Panzer General: Heinz Guderian and the Blitzkrieg Victories of WWII

by Kenneth John Macksey

Kenneth Macksey's highly regarded biography of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian gives clear insight into the mind and motives of the father of modern tank warfare. Panzer General shows Guderian as a man of ideas equipped with the ability to turn inspiration into reality. A master of strategy and tactics, he was the officer most responsible for creating blitzkrieg in World War II. Guderian built the Panzerwaffe in the face of opposition from the German General Staff and personally led the lightning campaigns by tanks and aircraft that put a large part of Europe under domination by the Third Reich. Kenneth Macksey, a tank man himself for more than twenty years, reveals the man as a brilliant rebel in search of ideals and a general whose personality, genius, and achievements far transcended those of Rommel.

As well as throwing light on the crucial campaigns in Poland, France, and Russia, this biography illuminates the struggles within the German hierarchy, both in the military and in the Nazi Party, for control of the Panzer forces. Based on information from the extensive family archives, Panzer General demonstrates why Guderian was so admired by some while denigrated by others.

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

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1975

About the author

British author and historian who specialized in military history and military biography, particularly of the Second World War. Macksey was commissioned in the Royal Armoured Corps and served during the Second World War (earning the Military Cross under the command of Percy Hobart). Macksey later wrote the (authoritative) biography of Hobart.Macksey gained a permanent commission in 1946, was transferred to the Royal Tank Regiment in 1947, reached the rank of major in 1957 and retired from the Army in 1968.

Amongst many other books, Macksey wrote two volumes of alternate history, one, entitled Invasion, dealt with a successful invasion of England by Germany in 1940 and the other describing a NATO–Warsaw Pact clash in the late 1980s. The latter book was done under contract to the Canadian Forces and focuses on the Canadian role in such a conflict. He was an editor and contributor to Greenhill's Alternate Decisions series since 1995.

In Macksey's Guderian – Panzer General, he refuted the view of historian Sir Basil Liddell-Hart regarding Hart's influence on the development of German Tank Theory in the years leading up to 1939.

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty inexperienced with military books so this approach to World War II was a new angle for me. A biography of Heinz Guderian, the focus is on his professional life which spanned the period hedged by both world wars during which time he developed remarkably effective tank designs and tactics. Not a Nazi himself, but portrayed as an archetypically ideal Prussian officer, Guderian is contrasted to Hitler and his sycophants.

Although such a military book was a departure from my normal approach to history, my background in the period and the personalities involved allowed me to follow Macksey's text with a fair degree of comprehension. Although well written and not overly technical, I imagine this would not be a very rewarding read for someone less familiar with the historical background.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-De lo prusiano y lo misterioso, mucho de cada.-

Género. Biografía.

Lo que nos cuenta. Acercamiento a la figura del Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, molesto para los aliados por su avanzada concepción de la guerra y molesto también para buena parte del estamento militar alemán por no comulgar con ruedas de molino. Esta es la segunda edición de la obra, revisada por el autor, en 2003.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....

[Kristi · Rating 1 out of 5]

******First of all do not be misled by the publication date of 2018. This book was written in 1975!!! There were supposed "revised editions" in 1992 and 2003 by the author, but if this is true no sources were used for the "revisions". The most recent date of the books in the bibliography is 1974. If the book was altered in the later years quoted, what were the sources used????? Second of all this book is not scholarly. There are no notes / footnotes. We never know what source is being quoted or not quoted as the case may be..... Sometimes "word of mouth" is used as the source, but no interviews or correspondence is in the bibliography. In other words this author has no credibility with me as an historian..... I did not realize these facts until I was reading the book as the latest publication was in 2018, but this is simply a reprint by a new publisher capitalizing on the increased interest in World War II history. Because of all these factors it is difficult to form an accurate opinion of Guderian. The author does not even state whether the general was a member of the Nazi party. I do not dispute the fact that he was a brilliant tactician in the use of tanks and fought against Hitler on behalf of the army when his decisions were deleterious to the Wehrmacht, if not outright insane. The latter can be said of many German army commanders who were handicapped by Hitler. Guderian knew of the Stauffenberg plot to assassinate Hitler and to my mind chose the coward's way - he did not help in the plot, but did not reveal what he knew to anyone outside the plan. To read this book is to be told that Guderian knew nothing of the holocaust and war crimes in the Eastern campaign. If you are attempting to persuade someone to kill Hitler, don't you think the atrocities might have been mentioned??? Did Guderian not live in Nazi Germany?? Was he blind to what happened to people in his country? This story could not accurately be written, because Guderian's major influence was in the East or Operation Barbarossa, until after the Russian archives were opened for research in 1990. Later sources reveal: The German military killed thousands of civilians. Military officials mistreated and killed prisoners of war, ignoring both the Geneva Convention and their own army regulations. He ( Guderian ) learned of the murder operations and of Jews being forced into ghettos from his son, Heinz Günther Guderian, who had witnessed some of them. There is no record of his having made any protest. Epstein, Catherine (2015). Nazi Germany Confronting the Myths. Hart, Russell A. (2006). Guderian: Panzer pioneer or myth maker? Battistelli writes that Guderian rewrote history in his memoirs, but notes that the biggest re-writing of history comes not in his fatherhood of the panzer force but in the cover-up of his culpability for war crimes during Operation Barbarossa. Battistelli, Pier (2011). Heinz Guderian: Leadership, Strategy, Conflict. In his memoirs, Guderian's claimed that the criminal Commissar Order was not carried out by his troops because it "never reached [his] panzer group". He denied that the Barbarossa Decree, that preemptively exempted German troops from prosecution for crimes committed against Soviet civilians, was ever carried out either. Guderian claimed to have been solicitous towards the civilian population, that he took pains to preserve Russian cultural objects, and that his troops had "liberated" the Soviet citizens. Ronald Smelser and Edward J. Davies, in their book The Myth of the Eastern Front, conclude that Guderian's memoirs are full of "egregious untruths, half truths, and omissions", as well as outright "nonsense". ***** I feel tricked by the publication date and by the author. This is not history - it might have been dictated by Guderian it is so self serving. What a waste of my time!!!!!!!! ******* Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Luka Novak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guderian absolutely is a person that deserves study, both for his theoretical and practical work and his place in WW2 Germany This book promises to deliver, but it falls short of being an excellent and comprehensive work.

