What do you think?
Rate this book
Skorzeny: The Most Dangerous Man In Europe
A gripping biography of Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny and the crucial role he played in the Second World War!
Perfect for fans of Stuart Smith, Charles Foley, Glenn B. Infield, and Greg Annussek.
Otto Skorzeny’s incredible war record immortalised his name in history and reads like a fictionalised adventure story. During his two and a half years in covert operations, Skorzeny is credited with developing a technique of clandestine warfare unmatched by any other secret service of the time. His exploits undoubtedly changed the course of the war. These included the 1944 kidnapping of Miklós Horthy Jr., the son of Hungary’s Regent, who was secretly negotiating a surrender to the advancing Red Army, and the daring 1943 rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
A trained engineer from Austria, instantly recognizable due to his imposing stature and the sabre scars on his face from university duelling days, Skorzeny began his war training as part of Hitler’s bodyguard. After fighting on the Eastern Front, an injury led to a staff position in Berlin. It was there he began developing his ideas on commando warfare. His belief in taking bold risks to achieve political as well as military objectives soon brought him to the attention of the Führer and the Nazi High Command — and the rest is history.
Charles Whiting writes with personal insight, having seen active service during the Battle of the Bulge — a successful Skorzeny sabotage operation — and having met and interviewed Skorzeny on several occasions. Whiting also interviewed a number of Skorzeny’s fellow SS members and drew on numerous other sources and accounts to produce this authoritative work.
This book is a must-read for those interested in uncovering more about ‘the most dangerous man in Europe,’ beyond his most famous exploits. Whiting sheds light on Skorzeny’s early life, the rest of his remarkable war career, and his escape and life after the war, right up to his death from illness in 1975 at the age of 67.
Perfect for fans of Stuart Smith, Charles Foley, Glenn B. Infield, and Greg Annussek.
Otto Skorzeny’s incredible war record immortalised his name in history and reads like a fictionalised adventure story. During his two and a half years in covert operations, Skorzeny is credited with developing a technique of clandestine warfare unmatched by any other secret service of the time. His exploits undoubtedly changed the course of the war. These included the 1944 kidnapping of Miklós Horthy Jr., the son of Hungary’s Regent, who was secretly negotiating a surrender to the advancing Red Army, and the daring 1943 rescue of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
A trained engineer from Austria, instantly recognizable due to his imposing stature and the sabre scars on his face from university duelling days, Skorzeny began his war training as part of Hitler’s bodyguard. After fighting on the Eastern Front, an injury led to a staff position in Berlin. It was there he began developing his ideas on commando warfare. His belief in taking bold risks to achieve political as well as military objectives soon brought him to the attention of the Führer and the Nazi High Command — and the rest is history.
Charles Whiting writes with personal insight, having seen active service during the Battle of the Bulge — a successful Skorzeny sabotage operation — and having met and interviewed Skorzeny on several occasions. Whiting also interviewed a number of Skorzeny’s fellow SS members and drew on numerous other sources and accounts to produce this authoritative work.
This book is a must-read for those interested in uncovering more about ‘the most dangerous man in Europe,’ beyond his most famous exploits. Whiting sheds light on Skorzeny’s early life, the rest of his remarkable war career, and his escape and life after the war, right up to his death from illness in 1975 at the age of 67.
153 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2025
51 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Charles Whiting
257 books52 followersCharles Whiting was a British writer and military historian and with some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction to his credit, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms including Ian Harding, Duncan Harding, K.N. Kostov, John Kerrigan, Klaus Konrad, and Leo Kessler.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 17, 2025
Pretty worthless. Author trafficked in discredited or never-even-acknowledged-as-credible-in-the-first-place theories. For example, in this book he has the underwater transatlantic cable tapped by the Germans with some very incriminating transcripts of conversations between Roosevelt and Churchill about the fate of recently deposed (1943) Mussolini, as if they would waste their time on a situation which there was nothing they could do about.
Best to stick Skorzeny’s own memoirs (1950) or Commando Extraordinary (1955) which Whiting cites in his short bibliography rather than this Johnny come lately (1998, 2010).
Best to stick Skorzeny’s own memoirs (1950) or Commando Extraordinary (1955) which Whiting cites in his short bibliography rather than this Johnny come lately (1998, 2010).
July 14, 2025
Well written and researched. Kind of went off topic, down a related but not on topic rabbit hole, sometimes which made for a bit of a hard time, but this didn’t happen too often.
January 1, 2026
Great book, learned a lot
Pacing and details were just right. Fascinating stories told from multiple perspectives. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in history.
Pacing and details were just right. Fascinating stories told from multiple perspectives. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in history.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews