Disobeying Hitler by Randall Hansen

Disobeying Hitler by Randall Hansen ISBN-13: 9780385664639 Hardback: 480 pages Publisher: Doubleday Canada Released: May 20, 2014

Source: Review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Anyone with even a passing interest in the Second World War knows about the plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. But the story of the great wave of resistance that arose in the year that followed--with far-reaching consequences--has never been told before.

Drawing on newly opened archives, acclaimed historian Randall Hansen shows that many high-ranking Nazis, and average German citizens in far greater numbers than previously recognized, reacted defiantly to the Fuhrer's by then manifest insanity. Together they spared cities from being razed, and prevented the needless obliteration of industry and infrastructure. Disobeying Hitler presents new evidence on three direct violations of orders made personally by Adolf Hitler: The refusal by the commander of Paris to destroy the city; Albert Speer's refusal to implement a scorched earth policy in Germany; and the failure to defend Hamburg against invading British forces.

Disobeying Hitler shows how the brave resistance of soldiers and civilians, under constant threat of death, was crucial for the outcome of the war. Their bravery saved countless lives and helped lay the foundations for European economic recovery--and continued peace


My Review:
Disobeying Hitler covered the fate of civilians and German troops in German-occupied territory from July 20, 1944 to May 9, 1945. From the title and description, I was expecting a focus on "human interest" stories...individual's stories and what made them disobey. Instead, much of the book was a series of "this person did this action at this place and this time" overviews of various military battles and related actions. If you're familiar with the battles of the war, this listing of military actions might help tie the other events together in your mind. However, I'm not a WWII buff. I'd have found the book more interesting if the battle movements were even more briefly summarized as they usually added little to the "disobeying Hitler" aspects of the story.

The tone of the writing was scholarly and attempted to set the record straight--based on actual evidence--on some claims of heroic disobedience by German leaders. The author pointed out what they did and didn't do, and what others (civilians) contributed to the outcome.

The first 72 (of 332) pages covered a brief summary of WWII events that lead up to Valkyrie and a description of the events of the July 20, 1944 assassination and coup attempt against Hitler. After that, we're told stories--connected by battle reports--of various cities being saved. Hitler had commanded that the cities would be essentially left in rubble as the German army died in heroic last stands. Not everyone thought this was a good idea (especially the civilians living in these cities). They risked their lives to save the civilian populations and the city itself, and this often also involved the surrender of German troops. We're also told of cities that were destroyed. The stories were often described as an overview of the action rather than going in-depth into the details, personalities, and motives. Perhaps these details do not exist in many of the cases.

I thought that the more civilian-focused view of the defeat of Germany was interesting, but the viewpoint was more distant and action-focused than I expected. It was interesting, but not as interesting as I expected it to be.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The Axmann Conspiracy by Scott Andrew Selby

The Axmann Conspiracy by Scott Andrew Selby ISBN-13: 9780425252703 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Berkley Hardcover Released: September 4, 2012

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Back Cover:
A trusted member of Hitler’s inner circle, Artur Axmann, the head of the Hitler Youth, witnessed the Führer commit suicide in Berlin—but he would not let the Reich die with its leader. Evading capture, and with access to remnants of the regime’s wealth, Axmann had enough followers to reestablish the Nazi party in the very heart of Allied-occupied Germany—and position himself to become dictator of the Fourth Reich.

U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps Officer Jack Hunter was the perfect undercover operative. Fluent in German, he posed as a black marketeer to root out Nazi sympathizers and saboteurs after the war, and along with other CIC agents uncovered the extent of Axmann’s conspiracy. It threatened to bring the Nazis back into power—and the task fell to Hunter and his team to stop it.

The Axmann Conspiracy is the previously untold true story of the Nazi threat that continued in the wake of World War II, the espionage that defeated it, and two fascinating men whose lives forever altered the course of history.


