In or in transit to these austere settings, Hitler spent the last five years of his life, aside from occasional side trips and sojourns in Berlin, Berchtesgaden, or Munich. It was doubtless a strange existence, but then this was a strange man playing a strange, quite unique role. He kept this vow. What was surely difficult for Hitler was not dying for his cause but living for it in the role of a Feldherr occupied almost exclusively with the conduct of a long, run-amok war that he didn't want and hadn't planned for. The Feldherr could not retire.
Captions scrupulously identify places and persons in the photos.
An appendix reproduces examples of orders relating to headquarters logistics and travel. As a documentary look at world-historic places and people, this book is fascinating. At Wolfschlucht , for example, one can roam in Hitler's bunker bedroom, or stand on the same spot where he stomped with joy upon learning of France's capitulation. The final section of the book is devoted to photos of the sites as they are today. One picture may be worth a thousand words, but one visit must be worth a hundred thousand pictures.