Hitler's Commanders: Officers of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Waffen-SS
Mitcham and Mueller, retired history professors who both taught at Henderson State University, have put together an encyclopedic collection of brief profiles of the careers of the lesser-known German military men—true Nazis, skeptics, and patriotic soldiers who tried to focus on the battlefield and ignore the horrors that Hitler unleashed on Europe. This new edition adds a chapter on the men who led the panzer (tank) troops. Every branch of the German military eventually confronted what one officer called the 'unholy disorder of Hitler’s leadership.' The Fuehrer constantly micromanaged his commanders’ tactics, leaving them hamstrung in pivotal confrontations, like the battle of Stalingrad, one of the most ignominious defeats in military history. Some men followed his dubious commands to the letter; others knew that defying Hitler could cost a man his career if not his life. A sterling introduction for anyone interested in how the men who fought for Hitler ticked.(Publishers Weekly)In this book, the distinguished historians Samuel W. Mitcham Jr. and Gene Mueller analyze a selection of Nazi Germany’s commanders through a series of concise and insightful biographies. The book describes a surprisingly broad gamut of German officers, especially regarding their competence and loyalty to Nazi ideology. This study contributes to our understanding of the commanders’ individual personalities and processes of decision-making.(Michael Perri, Texas A&M; University, Texarkana)Hitler’s Commandersis an engaging introduction to the leaders of Germany’s war machine during World War II. Mitcham and Mueller, by exploring the lives, personalities, ambitions, and careers of the Third Reich’s military leaders, reveal that these men actually consisted of a diverse group of soldiers rather than just fanatical Nazi robots in lockstep with theFührer. Bringing to light the careers of lower-ranking and lesser-knownWehrmachtofficers makes for compelling reading and sheds valuable light on the complexities of the German military command during World War II.(Steven Carter, Henderson State University)