Customer Reviews

Hitler's Generals

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This is simply a must read for anyone interested in Germany and World War Two. A great companion to `Stalin's Generals' by Shukman(editor), this book tells the stories of every rank of Germanys command in WW II. Separate sections detail the `Anti-Nazi Generals', the `Desk Generals' the Fieldmarshalls the `Battlefront' commanders and the `innovators'. Every German general and military leader is mentioned. From Guderian, the man who created `Blitzkrieg' to Rommell the `Desert Fox to Paulus who surrendered Stalingrad as well as luminaries like Rundstedt and Kesselring.

These wonderful biographical sketches help one understand the diversity in command of Hitler's war machine. The generals ranged from the totally incompetent to dire hard Nazi's to professional soldiers like Rommell. A number of the Generals were captured or killed before the war ended and many were tried for war crimes. A wonderful book, very well written and one that allows you to jump from place to place since each sketch is authored by a separate expert.

Seth J. Frantzman

A couple of reviewers have expressed disappointment in this book because it didn't go more deeply into military strategy, but that is exactly the reason why a more general audience will find this book as interesting as I did. I found myself skimming over the esoteric (read boring) battle details and absorbing the personal ones because they were much more revealing of the men beneath the uniforms. Who would have suspected that the imposing von Rundsteadt once considered being an actor and loved to read mystery novels. This may not be the book for strict tactical historians, but it is a very interesting read for everybody else.

Hitler's Generals is a collection of biographical essays on 26 of German top military commanders during the Third Reich. They ranged from political generals like Keital to one of the Great Captains of history, von Manstein. Each biographical essay was written by different author who appears to have a in-depth knowledge of their subject. They were able in very few words, gives us a pretty good insights of these German commanders who fought for the Third Reich, some willingly, some unwillingly. The indivdual essays were written on the individual. Anyone looking for in-depth military history lessons should look else where.

I was bit surprised by the latitude of some of these mini-biographies. Josef Sepp Dietrich, for example, appears to have a very much of a professional career, an interesting contrast to many accounts of him I have read in the past which painted him as Hitler's favorite "street thug" who knows nothing of military matter. It was interesting to note that Walter Gorlitz who wrote on General Alfred Jodl who was hung at Nuremberg forgot to mention that the German courts in 1953 exonerated Jodl, only Nuremberg defendant to be clear like that. Important omission considering that Gorlitz wrote rather sympathetically on Jodl. I found these mini-biographies to be insightful, interesting and entertaining reading material. A lot of information here without weighting you down with details.

An excellent book which gives you a quick study of top men Hitler relied upon to wage war in Europe.

"Hitler's Generals", edited by Correlli Barnett, contains many well-written and thoughtful essays of Hitler's military commanders in World War II. From these pages a greater portrait of the German military, and indeed the entire Third Reich emerges.

The essays are divided into five parts that categorize the subjects effectively: I. The Anti-Nazi Generals; II. The Desk Generals; III. The Feldherren; IV. The Battlefront Generals; & V. The Innovators. The essays within each section offer brilliant sketches of German generalship.

The work overall tells the story of brave men willing to fight and die for their country, but only too willing to fall under the spell of Hitler's personality. The reader grows angrier and angrier that more generals didn't follow the example of Ludwig Beck, who quit as Army Chief of Staff because of opposition to Hitler's reckless policies. The incident is recorded in Robert O'Neil's "Fritsch, Beck and the Fuhrer." Brian Bond's "Brauchitsch" and Barry A. Leach's "Halder" show two talented military administrators sidelined as Hitler grabbed for more power by inserting himself further and further down the chain of command. Perhaps the most compelling essay, and the most sympathetic general, is Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.'s "Kleist", as it details the Field Marshal's attempts to extirpate his army from the Caucuses in the wake of the Stalingrad disaster.

Overall this work is filled with fascinating sketches of German military leadership. Important lessons are learned from studying the lives of these brilliant, flawed men.

