Hitler's Enforcers: Leaders of the German War Machine 1939-1945 - Hardcover

James Lucas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1854092731 ISBN 13: 9781854092731

Publisher: Arms & Armour, 1996

Synopsis

This is a study of Hitler's inner circle of commanders which aims to show how strategic decisions were carried through the ranks to the battlefield in World War II. It examines top-level characters - Kesselring, Manstein, Model, Student and Rommel, and also those of middle rank, who, often under duress, saw that instructions were carried out. Studying sixteen diverse characters, each with different responsibilities, the book provides an informative account of command, soldiering, military structure and dictatorial control.

About this title

Review:

Moving back in time, James Lucas's Hitler's Enforcers: Leaders of the German War Machine 1939-1945 traces the lives, careers and tactics of 15 top Nazi military leaders, including Rommel, Kesselring and von Manstein. Illustrations. And from yet further in the past come the letters of Union army surgeon Alexander Neil to his family, collected in Alexander Neil and the Last Shenandoah Valley Campaign, edited by Richard R. Duncan. Illustrations. --Publishers Weakly

This book has some good information on both famous and lesser-known "leaders of the German war machine". However, I found many of the chapters dry and somewhat boring. Also, Lucas tends to focus on one battle or campaign rather than what a person did in their entire career. For example, Lucas spends most of his chapter on Erwin Rommel writing about Rommel's time in France in 1940 while breezing over his more famed time in Africa and his role in the Normandy campaign. Still, the book does give pretty good info on well-known leaders such as Sepp Dietrich, Albert Kesselring, Erich von Manstein, Walther Nehring, and Rommel, while also dealing with some lesser-known men such as August von der Heydte, Willi Langkeit, Hermann Ramcke, Lothar Rendulic, and Rudolf Witzing, among others. All in all, a decent effort by Lucas with some good info, but the writing is dry at times. One positive point is that the book has over 20 pages of very good photographs. --By Tom Robinson -

About this edition

• Publisher: Arms & Armour
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1854092731
• ISBN 13: 9781854092731
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240