[.ca] Hitler's Generals (ISBN 0802139949)

Nice Overview:
A couple of reviewers have expressed disappointment in this book because it didn't go more deeply into military strategy, but that is exactly the reason why a more general audience will find this book as interesting as I did. I found myself skimming over the esoteric (read boring) battle details and absorbing the personal ones because they were much more revealing of the men beneath the uniforms. Who would have suspected that the imposing von Rundsteadt once considered being an actor and loved to read mystery novels. This may not be the book for strict tactical historians, but it is a very interesting read for everybody else.

Good introduction:
This is a book for the beginner in WW II' generals. IT provides a good general overview about some of HItler's most famous generals and Field MArshalls, adn tries to explain why they followed the Dictator of Evil into Germany's destruction. THis is exactly the weakest part in this book> the explanations to this fact are very vague. In "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" you'll find much better explanations to the fact.

Good Overview:
I enjoyed the personal details of the generals profiled; it tended to give you a better understanding of the men without having to read a full biography on each one. I would have liked to see more of a comparison made with American generals just to better my understanding of the men. I did come away from the book with a positive view of the generals highlighted, they were professional and competent and not a bunch of jack booted Nazi's out killing any innocent they came across. Then again this book dealt with the top of the class, the type that for the most part did not get relegated to camp duty. The most disturbing observation I made was that here was a very strong, intelligent group of people that were lead to ultimate destruction in only a few years - if it could happen there... This book delivers on what it states it will, an overview of so of the men that made the Germany military successful. It is a good first step if you are looking to increase your knowledge of the area.

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!

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