February New Release - Twilight of the Gods

Title: Twilight of the Gods

             

Subtitle: The Decline and Fall of the German

General Staff in World War II

Author/s: David Stone

RRP: $49.99

ISBN: 9781844861361

Format:  Hardback, 440 pages

Dimensions: 23.4cm x 15.6cm

Publisher: Conway Maritime

Aust. Release Date: February 2012

Book Description/Synopsis:

When Hitler enabled the transformation of the Truppenamt into the general staff in 1935, General Beck saw an opportunity to re-establish a command of great power and influence that would act as a stabilising influence on Germany as a whole. Such a vision ran directly contrary to Hitler's ideology, however, setting up a tension that continued to ferment throughout the war, culminating in the assassination attempt on the Fuhrer by an internal resistance movement in 1944. In this new and comprehensive study, acclaimed author David Stone analyses the strengths and flaws of the command system, showing that the gradual marginalisation of the Army high command in favour of Hitler's own staff - including Himmler's SS - was rooted in the fact that the general staff both underestimated and misunderstood the true nature of the National Socialist movement that had gained control of Germany by 1933. He also looks at the successes of the general staff in spite of the many trials and tribulations they faced as part of the Nazi war machine - increasingly so as many officers found themselves forced to implement strategic and political agendas with which they disagreed.