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The Other Side of the Hill
In the PAN GRAND STRATEGY series, this is an account of Germany's generals, including their own version of the military events of 1939-1945 and details of their rise and fall, presenting a picture of the Second World War as it was seen by the men who commanded the panzer divisions and the might of the Wehrmacht. Originally published in 1948.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
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361 people want to read
About the author
B.H. Liddell Hart
223 books297 followersBritish military authority Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart early advocated tank and air warfare.
Usually known as captain before his knighthood, this English soldier and historian led theorists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._H._L...
Usually known as captain before his knighthood, this English soldier and historian led theorists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._H._L...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 12, 2008
The German generals ingratiated themselves with Liddell Hart and thoroughly duped him with self-serving accounts of the war and German operational virtuosity. yet still an occasionally useful book.
September 28, 2020
A rare look from the other side.
May 21, 2020
Liddell Hart’s conversations with many of the German generals of WW2. This is a classic if you’re interested in the military history of the Second World War, but it requires good pre-existing knowledge of the battles that took place. There’s always the question of how “reliable” the generals’ memories could be, and to what extent they managed to blame Hitler for some of their own failures. The book is also glaringly missing a discussion about the unspeakable crimes that were being committed by units attached to the very armies those generals were commanding. Nevertheless, Hart did a great work of primary research, and the book has been referred to by many historians of WW2 (including Beevor, Allen Clark and Andrew Roberts).
December 20, 2022
Basil Liddell-Hart recounts his interviews with German generals who were in Allied custody after Germany’s surrender in World War II. The interviews are carefully recorded and annotated, with lengthy verbatim passages. The author describes an atmosphere of mutual respect—many of the Germans were familiar with his earlier publications—that contrasts with the caricatures spun by the propaganda machines on both sides. With his meticulous thoroughness, Liddell-Hart created a valuable historical document, which has served as a reference to many historians of World War II.
The book is a tour de force; it covers the period from Germany’s first reactions against the impositions of the Treaty of Versailles to the Wehrmacht’s last gasps in Kharkiv and the Ardennes. This includes not only famous events such as the blitzkrieg in France and the epic battles in Russia, but also less well known theaters such as the Balkans, which may have impacted the course of the war much more than is commonly thought. To make this broth even richer, the author and his interlocutors add their own insights about the character of the opposing nations and different schools of military thought and the sometimes tense interplay between them.
The sheer variety of reviewed events is impressive—from deadly intrigues in the Reich’s corridors of power to titanic battles where the outcome sometimes hinged on seemingly trivial details. Much of the book shows how first-rate soldiers tried to make the best out of impossibly long odds. Even with such rich material, the sum is greater than its many parts.
Another bonus is that the interviewees provide insights into many protagonists who weren’t interviewed themselves or didn’t survive the war such as Heinz Guderian, Erwin Rommel, Günther von Kluge and Adolf Hitler.
In summary, Basil Liddell-Hart’s book has earned its place among the classics of World War II history.
The book is a tour de force; it covers the period from Germany’s first reactions against the impositions of the Treaty of Versailles to the Wehrmacht’s last gasps in Kharkiv and the Ardennes. This includes not only famous events such as the blitzkrieg in France and the epic battles in Russia, but also less well known theaters such as the Balkans, which may have impacted the course of the war much more than is commonly thought. To make this broth even richer, the author and his interlocutors add their own insights about the character of the opposing nations and different schools of military thought and the sometimes tense interplay between them.
The sheer variety of reviewed events is impressive—from deadly intrigues in the Reich’s corridors of power to titanic battles where the outcome sometimes hinged on seemingly trivial details. Much of the book shows how first-rate soldiers tried to make the best out of impossibly long odds. Even with such rich material, the sum is greater than its many parts.
Another bonus is that the interviewees provide insights into many protagonists who weren’t interviewed themselves or didn’t survive the war such as Heinz Guderian, Erwin Rommel, Günther von Kluge and Adolf Hitler.
