Product Description

In the PAN GRAND STRATEGY series, this is an account of Germany's generals, including their own version of the military events of 1939-1945 and details of their rise and fall, presenting a picture of the Second World War as it was seen by the men who commanded the panzer divisions and the might of the Wehrmacht. Originally published in 1948.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #454895 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

From the Publisher
Hitler's war from the viewpoint of Germany's High Command
Here is the Second World War as it was seen by the men who commanded the panzer divisions and the might of the Wehrmacht. Liddell Hart has written a unique history of the conflict, much of it compiled from his own interrogations of captives at Nuremberg.

'The most formidable military writer of the age' A.J.P. Taylor

Customer Reviews

For the serious student, but read with a grain of salt.
Liddell Hart's selected and highly edited conversations with defeated German generals have the benefit of immediacy but suffer from the twin hurdles of the Generals' desire to dissociate themselves from the evils of Hitler, and L-H's own salient ego and sense of injustice at having being ignored by the British Government from 1928 -45. If you can keep in mind the ulterior purposes of both interviewer and interviewees then there is considerable interest to be had in gaining an insight into contemporary German military thinking and planning (or at least what the survivors wished - post Nuremburg Trials - to convince the Western World they were thinking and planning) particularly since so much military history of the period has been written by the victors from a largely US and British perspective. This is, however, the raw material of history with all the blemishes attendant upon filtered primary sources, yet despite its deficiencies it contains some real nuggets and insights which are all the more apparent when one reads with the knowledge of the subsequent 50 years of historical study. In particular, neither Liddell Hart nor the Germans had any knowledge of the Ultra/Enigma decrypts which shed considerable new perspectives on several passages.

This is essentially a book for the serious student of WW2 who comes to it armed with a good knowledge of the events under discussion and a critical frame of mind not prepared to take everything at face value. Given these caveats, a worthwhile and thought-provoking work.

A must for any WWII enthusiast
B.H. Liddell Hart was in a unique and enviable situation just after the war. He got permission from British occupation authorities in Germany to interview top German Generals and Admirals in order to get their thoughts on The War in general, on Hitler, on various campaigns and battles and on their Allied adversaries.

Among the Gentlemen interviewed were General Heinz Guderian, the architect of the Blitzkrieg, General von Mantaufel, who commanded the fifth panzer army during the Ardennes offensive in, Field-Marshal von Manstein, the man who planned the invasion of France, Field-Marshal von Rundstedt, Commander of all of Western Europe and who directed the German response to the invasion of Normandy and General Ritter von Thoma, Rommel's second in command.

The short time that passed between the surrender of Germany and the time of the interviews, coupled with the names listed above should be enough to convince anyone with a shred of interest in the Second World War to buy the book. The style of Liddell Hart is clear and easily understood by the non-military readers. It is direct and to the point, free of prolonged lists of various army units and unneccesary discussions about them - an evil that plagues far too many books on military history.

The book will not reveal any startling surprises to the seasoned reader because of the simple fact that almost all books on The War written after 1948 have used it as a reference. But to read a second hand account of what went on in the various German headquarters during the war - to hear the views and thoughts of the German High Command straight from the horse's mouth - is unlike anything else. 

There is one subject however which is discussed in some lenght in the book and in a way not often seen. That is how Hitler managed to take to complete a control over the German Armed Forces, the officers of which were many decidedly anti-nazi. The question of why the Army didn't stage a coup earlier than it did is also answered.

The only thing that bothered me about the book are the lengths Liddell Hart goes to prove that his writings on mechanised warfare, published between 1920 and 1930, were more influential than De Gaulle's on the way mechanised warfare developed in Germany. It is as if he wants to take personal credit for the Blitzkrieg and the subsequent German victories.

All in all, and despite the author's somewhat conceited nature, this is quite a remarkable book and should have it's place on any self-respecting military historian's (be he professional or amateur) bookshelf.

Hitler's Generals on Hitler's Mistakes
I read this book many years ago when it first came out - nineteen fifties? - and was thoroughly fascinated by it.

Liddell Hart had the opportunity to interview a number of Hitler's general straight after the war, and it was one of the first accounts of various battles told from their perspective.

Hindsight certainly played a part, as Hitler gets most of the blame for Germany's various defeats.

Neverthless, it is a shame if this book is no longer in print, as it has the freshness of first-hand accounts which are no longer available, and no one wrote better than Liddell Hart.