Hitler's Generals

by Correlli Barnett

Book Overview

In Hitler's Generals, distinguished historian Correlli Barnett has gathered together an outstanding team of military historians to write about the characters and careers of twenty-six generals of the Third Reich. The book probes the central mystery of why a generation of the world's most able commanders and staff officers came to be seduced by Hitler, and why they failed to deflect him from his disastrous decisions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802139949
• ISBN13: 9780802139948
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 497 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Great Overview of the German Generals

"Hitler's Generals", edited by Correlli Barnett, contains many well-written and thoughtful essays of Hitler's military commanders in World War II. From these pages a greater portrait of the German military, and indeed the entire Third Reich emerges. The essays are divided into five parts that categorize the subjects effectively: I. The Anti-Nazi Generals; II. The Desk Generals; III. The Feldherren; IV. The Battlefront Generals; & V. The Innovators. The essays within each section offer brilliant sketches of German generalship. The work overall tells the story of brave men willing to fight and die for their country, but only too willing to fall under the spell of Hitler's personality. The reader grows angrier and angrier that more generals didn't follow the example of Ludwig Beck, who quit as Army Chief of Staff because of opposition to Hitler's reckless policies. The incident is recorded in Robert O'Neil's "Fritsch, Beck and the Fuhrer." Brian Bond's "Brauchitsch" and Barry A. Leach's "Halder" show two talented military administrators sidelined as Hitler grabbed for more power by inserting himself further and further down the chain of command. Perhaps the most compelling essay, and the most sympathetic general, is Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.'s "Kleist", as it details the Field Marshal's attempts to extirpate his army from the Caucuses in the wake of the Stalingrad disaster. Overall this work is filled with fascinating sketches of German military leadership. Important lessons are learned from studying the lives of these brilliant, flawed men.

An extraordinary collection of biographical sketches

This is simply a must read for anyone interested in Germany and World War Two. A great companion to `Stalin's Generals' by Shukman(editor), this book tells the stories of every rank of Germanys command in WW II. Separate sections detail the `Anti-Nazi Generals', the `Desk Generals' the Fieldmarshalls the `Battlefront' commanders and the `innovators'. Every German general and military leader is mentioned. From Guderian, the man who created `Blitzkrieg' to Rommell the `Desert Fox to Paulus who surrendered Stalingrad as well as luminaries like Rundstedt and Kesselring. These wonderful biographical sketches help one understand the diversity in command of Hitler's war machine. The generals ranged from the totally incompetent to dire hard Nazi's to professional soldiers like Rommell. A number of the Generals were captured or killed before the war ended and many were tried for war crimes. A wonderful book, very well written and one that allows you to jump from place to place since each sketch is authored by a separate expert. Seth J. Frantzman

Excellent background commanders behind Hitler!

You may find this book helpful to you especially without knowing the men behind hitler! This book contained hitler's famous generals categorized from anti-nazi generals, desk generals, the feldherren, battlefronts generals and innovative generals! You may get to know famous allied generals in other world war 2 books but this book mention capable german generals like guderian, student, kesselring, paulus, model, rommel and etc. This book is excellent by introducing who are the German generals! It may not be detail as a bibliography but it is plenty to read for 20 Hitler's famous generals. This book cited the brilliance of creative strategies from these generals in the opening assault of Western and Eastern Europe to defending their way back to Berlin. Not to mention military blunder and a plot to kill hitler by anti-nazi generals example Rommel, Speidel, Stupnagel and Witzleben. And why did they want to assasinate Hitler? As for my recommendation, this book is a great knowledge for beginner readers who need further information behind Hitlers's generals and World War 2!

Excellent book

By focusing on a number of different generals, this book lets you see all the personal and professional conflicts that hid under the German army's apparent uniformity, and, by doing so, it helps you understand one of the great tragedies of the Second World War: how a civilized country marched all the way down to its own destruction. It is perhaps no light reading, but I can think of no single book that will give you a better understanding of the German army's attitude towards the war and towards Hitler.