In summary, Basil Liddell-Hart’s book has earned its place among the classics of World War II history.
August 25, 2019
Much of the information discussed here has seeped into other histories I've read however it is amazing that so soon after the war Liddell Hart was able to create such a window into the from the other side of the hill.
I still lack such information on many other conflicts that have occurred since then. Especially not with the level of strategic insight given by Liddel Hart.
I still lack such information on many other conflicts that have occurred since then. Especially not with the level of strategic insight given by Liddel Hart.
March 30, 2023
這本要跟他的二戰戰史一起搭著看，雖然有些概念因為流傳太廣變得“沒新意”，但這恰恰是其經典之處。李德哈特跟德軍那些新思想派算是惺惺相惜。書中充滿著對元首的批判之詞，感覺像是欺負死者不會辯駁，不過後來李德哈特在書末倒是總結得很好，他認為軍事外行的有時看一件事情的直覺是很準，但專家在長遠計畫上更是透徹，兩者原本應該要互補，但現實卻是因為各種因素而互相鄙夷，這就是希特勒跟參謀本部的困境。不過也多虧了這樣，吾人不須過上“高堡奇人”世界中的日子。
October 23, 2022
Leído en español en edición de Ediciones Ejército de 1983.
November 28, 2025
Forgot to post this.
As the title indicates, this distinguished military historian and tactician examines the events of the War from the perspective of the opposing side. A fascinating read.
As the title indicates, this distinguished military historian and tactician examines the events of the War from the perspective of the opposing side. A fascinating read.
Want to read
January 5, 2014"Actions speak louder than words, as it is said, and Hitler on numerous occasions offered his hand of friendship, while still in a position of strength, indeed winning the war. One of the most notable occasions is that involving the British invasion of Dunkirk, around which much nonsense about British heroism continues to be spoken. Ramsay cites the pre-eminent official British military historian Captain Liddell Hart. This nonsense continues despite Hart’s book on World War II, The Other Side of the Hill, having been published in 1948, with chapter 10 entitled ‘How Hitler beat France and saved Britain’. Ramsay comments that the chapter would ‘astound all propaganda-blinded people… for the author therein proves that not only did Hitler save this country; but that this was not the result of some unforeseen factor, or indecision or folly, but was of set purpose, based on his long enunciated and faithfully maintained principle’. Hart details how Hitler halted the Panzer Corps on 22 May 1940, allowing the British troops to escape back to Britain. Hitler had cabled Von Kleist that the armoured divisions were not to advance or fire. Von Kleist ignored the order, and then came an ‘emphatic order’, according to Von Kleist, that he was to ‘withdraw behind the canal. My tanks were kept halted there for three days’.[45] Hart records a conversation between Hitler and Marshall Von Runstedt two days later (24 May):
‘He [Hitler] then astonished us by speaking with admiration of the British Empire, of the necessity for its existence, and of the civilisation that Britain had brought into the world… He compared the British Empire with the Catholic Church – saying they were both essential elements of stability in the world. He said that all he wanted from Britain was that she should acknowledge Germany’s position on the Continent. The return of Germany’s lost colonies would be desirable but not essential, and he would even offer to support Britain with troops, if she should be involved with any difficulties anywhere. He concluded by saying that his aim was to make peace with Britain, on a basis that she would regard compatible with her honour to accept’. [46]
Captain Hart comments on the above: ‘If the British army had been captured at Dunkirk, the British people might have felt that their honour had suffered a stain, which they must wipe out. By letting it escape, Hitler hoped to conciliate them’.[47] Hart alluded to the pro-British sentiments in Mein Kampf and the manner by which Hitler did not deviate from his desire for an alliance with Britain. As we now know, so far from the British people being cognisant of the equanimity of Hitler towards them, the propaganda machine merely used this to further inflame them toward war, and Dunkirk had ever since been portrayed as a great feat of British moral courage."
http://www.counter-currents.com/2014/...
