Customer Reviews

Inside Hitler's Headquarters

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General Warlimont was Jodl's Deputy Chief of Operations and at the heart of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command), from 1939 until he was injured by Stauffenburg's bomb in 1944. He actually drafted most of the operational plans emanating from OKW and therefore is uniquely qualified to comment on the military dimension of that vast criminal enterprise that was the Third Reich.

With his cool professional's eye he assesses the leading figures of the OKW: the demonic Fuhrer, as fascinating and dangerous as a snake, the loyal, amoral Jodl, the execrable toady Keitel. Of particular interest to students of military history is Warlimont's exposition of Hitler's "generalship", which repeatedly revealed its amateurish inadequacies in rash decision-making and arrogant disregard of expert opinion.

The book is interesting for the student of World War II, since it gives a good account of life at Hitler's headquarters, the ambiance and the point of view of the general staff on the strategic situation. However, there is a lot of emphasis on the bureaucracy and organization of the German Army, and on the power struggles inside the General Staff, which I found not very interesting. You often get the impression that the author views the war more as a professional challenge, without expressing his opinion on its political and strategic implications.

General Walter Warlimont was Deputy Chief of the Operation Staff at OKW (supreme command of German armed forces), i.e. number three in Hitler's personal miltary staff after Keitel and Jodl. This book is an accout of his experience in that position from the beginning of the war in 1939 to September 1944 when he had to leave for health reasons (he was wounded in the assassination attempt against Hitler). It is not an history of the war, and a good knowledge of the WWII operations and strategy is required to understand it. It is mainly concerned with the organisation aspects of the German High Command, in particular Hitler's increasing involvement in operations down to the smallest detail, the nefarious influence of nazi leaders on the conduct of the war, and the deteriorating relationship between OKW and the Army General Staff (OKH). To illustrate the point, there are a number of transcripts of OKW meetings, in which Hitler's peculiar personality and inept command methods appear clearly. It sounds a bit bureaucratic, but for a serious student of WWII it is a unique point of view on the way German strategic decisions were made. One really wonders whether Germany could not have conquered the USSR in 1941 were it not for Hitler's inept strategic decisions (going for Leningrad and the Ukraine instead of driving straight to Moscow as the Army recommended).

The ONLY reason I bought this book was because I found some of the discussions between Hitler and his staff interesting. I had read Guderian's 'Panzer Leader', which featured some of this. There are many accounts about Hitler's misdeeds, but it is interesting to read of him discussing minutae about various fronts, battles, and personalities. Even though Adolf Hitler was an evil man, he was still a human, as this book shows. The rest of the book, which is mainly General Warlimont's observations on various military happenings on different fronts, I found rather dry. P.S. Readers who want an interesting side of Hitler should read the fictional 'Hitler's Niece' by Ron Hansen, about his early political days and his weird relationship with his niece Geli.

The book is one of a large number written by German Officers after the war. All of these books were of some interest but had one fatal flaw. That was that the germans had little knowledge of what was happening in Russia and the dynamics of its defence. Most books from this time tend to have a common theme. Masses of Russians coming from every where and it was all Hitlers fault.

The book has large slabs of Hitlers dialogue in it. This was fairly interesting. The inclusion of the dialogue was included to show his irrationality. The reality is somewhat different with Hitler appearing from time to time a bit obsessed but in general terms having an idea of what was happening and a quick mind for detail.

The book fails at times trys to limit the armies responsability for a number of war crimes including he order to execute without trial Russian party officials. This part of the book lacks any conviction.

The book is of some historic interest but scholarship has passed it by.