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Secret Germany: Stauffenberg & the True Story of Operation Valkyrie
By July of 1944, the Third Reich's days were numbered. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a general staff insider with open eyes (and access to the Führer), was convinced that assassinating Hitler was the only way to prevent the destruction of the Fatherland and the deaths of millions. On July 20, he hid a bomb-stuffed briefcase at a high-level meeting. The explosion tore through the room, but a table leg spared Hitler from the blast. The result was a witch hunt, a wave of executions, and a further pointless year of war. Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh deliver an exhilarating and definitive portrait of the anti-Nazi movement (called "Secret Germany") that almost killed Hitler. Secret Germany is the story of "World War II's boldest plot-that-failed" ( Time ), a coup that was a moral and spiritual necessity.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
36 people are currently reading
411 people want to read
About the author
Michael Baigent
40 books164 followersMichael Baigent was born in New Zealand in 1948. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology from Canterbury University, Christchurch, and holds a master's degree in mysticism and religious experience from the University of Kent in England. Since 1976 he has lived in England with his wife and children.
Baigent is a Freemason and a Grand Officer of the United Grand Lodge of England. He has also been an editor of Freemasonry Today since 1991. As an author and speculative historian, he has been published in 35 languages; he is the author of From the Omens of Babylon, Ancient Traces, and the New York Times bestseller The Jesus Papers; he is the coauthor of the international bestsellers Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Messianic Legacy (with Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh); and the coauthor of The Temples and the Lodge, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception, Secret Germany, The Elixir and the Stone, and The Inquisition (with Richard Leigh).
Baigent is a Freemason and a Grand Officer of the United Grand Lodge of England. He has also been an editor of Freemasonry Today since 1991. As an author and speculative historian, he has been published in 35 languages; he is the author of From the Omens of Babylon, Ancient Traces, and the New York Times bestseller The Jesus Papers; he is the coauthor of the international bestsellers Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Messianic Legacy (with Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh); and the coauthor of The Temples and the Lodge, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception, Secret Germany, The Elixir and the Stone, and The Inquisition (with Richard Leigh).
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 16, 2011
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It gives a good portrait of the fascinating man Stauffenberg as well as, and I didn't expect this, a good overview of German literature and culture with good parts on Goethe, Stefan George etc. The authors seem to be well read and I really appreciated the parts where they discuss the struggle between rational and irrational in German culture. In total, the book gives you some insights into the enigmatic Stauffenberg as well as a interesting discussion on what the true meaning of courage, honor and moral. After reading it I felt refreshed and high in spirits. Highly recommended as an introduction to Stauffenberg's life and ideas.
April 30, 2021
I would rate the actual telling of the main story higher than two stars; however, The authors chase many tangents from the political history of medieval Germany to a long and often esoteric analysis of Stefan George.
In the end, the authors seemed to be really wanting to write essays on German Mystics and their views on leadership and just squeezed the history of the Stauffenburg story around it.
In the end, the authors seemed to be really wanting to write essays on German Mystics and their views on leadership and just squeezed the history of the Stauffenburg story around it.
January 11, 2023
An attempt to make a hero of Stauffenberg that fails miserably. Even a biased author cannot invent a plausible reason to admire this buffoon. Aside from his betrayal of the Reich it also details his aloof and snobbish attitude. An attitude that explains his delusions of grandeur and assumption he could save Germany by ensuring its defeat to the Soviets. A waste of a book on a waste of a human being.
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July 15, 2022Claus von Stauffenberg è entrato di diritto nell'Olimpo dei miei numi tutelati, dei personaggi che mi ispirano, quelli che ricordano con la loro vita e con l'esempio che l'umanità non fa solo schifo ma che può essere tanto, tanti, di più.
July 17, 2023
Secret Germany is structured in three main parts. The first is a historical telling of the anti-Nazi resistance within the German army leadership, culminating in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The second is an exploration of the life of Claus von Stauffenberg--the leader and vital energy of the resistance--and of the development of the personality and philosophy which lead him to his role in the resistance. The last part explores the roots and development of national socialism (Nazism).
The first part described above is comprised of Chapters 1-3. These chapters talk about the German resistance to Hitler. They describe a years-long period during which countless attempts were made on Hitler's life and numerous plans were made, analyzed, and abandoned for a coup d'etat. Time after time, attempts at assassination or a coup had to be abandoned because some small detail was not just right. The leaders involved in the anti-Hitler conspiracy believed Hitler to be a criminal and that he needed to be removed, but also had to contend with the consequences of his removal. They needed to remove him in a way which would not leave a vacuum to be filled by the SS, and which would not provide public sympathy for the SS. They needed to remove him in a way which would not lead to civil war and tear apart of the country they loved. And they needed to remove him in a way which would not leave the country vulnerable to invasion and total conquest by the Soviet Red Army, which they viewed as a worse fate for their people. Reading this opened up my eyes to just how difficult the moral choices before the German people were during this time. In retrospect we tend to think that everything was clear cut and black and white. But, as this book shows us, that is rarely the case.
