Product Description

'It is now time that something was done. But the man who has the courage to do something must do it in the knowledge that he will go down in German history as a traitor. If he does not, however, he will be a traitor to his own conscience' Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, July 1944 The July 1944 Plot to kill Adolf Hitler was a desperate attempt by a group of senior officers to redeem Germany's honour and end the Second World War. They were heroic because they knew their chances of success were slight and that the result of their failure would undoubtedly be a terrible death. They wanted to leave a message for later generations: that there were Germans who understood the evils of Nazism and were willing to act against it. This extraordinary story is the basis for Bryan Singer's major new film Valkyrie, due to be released in February 2009. Published for the first time as a separate book, Luck of the Devil is taken from Ian Kershaw's bestselling Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis and is a brilliant account of just what happened in those fateful days at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters, when his opponents came so astonishingly close to assassinating what is one of the modern era's most terrible figures.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94328 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review
'For the tragicomic reality behind the 1944 bomb plot, look no further than Ian Kershaw's Luck of the Devil, a gripping offcut from his great Hitler biography published to coincide with the release of the Hollywood version' --Robert McCrum, Observer

Review
'Perfect for those whose interest in the subject is awakened by the Cruise film [Valkyrie]. Ian Kershaw's short history is taken directly from the second volume of his magnum opus on Hitler and this extract ... is revealed as a jewel of historical narrative.'

About the Author
Ian Kershaw was Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield from 1989 - 2008. His books include The 'Hitler Myth', his two volume Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris and Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis, and Fateful Choices. He was knighted in 2002.

Customer Reviews

A useful companion to the film 'Valkyrie'
This book is apparently an extract from the author's earlier, much weightier tome 'Hitler 1939 - 1945: Nemesis' which has been published separately to co-incide with the imminent release of Brian Singer's new film 'Valkyrie'.

As a companion to the forthcoming flm it works very well in providing a brief, but reasonably detailed, description of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg's failed assassination attempt of July 1944 and it's repercussions to those involved. In addition Ian Kershaw outlines a number of previous, and similarly unsuccessful, attempts on Hitler's life - some of which sound faintly ridiculous !

It will be interesting to see if Hollywood's portrayal of the main characters of the plot incorporate some of the moral complexities uncovered by Kershaw, if they do it will make the film a much more challenging one to watch.

cheeky reprint from the biography
Bit cheeky this - cashing in on Tom Cruise's latest opus, Kershaw's publishers have seen fit to reprint the entire chapter on the German resistance from his masterful biography of a decade ago, and have rereleased it as this volume.

Its good all right, but its certainly not new - and if you have got the biography (or have read it), you will have seen all this before. There are better and newer offerings out there on the subject of the resistance and the Stauffenberg attempt, so be warned.

Luck of the Devil
An accurate record of the Wermacht's attempt to assassinate Hitler. Shows their almost total incompetence & niavity that they thought the Allies would let them keep some of the Nazi conquest. As a character says in "Night of the Generals " they only tried assassination when they began to lose the war. Well written by Ian Kershaw as is the complete book it comes from "Nemisis"