By Corelli Barnett. A good book containing short essays and articles made by a large number of experts about Hitler's most representative and important generals, if not necessarily the best. Barnett's own introduction is a good reflexion, I think. But I didn't like that the biographies do not follow style methods and it is because it is written by very different persons. That is one of the good things, but it is also its main flaw, because the editor didn't manage to homogenise the different essays. However, some of them give you a very good look in the actions and personalities of the generals. Beck and Von Fritsch's one is the best, following Paulus' and Halder's. But I think there are some little details I'm not so sure of... Von Manstein ordering Paulus to break during 'Winter Storm'? Von Reichenau being against the shooting of civilians? What do you guys think?
After a hard day at job I took a walk through some bookstores in my city and stumbled accross this book and bought it. Pile of books waiting for me to read them resembles to a smaller hill so please be patient for my opinion on this one
There are two other very similar titles to consider : - ' Hitler's Generals ' by Richard Brett-Smith ( Osprey, 1976 ) and ' German Generals Of World War II ' by F W von Mellenthin ( University of Oklahoma, 1977 ). I especially like the last one because the author gives his own first-hand impressions.
Everything I have ever read about Reichenau suggests he was in favor of, if not adament about, shooting civilians. Cheers, Daniel
The book's best quality and main flaw is the exact same one: the compilation of texts by different authors. Because you have different points of view, methods of investigation and interpretation, but you also have a huge disparity in styles. I will now list what the book contains and what I thing about the different biographies I've read. </font> Part One: The Anti-Nazi Generals</font> FRITSCH, BECK AND THE FÜHRER by Robert O'Neill. By far the best chapter of the book. It portrays very good both men's personalities, careers, historical contributions and traggic fates.</font> WITZLEBEN, STÜLPNAGEL AND SPEIDEL by Klaus Jürgen Müller. Not as good as the previous ones, since it is too short to give us a deep insight of the three men. Part Two: The Desk Generals</font> BRAUCHITSCH by Brian Bond. Good, even if very critic essay about the weak C-in-C.</font> HALDER by Barry A. Leach. Very good analysis but is too harsh with Halder.</font> BLOMBERG by Walter Görlitz. Good if not excellent.</font> KEITEL, JODL AND WARLIMONT by Walter Görlitz. Very good chapter. It may be an apology for those two men, who are certainly very unfairly underrated as military leaders. I just don't think Warlimont deserves to be there. Part Three: The Feldherren</font> RUNDSTEDT by Earl F. Ziemke. Excellent biography. Very detailed. Chronologically ordered, well-written and explained. Very, very good.</font> REICHENAU by Walter Görlitz. Good personal insight on the man, but it is a disgusting apology for a charming but horrible man. He was a nazi and a murderer. Görlitz tries to make us think otherwise.</font> MANSTEIN by FM Lord Carver. Horrible. Lord Carver should have stuck to his military career and leave historical work to others. The biography is biased, unaccurate, follows no order and doesn't take you anywhere. It's just a bunch of silly reflexions of an arrogant and ignorant soldier about another soldier.</font> KLEIST by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr. Good one. Concise and accurate.</font> KESSELRING by Shelford Bildwell. Good. Deals with facts and abolishes myths but fails to give us a deep personal insight of Kesselring's life. Part Four: The Battlefront Generals</font> ROMMEL by Martin Blumenson Bad one. The same stuff we always here about this 'genious' and 'gentleman'...</font> MODEL by Carlo D'Este Bad one. Good insight on Model personally speaking, but follows no order and doesn't mention a lot of important things.</font> ARNIM by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr. Haven't read it yet.</font> PAULUS by Martin Middlebrook. Very good, but he's too unfair with Paulus at the point the reader believes that Paulus was a mediocre —which he wasn't at all.</font> SENGER by Ferdinand and Stefan von Senger und Etterlin. Haven't read it, but expect quite some biased essay about their 'wonderful' father.</font> KLUGE by Richard Lamb. Fails to give us a good background of Kluge —it takes him 10 lines to describe his birth all the way until Hitler's rise to power— but two whole pages describing Rommel's Meuse crossing.</font> DIETRICH AND MANTEUFFEL by Franz Kurowski Not good not bad. Too little detail. Part Five: The Innovators Haven't read any.</font> GUDERIAN by Kenneth Macksey.</font> STUDENT by Gen. Sir John Hackett. (Hope it isn't like Carver's piece of crap)...</font> [ 19. February 2004, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: General der Infanterie Friedrich H ]
