Killing Hitler: The Plots, the Assassins, and the Dictator Who Cheated Death
Author: Roger Moorhous
For the first time in one enthralling book, here is the incredible true story of the numerous attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler and change the course of history.
Disraeli once declared that “assassination never changed anything,” and yet the idea that World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust might have been averted with a single bullet or bomb has remained a tantalizing one for half a century. What historian Roger Moorhouse reveals in Killing Hitler is just how close–and how often–history came to taking a radically different path between Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and his ignominious suicide.
Few leaders, in any century, can have been the target of so many assassination attempts, with such momentous consequences in the balance. Hitler’s almost fifty would-be assassins ranged from simple craftsmen to high-ranking soldiers, from the apolitical to the ideologically obsessed, from Polish Resistance fighters to patriotic Wehrmacht officers, and from enemy agents to his closest associates. And yet, up to now, their exploits have remained virtually unknown, buried in dusty official archives and obscure memoirs. This, then, for the first time in a single volume, is their story.
A story of courage and ingenuity and, ultimately, failure, ranging from spectacular train derailments to the world’s first known suicide bomber, explaining along the way why the British at one time declared that assassinating Hitler would be “unsporting,” and why the ruthless murderer Joseph Stalin was unwilling to order his death.
It is also the remarkable, terrible story of the survival of a tyrant against all theodds, an evil dictator whose repeated escapes from almost certain death convinced him that he was literally invincible–a conviction that had appalling consequences for millions.
Publishers Weekly
Although Hitler took his own life, there was no shortage of people who wanted, and attempted, to do it for him throughout his political career. Drawing on newly opened archives in Germany and elsewhere, British historian Moorhouse (Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City) casts a wide net, chronicling failed assassination attempts by disaffected individuals in the early days of Hitler's reign, such as radical university student Maurice Bavaud, whose three easily thwarted tries in November 1938 got him guillotined; the efforts of a British group of James Bond-like spies armed with, among other things, "exploding rats"; and the well-known attempts of German officers, such as Hitler's architect Albert Speer. Moorhouse also brings to light little-known would-be-assassins, such as members of the Polish underground. Most of the assassination attempts Moorhouse describes failed because of poor planning; others fell victim to circumstance, while some may simply have been rumors, making for a compelling web of research, intrigue and conspiracy theory. Accessible prose, suspenseful narration and ample historical context make this a page-turner for WWII buffs as well as anyone with a passion for the underbelly of political power in one of the last century's darkest regimes. (Mar. 28) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Although there were probably more than 50 plots to kill Hitler, Moorhouse focuses on eight specific case studies. Each chapter covers either an individual, such as Maurice Bavaud, who was apparently motivated by religious zeal, or a group, such as the conspiracy generated within German military intelligence (the Abwehr). The failure of each plot (although the July 20, 1944, bomb came close) helped reinforce Hitler's sense that he led a charmed life-indeed, that he was a man of destiny. Describing the workings of Hitler's own personal security apparatus, Moorhouse presents a picture that agrees with contemporary historiography, revealing a chaotic Nazi bureaucracy beset by overlapping lines of authority. In some cases, Hitler's security managed to protect him through sheer luck, while in other instances he was saved by the plotters' incompetence. Drawing on archival evidence from German, Russian, and British sources, Moorhouse reminds the reader that Nazi Germany was not a monolithic entity; opposition existed, motivated by diverse ideas ranging from religious principle to political opportunism. Recommended for public libraries and specialized collections.-Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Table of Contents:
| Ch. 1 | Maurice Bavaud : God's assassin | 13 |
| Ch. 2 | Georg Elser : the lone bomber | 49 |
| Ch. 3 | The Abwehr : the enemy within | 79 |
| Ch. 4 | "The nest of vipers" : the Polish underground | 115 |
| Ch. 5 | The implacable foe : the Soviet Union | 151 |
| Ch. 6 | The dirty war : the British and the special operations executive | 187 |
| Ch. 7 | Honor redeemed : the German military | 225 |
| Ch. 8 | Revolt of the acolyte : Albert Speer | 279 |
Go to: Economics of the Environment or Creative Problem Solving
The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians (A Critical Issue Series)
Author: Anthony F C Wallac
The Hill and Wang Critical Issues Series: concise, affordable works on pivotal topics in American history, society, and politics.
This account of Congress's Indian Removal Act of 1830 focuses on the plight of the Indians of the Southeast--Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles--who were forced to leave their ancestral lands and relocate to what is now the state of Oklahoma. Revealing Andrew Jackson's central role in the government's policies, Wallace examines the racist attitudes toward Native Americans that led to their removal and, ultimately, their tragic fate.
Publishers Weekly
Wallace, who won a Bancroft Prize in 1978 for Rockdale: The Growth of an American Village , turns to Native American history in this retelling of the story of the Trail of Tears. This refers to the forced removal in the 1830s of thousands of Indians, particularly the Cherokee and the Choctaw, from the American east to west of the Mississippi River. The author expands his focus to examine the relocation of numerous Indian groups. Central to the story is Andrew Jackson, who assumed the presidency confronted with a government divided over the question of Indian removal and who soon became one of its major proponents. Responses of the Natives ranged from legal action and ultimate resignation on the part of some to warfare on the part of the Seminole. In a concluding chapter, Wallace shows how the effects of removal continue to the present day. All of this is told in a straightforward manner. Although he points to certain well-known white historians who give short shrift to this history, he overstates the uniqueness of his study. While it is a good introduction to the topic, this volume is far from the only modern historical treatment. Two documentary appendixes will be helpful to readers new to the subject. (July)
Library Journal
The Indians, not Jackson, are the chief focus of this excellent account of the five ``civilized tribes'' being forced west with the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Wallace succinctly traces the evolution of the government's Indian policies from colonial days to this removal. It was Jackson's actions--or lack of them--that forced the westward migration. Wallace paints an uncomplimentary picture of a man driven by politics, land hunger, and profit who justified his ambitions as a desire to save the Indians from extinction. Wallace's work compares favorably with Ronald N. Satz's critical study, American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era (1975), and contrasts sharply with Francis Paul Prucha's favorable treatment in The Great Father: The United States and the American Indian (Univ. of Nebraska Pr . , 1984. 2 vols). This sobering study is essential for people wanting a terse description of the Indians' trek over the ``Long, Bitter Trail.''-- Richard Hedlund, Ashland Community Coll., Ky.
School Library Journal
YA-The Indian Removal Act of 1830 summarily dismissed the rights of Native Americans to their homelands east of the Mississippi and mandated their relocation to the wilds of the Oklahoma plains. The infamous Trail of Tears is indeed a riveting tale of political expediency, greed, and sorrow. In this book, Wallace recounts in a balanced and clear manner the influences that gave rise to a governmental policy that regulated the disenfranchisement of Native peoples within American boundaries. The author carefully traces the movement and activities of the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles through the Trail of Tears to their eventual destinations and fortunes. While almost scholarly in tone, the calm and precise narrative remains arresting because of the strength of its subject matter.-Carol Beall, Immanuel Christian School, Springfield, VA
No comments:
Post a Comment