num_pages: 251
description: Few military commander in history have wielded greater power than did General Erich Ludendorff in the closing days of World War One. He directed an army of five million men and, for more than a year, was the virtual dictator of Germany, eclipsing the Kaiser himself.His reputation has been tarnished by wartime propaganda and by the fact that he lent his name to Hitler's post-war Nazi movement. Even Ludendorff's appearance has been used against him. With his close-cropped hair, hanging jowls, and unrestrained paunch, his face flushing with rage beneath his spiked helmet, he seemed the archetypical Prussian officer, resembling the cartoons of the "Hun" drawn to entertain Allied troops.Roger Parkinson's vivid and challenging reappraisal seeks the reality behind the caricature. He emphasizes the difference between Ludendorff's patriotism and Hitler's megalomania, explains the thinking behind the "stab-in-theback" and blitzkrieg theories which caused his influence, for better or worse, to live on.
language: English
title: Tormented Warrior: Ludendorff and the Supreme Command
titlecomplete: Tormented Warrior: Ludendorff and the Supreme Command
characters: Erich Ludendorff
genres: Biography
ratings_count: 8
publisher: Hodder & Stoughton