west , down to the later years when Germany had deffensive positions from the east, where Russians poured into Berlin.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent analysis.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hitler as military commander (Hardcover)
This book is among the best of the WWII books I have read, and I have read quite a few. As an amatuer WWII historian (hey, I'm 19, but I've done a lot of reading), I had my own thoughts about Hitler as a military commander. I saw this book on sale and bought it without hesitation and I think it is one of the best buys I have made. Strawson makes a complete analysis of every front of the European theater. He analyzes the strategy of not only Hitler, but also those of the French, British, Russian, and American army commanders. Why the strategies succeeded, and why they failed. He quotes and comments on Hitler's War Directives. All in all, a very good argument is made, and I agree with most of it. Strawson also gave me some new ideas and thoughts. My only complaint (and the only reason it got 4 stars instead of 5) is that Srawson assumes a certain level of intimacy with the historical data surrounding the War. I was familiar with most of it, but I needed some refreshment with the names and places of the less famous battles (the Balkan campaign comes to mind). But, despite this, Strawson has a very good work here, and it is a shame it is out of print.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hiltler as Military Commander,
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This review is from: Hitler as Military Commander (Pen & Sword Military Classics) (Paperback)
Writing within the framework of an overview of WWII, the author describes the strengths and weaknesses of Hitler and how his decisions impacted the war. Mr Strawson, a veteran, begins his story with a deliberate telling of Hitler's rise to power and once that was achieved how he rebuilt the German Army into a powerhouse within a short period of time. The author also describes Hitler the politician as well as the man. The author sees Hitler as a genius some of the time and his own worst enemy the rest of the time. His distrust of authority, of the establishment as he was growing up exploded to new levels after WWI and when he became dictator. He was on a mission to eradicate the humiliation of the defeat of WWI and to bring Germany back as a world power with himself as dictator. He was the only one qualified to do this, he was beyond other politicians and especially the commanders when planning for war. He had no respect for anybody and when he could show them up as wrong or weak, it lifted his spirits to new heights. War was his ultimate "spirit lifter". When the war turned sour in 1943, this nihilistic attitude worsen.
Some of the key conditions that impact war that will be discussed by Mr Strawson are: Maintain overwhelming force, don't divide your forces Always hit your enemy as hard as you can Singleness of aim, stay focus on your objectives Choose your battles, know your enemy and the battlefield; don't guess Try to encircle Surprise your enemy Don't underestimate your enemy Know yourself, be realistic with your plans Have a long term strategic plan The author's overview would cover all fronts of the war with Germany: North Africa, the Med, Western Europe and the Eastern Front; he would choose the key battles to discuss Hitler's command abilities. Some of the key battles or situations are Dunkirk, the Kiev / Moscow controversy, the December counteroffensive, Stalingrad, Tunisia, Kursk, Normandy, Ardennes. In each of these battles and others, the author would discuss Hitler's decisions and orders that would impact the course of each battle, the results of the battle and how it would impact Hitler's future decisions. The author will show that Hitler would frequently ignore or abuse the above keys to a successful prosecution of war. The early series of victories in the "easy countries" plus his rise to power convinced Hitler of his invincibility as a leader as well as his Armed Forces. As long as you have a positive attitude and try as hard as you can, a person or an army can overcome any handicap, was his driving life force. Besides having an unrealistic concept of attitude over matter, Hitler broke many of the rules of victory. When by breaking those rules, it lead his army to victory it just fortified his pysche that he was right and everybody else was wrong. A perfect example of breaking a rule occurred in the winter of 1941-42 in front of Moscow when Zhukov counter-attacked. The Russians were driving the Germans back when Hitler demanded that his army stand and fight, regardless of the poor defensive positions. At the time of the order, the Russians had fought themselves out, low on supplies and were in no condition to continue the offensive. When the stop and fight order appeared to work, Hitler became convinced that he could make no mistakes. For the rest of the war his attitude would always be stand and fight and many times that decision would be wrong and thousands of Germans would die for it. Stalingrad would be his ultimate mistake but not controlling the Med in 1941, Tunisia in May 1943, the delay at Kursk, the fortress mentality along the Vitebsk-Bobruisk line in June 1944, the refusal to reduce the beachhead at Dunkirk and many other examples would prove him wrong. Hitler could never see himself wrong; he would blame the loss on his incompetent commanders. Other important rules broken frequently by Hitler concerns maintaining overwelming force and underestimating your enemy. The author presents in a straight forward, logical manner examples of all the rules broken and the impact it had on Hitler and the impact it would have on his Army to prosecute the war in the future. I've just scratched the surface of this book; there is so much more to it. The author presents a Bibliography if further reading is desired. There are a few maps and photos. Anybody who is interested in command ability, strategy and the impact that poor or unrealistic leadership can have on an army, should consider reading this book.
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