Siegfried Westphal (1902–1982)

Published in the mid 1950s, this account of the key battles of the second world war from a German army point of view provides a a complementary interpretation of events, although sharing some common themes with equivalent allide histories. In some ways, this is what one would expect - the German army asked to achieve the impossible and failing gallantly and, of course, it was largely Hitler's fault rather than the generals writing things up.
In particular, Hitler's unwillingness to allow any sort of retreat at all and the consequent sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of lives, means that the generals blame him for everything and resent him for his destruction of the German army. At the same time, their willingness to accept his orders is not something they are prepared to question.
The detail on the various campaigns and their attitude to the allied forces they faced (overwhelming superiority in quantity of equipment and supply of fuel and ammunition) is very interesting and there is never a moment when the quality of the German soldier is in any doubt whatever. Quel surprise!… (mehr)