‘He [Hitler] then astonished us by speaking with admiration of the British Empire, of the necessity for its existence, and of the civilisation that Britain had brought into the world… He compared the British Empire with the Catholic Church – saying they were both essential elements of stability in the world. He said that all he wanted from Britain was that she should acknowledge Germany’s position on the Continent. The return of Germany’s lost colonies would be desirable but not essential, and he would even offer to support Britain with troops, if she should be involved with any difficulties anywhere. He concluded by saying that his aim was to make peace with Britain, on a basis that she would regard compatible with her honour to accept’. [46]
Captain Hart comments on the above: ‘If the British army had been captured at Dunkirk, the British people might have felt that their honour had suffered a stain, which they must wipe out. By letting it escape, Hitler hoped to conciliate them’.[47] Hart alluded to the pro-British sentiments in Mein Kampf and the manner by which Hitler did not deviate from his desire for an alliance with Britain. As we now know, so far from the British people being cognisant of the equanimity of Hitler towards them, the propaganda machine merely used this to further inflame them toward war, and Dunkirk had ever since been portrayed as a great feat of British moral courage."
http://www.counter-currents.com/2014/...
December 31, 2015
La storia viene scritta dai vincitori, in questo caso con la collaborazione degli sconfitti e quello che ne esce è un quadro molto interessante.
Come "amici" che riesaminano una partita a Risiko, i generali tedeschi intervistati da Liddell Hart rivelano retroscena che mostrano come e in quanti casi la guerra avrebbe potuto andare anche molto diversamente. Parlano delle occasioni perse dagli alleati, parlano delle intuizioni di Hitler ma anche dei problemi che creavano le sue continue ingerenze, parlano dei tanti errori commessi da entrambi gli schieramenti.
Un modo sicuramente diverso di vedere la Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
Come "amici" che riesaminano una partita a Risiko, i generali tedeschi intervistati da Liddell Hart rivelano retroscena che mostrano come e in quanti casi la guerra avrebbe potuto andare anche molto diversamente. Parlano delle occasioni perse dagli alleati, parlano delle intuizioni di Hitler ma anche dei problemi che creavano le sue continue ingerenze, parlano dei tanti errori commessi da entrambi gli schieramenti.
Un modo sicuramente diverso di vedere la Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
December 27, 2021
一句话总结：成也元首，败也下士。
单从军事角度分析二战看起来挺不错，尤其是听听德军对于战争成败的观点，作为听惯了战胜者各种言论的一方，我觉得还挺有意思的。
读这本书需要一定的门槛，第一得明白作者的身份，他的某些结论应该是试图证明自己；第二需要大致了结二战欧洲/北非战场的地理和进程，要不然会迷路。
这段作者的总结我觉得还是挺靠谱的：
有时“外行”的直觉显得更合理，有时职业军人的计算显得更准确——显然，后者出现的次数更多。但这两派人物总是相互妒忌，而这种妒忌又加剧了他们之间不可避免的观念冲突，后来的事实证明这种冲突比任何一方犯下的错误都更致命。
单从军事角度分析二战看起来挺不错，尤其是听听德军对于战争成败的观点，作为听惯了战胜者各种言论的一方，我觉得还挺有意思的。
读这本书需要一定的门槛，第一得明白作者的身份，他的某些结论应该是试图证明自己；第二需要大致了结二战欧洲/北非战场的地理和进程，要不然会迷路。
这段作者的总结我觉得还是挺靠谱的：
有时“外行”的直觉显得更合理，有时职业军人的计算显得更准确——显然，后者出现的次数更多。但这两派人物总是相互妒忌，而这种妒忌又加剧了他们之间不可避免的观念冲突，后来的事实证明这种冲突比任何一方犯下的错误都更致命。
July 27, 2011
Great post-WWII interviews with the creme of the German generals. A very insightful look at the war from the enemy´s point of view.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews