Product Description

At thirty-seven, Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg, Chief of Staff of the Reich Reserve Army, was a charismatic figure destined for supreme command. The group of conspirators with whom he conceived the plot to kill Hitler in July 1944 was called 'Secret Germany'. That was also the name of the esoteric circle in which Stauffenberg as a young man had been a disciple of the mystic anti-Nazi magus and poet Stefan George. What was it that motivated this extraordinary aristocratic soldier, with the looks of a Hollywood idol, who was said to be the only man to stare the Fuhrer down until he averted his eyes? For Stauffenberg, the bomb plot was not a political move but a moral and spiritual necessity. After forty-two serious attempts on Hitler's life in the previous twenty years, why did he too fail? Had he succeeded, some say he would have become the de Gaulle of Germany, saviour of the nation soul. Even in failure, there can be no doubt of Stauffenberg's heroism. He stands as atonement for the Third Reich and a resolution of the conflicting myths of German culture. In this remarkable investigation, his whole life explains a troubled past to the present generation of Europeans as few have done in recent history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #299591 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 450 pages

From the Publisher
An revelatory look at Hitler's enemy within

About the Author
Michael Baigent was born in New Zealand in 1948, and obtained a degree in psychology from Canterbury University, Christchurch. Since 1976 he has lived in England. Richard Leigh studied at Tufts University, Boston, the University of Chicago and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Together they have co-authored a number of books including the international bestsellers The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception and The Elixir and the Stone.

Customer Reviews

Can get a bit lost at times
I bought this book after reading the book titled, "The Wilheim Canaris Mystery." I was hoping to expand on my knowledge of German resistence during World War 2. This book does provide many interesting pieces of information but there is one major flaw. The writers believe that to understand the main character, it requires an examination of the history of Germany.

At times i found it easy to get lost in what they were trying to say. All the chapters relating specifically to Stauffenberg were good and flowed easily. The chapters that tried to deal with the rise of Prussia and Germany and of Stauffenbergs ancesters seemed a chore to read. They didn't flow and the style of writing differed from the chapters that dealt with the German Army of WW2.

To sum up-the book does have some valuable material, but gets lost in what to me was a serious digression of the point.