Operation Valkyrie: The German Generals' Plot Against Hitler

by Pierre Galante

Book Overview

Operation Valkyrie was the code name given to the plot to assassinate Hitler. Galante's book is based in large part on achived materials and extensive interviews with Adolf Heusinger, one of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060380020
• ISBN13: 9780060380021
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good Book

This is a good book. I was hoping to have a book that really outlined the plot to kill Hitler and this book does pretty good. Has some pictures and a good overall story line.

Too bad this plot didn't succeed!

Pierre Galante's book "Operation Valkyrie" was first published in France in 1981 under the title "Hitler est-il mort?" and was shortly after translated into the current english version. As of this writing, there is a movie out starring Tom Cruise that pictorially brings this book to life. The movie, with a few deviations to make the story more dramatic, does a good job of this. Galante's book is about the July 20, 1944 plot to kill the leader of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler.Plotting Hitler's Death: The Story of German Resistance The story centers around a one-eyed, one-armed veteran of Irwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who smuggled a briefcase full of high explosives into a conference room at Hitler's East Prussian command headquarters called the "Wolf's Lair". Exploding at 12:42 p.m.. Stauffenberg quickly left the conference room just prior to the explosion and hastily fled back to Berlin to initiate "Operation Valkerie". This operation was a plan for the military coup d'etat to overthrow and kill Hitler, and hopefully end the savagery and barbarism engulfing Hitler and his diabolic regime-from the killing centers of the Concentration Camps to the endless slaughter of German soldiers and civilians as a consequence of being on the losing end of the Second World War.Secret Germany: Stauffenberg and the True Story of Operation Valkyrie Operation Valkerie was drawn up by a group of the most intelligent officers in the Wehrmacht (German High Command) to not only depose and destroy Hitler but to seize power in Nazi Conquered Vichy France's capital, Paris, as well as the center of Germany itself, Berlin.Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Rowohlts Monographien) (German Edition) A second goal was to proclaim a provisional government and sue for a seperate peace with the rapidly approaching Western Allies, who at no uncertain terms refused to negotiate in any sense with Germany's deranged strongman, Adolf Hitler.The Men Who Tried to Kill Hitler The key to Galante's book was that this author spent over fifteen years interviewing eyewitnesses of this secret war between the "normal Germans", i.e. the last generation of the Prussian warrior caste (Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, Commander in Chief of the German Sixth Army who defied Hitler's orders to commit suicide and not surrender at Stalingrad, was one of this caste) and Adolf Hitler (who was sarcastically referred to as the "upstart corporal") that they reluctantly had sworn to serve and obey. Paulus and Stalingrad : A life of Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus, with notes, correspondence, and documents from his papers Pierre Galante's primary source of information for this book was to be found in the archives and personal recollections of General Adolf Heusinger, who served as the operations chief of the German General Staff from 1940 to 1944 and also was an important architect of the postwar West German army. Galante drew on Heusinger's four year tour of service to the Fuhre

Hitler's Generals

I have read a great deal of Hitler and WWII. But I have never really read any military hisory book at all. I would tend not to classify this book as such- it makes for such fascinating reading. That Hitler received that much flak from the German Generals gave me a new insight into just what they were up against and how imperative it was to get rid of Hitler. Hilter kept sending troops to the Russian Front during winter wherein these soldier had no option but to die. So he'd send more troops that were not even adequately clothed. He has his troops spread out all over the place. As general's worked to placate him, sway him in other directions until they no longer could do so, he fired them and found someone else. Many generals took part in the assassination attempts and planning. Klaus Von Stauffenberg caught on right away that Hitler was an "Anti-Christ". His astounding valiant attempt to assassinate Hitler should make his name common knowlege, but it isn't. I have since read every book I can get on Klaus Von Stauffenberg and the depth of his character and his determined courage has impressed me beyond words! Such a great man! And an intriguing subject to delve into. I enjoyed this book immensely and I learned a great deal.

Operation Valkyrie - a starting point

Galante's "Operation Valkyrie" is not only a very decent overview of the the July 20th assassination attempt on Hitler, but also an introduction to some of the other attempts on Hitler's life. Although not perfect, Galante's description of the Valkyrie plot and the personalities involved is fascinating and intriguing enough to drive an interested reader to additional research on the topic of German resistance to the Nazi regime. A few flaws do exist in the work. As often happens in translations, there are some slight verbal disconnects, though a careful reader will not find these a major difficulty. There are also a few instances where the plot line of the Valkyrie assassination attempt becomes less clear because of the author's digression into personality descriptions or discussions of earlier plots. That said, those few flaws are negligible in light of the overall scholarship and the valuable introduction to the topic of internal resistance to Hitler. I would strongly recommend this book as an entry point to further research into the topic and as a excellent examination of the effect that Hitler had on the German people.