The second part, consisting of Chapters 5-8 (I know, I skipped 4), outlines Claus von Stauffenberg as an individual. It reviews the influence that his family, religion, history, and culture had on the development of his ideas and personality. It talks especially about his relationship with a poet, Stefan George, who was tremendously influential in his development and his commitment to the ideals that led him to act. It presents Stauffenberg as the ideal balance between the man of thought and the man of action, and shows how this balance was precisely what led him to act to organize people and to attempt to take down Hitler. It also presents him as charitable and loving towards those over whom he presided. This section of the book made Stauffenberg a hero in my mind, and a figure to whose stature I aspire.
The last part of the book, comprised of Chapters 9-13, talks about history in terms of ideas which are developed through cultures to their logical ends. In this section, the authors show how the pre-German people existed in a state of allegiance to their leader, without the idea existing among them of allegiance to their country as such. They show how the Franco-Prussian war changed this and shifted their allegiance to their country, or to their identity as a group. They then outline the Volkisch movement and the influences of various cultural figures on the German persona, including Goethe, Nietzsche, and Stefan George. They show how this development of culture lead to what they call a collective identity crisis--the inability to decide whether the German people should be focused on thought and spirit or on action and militarism. They present Nazism and an answer to this question, favoring the militaristic man of action, while suppressing the man of thought and spirit with a surrogate religion in the form of national socialist ideology. In this light, Nazi Germany was not the product of Hitler and his ideas, but instead is the expression of this fundamental confusion in the German spirit, of which Hitler himself was simply an outward expression. In the end, the authors show how Stauffenberg was the product of essentially the same cultural influences and confusion, he himself embodying an alternative solution to the crisis as a proper balance between thought and action.
I found Secret Germany to be hugely inspiring, both in the example presented in Stauffenberg, as well as in their discussion of the power of ideas in the shaping of history.
The first part described above is comprised of Chapters 1-3. These chapters talk about the German resistance to Hitler. They describe a years-long period during which countless attempts were made on Hitler's life and numerous plans were made, analyzed, and abandoned for a coup d'etat. Time after time, attempts at assassination or a coup had to be abandoned because some small detail was not just right. The leaders involved in the anti-Hitler conspiracy believed Hitler to be a criminal and that he needed to be removed, but also had to contend with the consequences of his removal. They needed to remove him in a way which would not leave a vacuum to be filled by the SS, and which would not provide public sympathy for the SS. They needed to remove him in a way which would not lead to civil war and tear apart of the country they loved. And they needed to remove him in a way which would not leave the country vulnerable to invasion and total conquest by the Soviet Red Army, which they viewed as a worse fate for their people. Reading this opened up my eyes to just how difficult the moral choices before the German people were during this time. In retrospect we tend to think that everything was clear cut and black and white. But, as this book shows us, that is rarely the case.
The second part, consisting of Chapters 5-8 (I know, I skipped 4), outlines Claus von Stauffenberg as an individual. It reviews the influence that his family, religion, history, and culture had on the development of his ideas and personality. It talks especially about his relationship with a poet, Stefan George, who was tremendously influential in his development and his commitment to the ideals that led him to act. It presents Stauffenberg as the ideal balance between the man of thought and the man of action, and shows how this balance was precisely what led him to act to organize people and to attempt to take down Hitler. It also presents him as charitable and loving towards those over whom he presided. This section of the book made Stauffenberg a hero in my mind, and a figure to whose stature I aspire.
The last part of the book, comprised of Chapters 9-13, talks about history in terms of ideas which are developed through cultures to their logical ends. In this section, the authors show how the pre-German people existed in a state of allegiance to their leader, without the idea existing among them of allegiance to their country as such. They show how the Franco-Prussian war changed this and shifted their allegiance to their country, or to their identity as a group. They then outline the Volkisch movement and the influences of various cultural figures on the German persona, including Goethe, Nietzsche, and Stefan George. They show how this development of culture lead to what they call a collective identity crisis--the inability to decide whether the German people should be focused on thought and spirit or on action and militarism. They present Nazism and an answer to this question, favoring the militaristic man of action, while suppressing the man of thought and spirit with a surrogate religion in the form of national socialist ideology. In this light, Nazi Germany was not the product of Hitler and his ideas, but instead is the expression of this fundamental confusion in the German spirit, of which Hitler himself was simply an outward expression. In the end, the authors show how Stauffenberg was the product of essentially the same cultural influences and confusion, he himself embodying an alternative solution to the crisis as a proper balance between thought and action.