This is a useful overview of some of Germany's leading generals in the years leading up to World War II and their performance in that conflict. This is a volume that looks at the "good" (e.g., Rommel, Guderian, Manstein, Kesselring), the "bad" (e.g., Paulus), and the "ugly." (e.g., Keitel and Jodl). As such, it provides context for understanding the actions, decisions, and effects of a series of major general officers.

Is this book a whitewash? Hardly. Generals such as Senger are portrayed as trying to ignore the atrocities that they knew were happening and rationalizing their unwillingness to do anything. The desk generals, such as Keitel and Jodl are portrayed in less than a flattering light. The fates of generals who were not wholeheartedly Nazi is part of the context of the behavior, perhaps, of some of these generals (witness the fates of generals such as Beck and Fritsch).

Interesting, too, is the discussion of the commanding field generals, such as Rundstedt, Manstein, and Kesselring. One wonders what might have been if there were more Manstein's and fewer Nazi loyalists in high command. But, given the micromanagement of Hitler and his desire for pliant commanders, that seems improbable. Another interesting element of the volume is its consideration of battlefront generals--some of whom, like Rommel, were excellent and some of whom, like Paulus, fell short.

The last two chapters examine "innovators," one of whom is the well known Guderian, whose armored perspective was revolutionary and not always appreciated by more traditional generals. His ongoing conflicts with Hitler are aptly illustrated (and see Guderian's autobiography, "Panzer Leader," for more detail). Student was for the airborne forces the equivalent of Guderian with armor.

This is a useful volume, with relatively short chapters detailing the talents (or lack of same) and the courage (or lack of same) and the accomplishments (or lack of same) of a wide array of German generals.

I enjoyed the personal details of the generals profiled; it tended to give you a better understanding of the men without having to read a full biography on each one. I would have liked to see more of a comparison made with American generals just to better my understanding of the men. I did come away from the book with a positive view of the generals highlighted, they were professional and competent and not a bunch of jack booted Nazi's out killing any innocent they came across. Then again this book dealt with the top of the class, the type that for the most part did not get relegated to camp duty. The most disturbing observation I made was that here was a very strong, intelligent group of people that were lead to ultimate destruction in only a few years - if it could happen there... This book delivers on what it states it will, an overview of so of the men that made the Germany military successful. It is a good first step if you are looking to increase your knowledge of the area.

By focusing on a number of different generals, this book lets you see all the personal and professional conflicts that hid under the German army's apparent uniformity, and, by doing so, it helps you understand one of the great tragedies of the Second World War: how a civilized country marched all the way down to its own destruction. It is perhaps no light reading, but I can think of no single book that will give you a better understanding of the German army's attitude towards the war and towards Hitler.

A comprehensive and detailed story of the men who were most influential towards Hitler but did not want or did not were in the position of taking the lead of the war. From another point of view, the story of how German Army Generals were spoiled by Hitler's resilience against any advice.

You may find this book helpful to you especially without knowing the men behind hitler! This book contained hitler's famous generals categorized from anti-nazi generals, desk generals, the feldherren, battlefronts generals and innovative generals! You may get to know famous allied generals in other world war 2 books but this book mention capable german generals like guderian, student, kesselring, paulus, model, rommel and etc. This book is excellent by introducing who are the German generals! It may not be detail as a bibliography but it is plenty to read for 20 Hitler's famous generals. This book cited the brilliance of creative strategies from these generals in the opening assault of Western and Eastern Europe to defending their way back to Berlin. Not to mention military blunder and a plot to kill hitler by anti-nazi generals example Rommel, Speidel, Stupnagel and Witzleben. And why did they want to assasinate Hitler? As for my recommendation, this book is a great knowledge for beginner readers who need further information behind Hitlers's generals and World War 2!

This is really heavy reading, because the book talks about 26 Generals and Field Marshalls in Hitler's age, but the chapters are each written by a differente historian, which sometimes is confusing and boring. But the general perspective of the book is great and things are alocated inside a good timeline.