My Review:
The Axmann Conspiracy is about what happened in Germany after Hitler committed suicide and how American Counter Intelligence officers uncovered and defeated the attempt by high-level Nazis to reestablish Nazi influence after the end of the war. Though Axmann was the one who got it all started, he was in hiding after the fall of Berlin. It was his fellow Hitler Youth officers--following his initial orders--that did most of the secret rebuilding of Nazi power.

The book started with Hitler committing suicide and the attempt by some of the surviving Nazis to escape Berlin before the Russians could capture them. We also got a biography of Axmann and of Hunter. The story continued with how the American CIC found out about the "Axmann Conspiracy," what they did, what Axmann was doing, what the Nazi group was doing, and how it all came together in the end.

It's clear that the author did his research and that he wanted to share all the interesting things he learned. The story routinely sidetracked from the main point or action into interesting but unnecessary detail. For example, we're told the names of all the medals Axmann had received and what they were for as a part of his biography. But we're also told what each medal looked like, which served no purpose in the overall story. This slowed the pacing, so don't expect a fast-paced, action-focused story.

The author also jumped from one group to another to tell what each was doing at that time. He gave a recap of who was who and what they had last being doing to make sure the reader didn't get confused. While useful, it creates a lot of repetition for those who are able to keep track of everything. Overall, though, the information included was very interesting and the action was suspenseful due to all the things that could go wrong.

There were 27 black and white photographs and charts included in the center of the book. They showed what people looked like, what places looked like, and otherwise illustrated what was going on in the text.

I'd recommend this book to those interested in the aftermath of WWII in Germany and to those who like to read about real Intelligence work.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel

The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter Hardbackback: 496 pages Publisher: Center Street First Released: 2009 Book Website Author on Twitter Buy from Amazon

Source: ARC from publisher

Back Cover Description (modified by me):
In what is perhaps the last major story about World War II that hasn't been told, a little-known Allied division called the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section was given the mission to help protect important historical buildings from war damage and to find European art treasures and historical documents that had been looted by the Nazis at Hitler's command. The art included works from Michelangelo and Da Vinci to Van Eycks and Vermeers.

In a race against time, often near the front lines, and each man working on his own, they organized protection and rebuilding for historical buildings while also gathering and putting together the scraps of information needed to locate hidden caches of movable art. These unlikely heroes, mostly middle-aged family men, went from quiet lives (mostly involved in the art world) into the epicenter of war, risking--and sometimes losing--their lives.

This is their story.


Review:
The Monuments Men uses letters written by the Monuments Men and other documents to tell the story why the MFAA section was created and what eight of those men encountered while doing work in Normandy, France and in Germany.

The book assumes the reader doesn't know much about WWII and so fills in the details about the war occurring around them as we learn where they went and what they found and did there. The first part is mainly about how the MFAA section was formed and the problems they encountered in the field because no one else in the military seemed to know about them. The book picks up in excitement (at least, for me) once they get more organized and start tracking down the movable artwork. This part reads like a detective story with the fate of both the artwork and the men searching for it in question.

The story jumps around a bit in time and place as we switch from one Monuments Man to another. The author gives plenty of information so the reader will remember which man this is and what he was last doing, but this started to feel repetitious to me near the end. Also, some stories brought up small points that were never resolved (like a request from a priest to a Monuments Man to get several boys who where his fire brigade released from the Allies--we never know if he succeeded). But perhaps this was because that information was never given in the letters and documents used to make this book.

It would have been nice to have photos of the major pieces of artwork that are mentioned, but the Advanced Readers Copy didn't have them. The back of the ARC did say, though, that 16 pages of photo inserts are included in the final book, though, so likely these will be included among those photos.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think it would most appeal to people who love artwork or who want to know everything there is to know about WWII.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter Thirty-Six, page 290
Slowly, the Monuments Men began to realize just how much was hidden in the Merkers mines. Crated sculpture, hastily packed, with photographs clipped from museum catalogues to show what was inside. Ancient Egyptian papyri in metal cases, which the salt mine had reduced to the consistency of wet cardboard. There was no time to examine the priceless antiquities inside, for in other rooms there were ancient Greek and Roman decorative works, Byzantine mosaics, Islamic rugs, leather and buckram portfolio boxes. Hidden in an inconspicuous side room, they found the original woodcuts of Albrecht Durer's famous Apocalypse series of 1498. And then more crates of paintings--a Rubens, a Goya, a Cranach packed together with minor works.