I found Secret Germany to be hugely inspiring, both in the example presented in Stauffenberg, as well as in their discussion of the power of ideas in the shaping of history.
December 5, 2010
ugh so many facts on every page, AND it was a resource for a HUGE research project. boo. BUT, i learned some pretty interesting things.
December 9, 2019
This was a fascinating read! Excellent tribute to a lesser known hero of World War II.
September 1, 2019
Már délután elolvastam, de mostanáig vártam, hátha összerendeződnek a gondolataim. :D Hát nem így történt, szóval inkább, ha kuszán is, de leírom a gondolataimat. A fél csillagot azért vonom le, mert egy ponton annyira száraz volt, hogy azt hittem, abbahagyom. De aztán nem bántam meg, hogy elolvastam. Claus von Stauffenberg gróffal és a merénylettel annak idején a Valkűr című film kapcsán kerültem kapcsolatba (tudom, nem mindenkinek tetszik, én viszont imádtam) és azóta úgymond lebegett előttem, mint valamiféle rejtély, amiről többet kell megtudnom. Magáról a merényletről sokat olvastam, de a háttérről, az összeesküvőkről és magáról a grófról elég keveset tudtam mostanáig. Ez a könyv nagyon részletesen és olvasmányosan rágta a számba a dolgokat. :D (Többek közt arra is rávett, hogy olvassak Thomas Mann-tól, amire nem gondoltam, hogy valaha is ráveszem magam. A gimis kötelező olvasmányok nem voltak a kedvenceim.) A végére pedig kifejezetten megtetszett. Aki részletesebben akar foglalkozni a témával, annak jó szívvel tudom ajánlani.
December 12, 2020
There was definitely some good stuff in here. The first three chapters in particular. The rest of it was written like a college essay where the student was trying to get the word count limit. It didn’t flow very well, and dealt a lot with Stauffenberg’s family history and a lot about a poet who supposedly was a huge influence on Stauffenberg. The first three chapters were awesome. The rest was informative, and boring
September 5, 2021
An enjoyable enough and interesting read, but as others have said, rather without focus. Some of the topics discussed seem only vaguely connected with operation valkyrie, in fact I'd way only about 50% at most seems to deal with Stauffenberg and the plot. Nevertheless I did learn a few things and I enjoyed reading the book which was a pretty fast read. I finished it in the woods with a flask of coffee, asking myself where men such as Stauffenberg are today, a question the book also poses.
December 5, 2018
Not all Germans thought Hitler was the answer for Germany nor the conquest for other countries. Some of the German leadership plotted to kill Hitler. This is the story of those that felt strongly about Hitler's rise to power and were willing to put their lives on the line. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time.
November 7, 2022
There were many people in Germany who were philosophically opposed to Nazism, esp. as it become more lethal. However, the power of conformity imposed by the Nazis silenced many. This book illustrates a futile attempt to change a society that committed suicide with its pact with the devil: Hitler and his murderous band of Nazis. An excellent book.
December 16, 2017
I gave up on this book at 2/3 way through. This book is written without a major focus. It can be about the Stauffenberg, or nazi, or even Gothe!? It sorts of mentioning everything with skin deep description. I love German history and even so I cant finish it.
April 18, 2023
Way too scholarly for my understanding. The first part was good, but then it got into the history of Prussia and the background ancestry of the aristocratic line of the main hero. Pretty in-depth and dry in my opinion.
June 28, 2021
A definitive account of the 20th July Plot
June 1, 2017
I really liked the first 3 chapters where it talked about Col. Claus Von Stauffenberg and how he and conspirators had tried to assassinate Hitler with Operation Valkyrie (aka in history as the July 20, 1944 plot against Hitler) and how Stauffenberg and these conspirators died cause they felt what has the right thing to do, even though they failed and ended up executed for what they did and how they died as heroes to the German people. THEN ch. 4 I started "sleeping" cause it was all about Stauffenberg's ancestors and names were everywhere and I got lost then probably a chapter or two later when they really talked and Stauffenberg - what he was like, things he said about the war and Hitler, the Nazi's etc, things like that - then it got interesting up to when he was transferred from Germany to North Africa. then it got boring. I felt like the author after that was talking nonsense and NOTHING to do with Stauffenberg. I'd still reccommend this book, but just read chapter's 1-3 and 6-8. those were the good/interesting ones out of the 13 chapters. I thought the author could've done without 13 chapters when the rest is boring and all nonsense really. But I still enjoyed it and with the first 3 chapters, I was also impressed at how Hollywood and Tom Cruise had followed the movie "Valkyrie" perfectly! I would read the first 3 chapters and watch the movie after. I now have a HUGE appreciation for what this guy (Stauffenberg) did and his courage to do this when others had previously failed to kill Hitler at least 21 times and he had the courage to do it. even though it failed, he was still a hero.
