Code Name Valkyrie: Count von Stauffenberg and The Plot to Kill Hitler

by James D. Forman

A biography of the German general who organized the elaborate but ill-fated plot to assassinate Hitler and end the Second World War.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Christine Lucia Asha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very interested in the resistance to Hitler and could not believe that it came from such a high up German. Didn't hurt that he was handsome....too bad it failed.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read about one of the major plots to assasinate Hitler devised by the military. A movie starring Tom Cruise was recently made and as far as I know stays very true to the actual details of what happened.

This book is not exactally what I expected, I was wanting more of a historical account of what happened and this was more historical fiction. The facts seem to be true however, so it is not a huge loss or anything. This book follows prime conspirator Count von Stauffenberg on his journey from reluctantly supporting the war to full blown hatred of hitler and a desire to kill him and end his regime. The specifics of his decision are largely speculative I would imagine, although none of it is contradictory or impossible to have happened. Overall great read both for a historical perspective on what went on that day and more fictionaly how Stauffenberg may have come to the decision that Hitler needed to die.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors' purpose for writing this book is for information. I thought reading this book would bring more of the history aspect but it was more of a story then like a text book reading. This contains how people wanted to be stealthy and try to eliminate the worst killer of the 20th century. The author also wrote this with the lines of historical fiction. The main character, Stauffenberg, had a huge hate for Hitler and wanted to end his terrible reign. I just wanted to keep reading this book as long as I could to find out what happened next. The style for writing this book is descriptive. It describes everything that is happening in a scene and doesn't leave anything out. The main character has to face many challenges to plot and yet he over comes most except what he was truly going for.
I wouldn't change anything about this since it's all true events that happened. I liked how the book was wrote since I love the topic of World War 2 and this is a major part of it.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting -told as a story. I often wondered on small details about whether what iwas reading was fact from a source like a journal or if it was made up by the author for the stories sake (ex: all the thoughts/dreams he had while inthe hospital).