Hitler's Gladiator: The Life and Wars of Panzer Army Commander Sepp Dietrich

by Charles Messenger

A charismatic yet notorious character, Sepp Dietrich the man is impossible to separate from Sepp Dietrich the General, who was awarded twenty-four different honors during his service to the Nazi party and was known for his devotion to his men as he led them through some of the fiercest fighting in the war. In this extensively researched book, historian Charles Messenger attempts to discover the truth about this sparsely documented man, painting a vivid picture of the aggressive war and politics under the Third Reich. From Dietrich’s humble upbringing and his eventual rise to General, to his dissatisfaction with Hitler’s leadership and the trials he faced after the war, Dietrich remains a mysterious figure in history.

Genres: Biography, World War II, History, Military History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Germany

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Charles Rynd Milles Messenger was a British Army officer and writer. He served for many years in the Royal Tank Regiment (19 years as a Regular, 13 years as a Territorial) before becoming a military historian and defense analyst after his retirement from active service. In addition to having published more than forty books during his long career, he also carried out several historical analyses for the Ministry Of Defence and was a writer and/or adviser for several TV documentary series.

Reviews

[Christopher Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF - I read about 30 % into this dry-as-dust account of Dietrich without ever getting a sense of the man as a person or even as a soldier. Page after page of people's names, party names, military groups etc. would go by without even a mention of Dietrich or his place in the whole movement of history. There's a lot of research here as evidenced by the numerous footnotes but Messenger doesn't tell a story or give any sense of the times from a human perspective...just a recitation of facts. Pity.

[William Sariego · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining enough and informative, but nothing spectacular. Dietrich was a far more dimensional than most historians have painted him.

[Lyle Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of Information!

[Claus Andersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

He wasn't a nazi and apparently a good guy. Even though he was one of Adolf Hitler's best friends. Right? Hardly ...

[Timothy Gretler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, Dietrich has always been painted with the SS brush and yes he made bad political choices, but he was a soldier's soldier in the end.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked very much. Any one interested in WWII should read. Changed my opinion of Sepp Dietrich.

[Joe Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book. I've read a lot of historical books but never one that showed me the Nazi's from the viewpoint of one of their SS commanders who was also close to Hitler.

I learned a lot.