October 26, 2022
Stauffenberg achieved some American notoriety upon the release of "Valkyrie" starring Tom Cruise. Stauffenberg, a severely wounded, highly decorated German Army officer's end was after the ill-fated attempt on Hitler's life in 1944, when he was arrested and summarily shot for his efforts to kill Der Fuehrer.
This book is an analysis of Stauffenberg's life, his education, his Junker upbringing, and his personal beliefs and philosophy that caused him to turn against Hitler and attempt to kill him. It is a fascinating read, but does occasionally drag as the author works a little too hard to explain philosophical ideas that really need mush less. Nevertheless, if you are interested in the WHY of Stauffenberg's decisions and actions, and insight into the plot's failure, this is a good history.
This book is an analysis of Stauffenberg's life, his education, his Junker upbringing, and his personal beliefs and philosophy that caused him to turn against Hitler and attempt to kill him. It is a fascinating read, but does occasionally drag as the author works a little too hard to explain philosophical ideas that really need mush less. Nevertheless, if you are interested in the WHY of Stauffenberg's decisions and actions, and insight into the plot's failure, this is a good history.
August 27, 2011
This book front-loads the bomb-plot, then segues into a somewhat hagiographic biography of Stauffenberg and an extended section about his mentor/spiritual leader's philosophy and poetry. I like literary criticism, but was not expecting it.
There is some seriously over-the-top purple prose (ex: "this creature [continues] to pollute the cosmos with his existence"). The authors also do themselves no favors with their extensive explanation of how Stauffenberg's mentor was not gay, which came off as protesting way, way too much.
There is some seriously over-the-top purple prose (ex: "this creature [continues] to pollute the cosmos with his existence"). The authors also do themselves no favors with their extensive explanation of how Stauffenberg's mentor was not gay, which came off as protesting way, way too much.
March 31, 2025
Lots here
Two observations:
I am heartened to learn how many people were trying to take Hitler out, including within his close circle. Many more than I thought. I’m not an advocate of assassinations, but just think how many lives could have been saved!
This book goes beyond the main stories and delves into everything from philosophy and authors to just and unjust wars. I had to listen twice to absorb it all, but it gave me a lot to think about.
I listened to the Audible audiobook.
Two observations:
I am heartened to learn how many people were trying to take Hitler out, including within his close circle. Many more than I thought. I’m not an advocate of assassinations, but just think how many lives could have been saved!
This book goes beyond the main stories and delves into everything from philosophy and authors to just and unjust wars. I had to listen twice to absorb it all, but it gave me a lot to think about.
I listened to the Audible audiobook.
August 7, 2011
I would HIGHLY recommend the first third of this book. Very interesting to learn about the effort to destroy Hitler. Then the book takes a turn to boring town, lots of history with little needed information. I would say in the last 2/3rds of the book I learned five things that were interesting. Too bad, this book really had potential.
May 7, 2013
Two stars is entirely for the subject. The first 3 chapters were good, but the rest of the book was not well structured, and was in general a sort of rambling rant. But you get the idea that Stauffenberg did the right thing in a time and place when virtually no one else did. There are much better-rated books on him out there that I will look up.
March 6, 2014
The film was uninspired.
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A skimming re-read before 30th as I will wish to shut my eyes when Cruise is on screen. Even before a skim I know that Cruise is a foot too short to play the rôle so I will be looking out for stilettos
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If only that plot had worked... le sigh
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A skimming re-read before 30th as I will wish to shut my eyes when Cruise is on screen. Even before a skim I know that Cruise is a foot too short to play the rôle so I will be looking out for stilettos
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If only that plot had worked... le sigh
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July 29, 2009The plot to kil Hitler was more complex than it was expected. Colonel Staffenburg was also an awesome figure, able to face up to the evil that was Hitler.
February 14, 2011
My reveiw is on the comments, I messed up.
July 19, 2012
Great book. Describes the 20 July bomb plot with hitherto-unachieved accuracy.
May 11, 2013
Maybe too much details but gives an excellent potrait of nazis. Well investigated
October 29, 2014
Bravery is magical
November 25, 2014
Historic almost-hero, somebody that died trying to change the world for million of people.
Want to read
January 3, 2017$2.99
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews