If Hitler Had Won: The Plans He Made, The Plans He Carried Out, The Plans He Hoped To Achieve [Paperback]

Richard E. Osborne (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Riebel-Roque Publishing Company; First edition. edition (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962832464
• ISBN-13: 978-0962832468
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #998,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique revelations found nowhere else, July 10, 2005

By 

Dr. Shades - See all my reviews

This review is from: If Hitler Had Won: The Plans He Made, The Plans He Carried Out, The Plans He Hoped To Achieve (Paperback)

Having read many books about World War II, the Third Reich, etc., I can confidently say that this book contains much information found nowhere else.

This is a very unique book, since it's not one, not two, but THREE books in one.

First, it's a history of WWII in Europe.

Second, it shows how Hitler could've won. No, it's not the typical "if only the armored divisions hadn't been ordered to halt at Dunkirk; if only Hitler hadn't switched to terror boming during the Battle of Britain," etc. The author doesn't assume an alternate outcome until just before the very final "point of no return" in the East (which I won't ruin for you). While doing this, the book continues to read like a historical narrative (in other words, as though those alternate events had actually taken place)--an interesting touch.

Third, and finally, the author collects data from many sources, especially from Hitler's private table talk, which outline his plans and show what a German-dominated Europe would've looked like.

Probably the biggest revelation (not often touched on in other books) is how often Hitler's plans for postwar Europe changed--often quite dramatically--on all manner of subjects. One of the bigger surprises was how often Hitler was successfully prevailed upon to change his views regarding other races, especially Czechs, Ukranians, and Belorussians.

There are two reasons I couldn't give this book five stars:

First, the book is almost entirely in chronological order, so Hitler's views on topic X in 1942 would be in one place, then when he changed his mind in 1943 (50 pages later), topic X would be revisited again--making things a little disjointed. I would have preferred to see all of Germany's evolving policies on topic X in one place.

Second, I thought the author went into way, way too many minor tactical details when it came to the Axis thrust into the Middle East (via the Caucasus this time--remember, the book is about Hitler having won). This made for a rather ponderous section of the book; he should've stuck to general operational details as he did during his portion on the Eastern Front.

In summary, this is a good book for any World War II buff who's interested in what a German-dominated Europe would've looked like and doesn't mind taking a walk into the interesting genre of alternate history.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book; however, way too many errors, August 29, 2007

By 

Joel D. Lucoff "Lawyerboy7" (Fort Lauderdale) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: If Hitler Had Won: The Plans He Made, The Plans He Carried Out, The Plans He Hoped To Achieve (Paperback)

As a fan of alternative history, I was drawn to this book by the synopsis and the previous review. The outcomes are based on historical fact and Hitler's views, including both Mein Kampf and recorded conversations.
Even though I gave this book two stars, I still would recommend it.
Why did I give the book two stars? Simple. There were numerous spelling, grammatical, and syntax errors, including one in a chapter titles. That is simply unacceptable, especially considering this book was not self-published. Considering that this book did or should have gone through an editor, proofreader, and the author at a minimum, this book should not have the voluminous errors that it does. I had to stop my reading to see if perhaps I had misread or not understood the wording. 99% of the time it wasn't me.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Fulfill it Main Objective, July 13, 2008

By 

Grey Wolffe "Zeb Kantrowitz" (North Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: If Hitler Had Won: The Plans He Made, The Plans He Carried Out, The Plans He Hoped To Achieve (Paperback)

When you look at this book you will notice that there are no footnotes or quote descriptions. You will also notice, unbelievably, that there is no biographical or academic information about the author. If you 'Google' the publisher, you will find that the author is the President and Owner of the publishing company, or his own personal vanity press.

Keeping all this in mind, you will be surprised at the number of typos and mistakes made in the book. One of the two major mistakes are the calling of the DeGaulle forces in WW2 the 'Fighting French', they were always call the 'Free French'. The second major mistake is referring to the Air Force of the USA as the 'American Army Air Force, the AAAF'. At no time in its' history has the Air Force been anything but the 'United States (Army) Air Force'. No american armed forces carry any name but the US (United States) Navy, Army, Marines, etc. During WW1, the military force sent to Europe was called the 'American Expeditionary Force, the AEF', but it was made up of the 'US Army'.

In one of his 1950 maps, in the Reichkommisariat of Ukraine he has a
city called Stalingrad. Seems funny that the Germans wouldn't change it. The 1950 map also shows Leningrad, which he says would be renamed 'Hitlerhaven'.

Typos like, "Hitler could barley write his name" instead of "barely" are just poor editing. The format of two columns per page also makes it look like a school newspaper as opposed to a proper book. A lot of time is spent telling us about Hitler's stomach problems and constipation, not very interesting after the tenth or eleventh mention.

Finally, the idea that the English and Americans would do so badly against the Germans and Italians, while following the exact timetable against Japan, seems impossible. Also, while the Allied bombing campaign seems to go on the same it has no effect on the victorious Wehrmacht. You would think that while the Allies were bombing the cities of Germany into rubble the Germans wouldn't just continue to attack on the Russian and African fronts, but try to protect their homeland.

Truly disappointing.