"There's no order," Kirstein said. "Time periods and styles mixed together, masterpieces alongside novelties, boxes from different museums. What happened here?"

"They were packed by size," Posey said, pointing out the uniformity of the paintings in one of the crates.


Read the first few pages of the book.

Written on the Knee by Dr. Theodore Electris

Written on the Knee: A Diary from the Greek-Italian Front of WWII Diary by Dr. Theodore Electris Edited and translated by Helen Electrie Lindsay Trade Paperback: 230 pages Publisher: Scarletta Press First Released: 2008 Buy from Amazon

Source: review copy from publisher

Back Cover Description:
During the Greek-Italian conflict of World War II, Dr. Theodore Electris, newly married and idealistic, was called up to the Greek-Italian front in the remote mountains of Albania. Homesick, hungry and desperately missing his young wife, Chrysoula, he kept an intimate journal to preserve his experiences for her.

Translated by his daughter, Helen Electrie Lindsay, Electris’ entries and letters come together in Written on the Knee. Fully illustrated and accompanied by supporting reference material, the collection serves as both an authentic historical document of Greek involvement in WWII and a story of love, separation and family ties threatened and strengthened by war.

Often overlooked in the scope of WWII, Greece’s six-month conflict with Mussolini’s forces played a pivotal role in the war’s outcome. The small country’s fierce resistance against the Italians delayed Hitler’s move into the Soviet Union, which many historians believe turned the war in favor of the Allies.

From Dr. Electris’ first entry to his last, Written on the Knee captures the true story of love and war during a crucial time in modern history.


Review:
Written on the Knee is a war diary with related letters, photos, and maps included. There are also sections giving a brief history of the time before, during, and after the diary to put the diary in context. It's an interesting, personal look at what WWII was like on Greek-Italian front. Since it's a diary, he often writes a lot about some aspects (like the travel, finding food, finding ways to send letters, interpersonal relations, air raids) and less on others (actual patients and wounds treated and the fighting going on).

After the diary section of the book, the editor has included information about the overall war movements on this front which helped put the doctor's experiences in context. I understand why it was put afterward--so the reader could share in the not knowing the big picture that the doctor experienced--but some readers might find it more useful to read it first.

The nice black and white photos show the doctor at the various camps and villages and help show the people and places that he describes in his diary.

One of the included maps shows the doctor's travels with the dates he wrote about entering the town or area so the reader can track his movement. There are other maps showing the lines of war and such, but there was so much information on the black-and-white maps that I had a hard time figuring out where the doctor was and how the map related to what he was describing. People used to these types of maps will probably find them useful, though.

I'd recommend this book to WWII history buffs and to those of Greek descent who are interested in that nation's history.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Diary
November 1, 1940

Mobilization, mobilization...we are being mobilized...

Around 2:00 PM, we started from camp, taking the side roads, walking towards the Harmanakion [Alexandria] station. We arrived there around 4:00 P.M. Halfway there were two air raids; we scattered and took cover in the surrounding hills.

All morning long, before we departed, I waited for my sweet wife, so I could say goodbye; I was worried that she might have encountered an air raid as well. She finally came just as we were pulling out. My sweetheart, my love, why should she have to suffer so much, only because I love her?! She loves me too and I feel it. For her love I can withstand anything.

Soon we will board trains that will take us to Sorovich [Amynteo].

All along during out move I worried about her return to the house. This "worry" thing is a newly developed feeling and is gripping us all with its claws; it's worse than fear itself.

With these thoughts and emotions I look for a phone and call her.