For starters, the book was written in 1975. And while this edition claims to be updated it really isn’t. Even author admits revision revolves around certain details involving aftermath of 20. July assassination plot. As such the body of book is the same as it was when originally published, as can be seen by bibliography not including anything fresher. And sources are another big issue, listed ones are mostly biographies and memoirs of other Germans with no primary sources such as war diaries. Author frequently quotes Guderian’s letters, mostly to his wife, but no collection is listed in sources so the general feel about them is “trust me, bro!” But at least here Macksey challenges Guderian’s own memoirs, Panzer Leader and points out omissions and similar problems.

Sadly he tends to be less critical when it comes to certain less than savory aspects as Guderian’s views. While he does admit he had no love for Poles he goes out of his way to point out he wasn’t an anti-semite and took no part in Holocaust, trying to exonerate him by saying he had no knowledge about Holocaust. Which may be true in strictest sense, but given that Guderian fought on Eastern front he had to know what was happening behind the front with SS being unleashed on Jewish population. Here again he wants to paint Guderian as honourable general who tried to curb various excesses (such as Commissar order) by not passing on such orders. This is understandable in light of the time when book was written and then prevailing myth of clean Wehrmacht where all the crimes were pinned on the SS and Army taking no part in it. Similarly he mentions the bribes Hitler gave to his generals, it’s mentioned once and again justified by “everybody took it so we can’t blame Guderian for taking it as well”. Guderian getting his ancestral home (which ended up in Poland) back is described as righting the historical wrong and pretty much returning it to rightful owner after it was stolen by perfidious Poles. Did Macksey feel delving deeper into this matter will besmirch the reputation he wanted to build for Guderian? The treatment of Guderian’s role in 20. July plot is treated the same. Macksey doesn’t have an issue with Guderian sitting on the fence about it. He admits Guderian had some knowledge about something being planned but wanted no part in it for various reasons. One could understand Macksey excusing him by pointing out Guderian was not a politician but Macksey complains about other generals adopting similar neutral stance in the past. It again feels like Macksey trying to reconcile his vision of Guderian with conflicting facts. It’s no different when it comes to his stints in high command. Earlier he points out army was slowly but steadily giving in to Hitler’s demands and Nazi influence with the hope that if they don’t fight now they’ll get better treatment later. When Guderian does the same Macksey levies no criticism.

In similar vein, again we can explain this by the time when book was published, Macksey subscribes and repeats the mantra of post war German generals’ memoirs, namely that Hitler with his amateurism and dilettantism ruined perfectly fine plans drawn up by the army. This is most visible when it comes to Kyiv or Moscow option during Barbarossa, where army pushed for advance on Msocow and Hitler demanded they take Kyiv and secure Ukraine first. It is of course impossible to say whether army plan would succeed and bring the desired result. Similarly in later years, as the argument goes, Wehrmacht still could have inflicted painful defeats on Red Army had it been given ability to conduct flexible defence and not stand in place as Hitler demanded. This of course ignores the fact that after Kursk Wehrmacht was frequently outfought by Soviets and it wasn’t just drowned in men and machines.

When it comes to the topic of his theoretical work, namely the development of tank forces and their doctrine Macksey tends to give nearly all credit to Guderian, greatly ignoring contribution of other Germans. He does correctly identify his inspiration, namely Fuller, and points out why claims by Liddell-Hart to be an inspiration are simply not true. In his assessment of Guderian’s work he traces how this claim was made and how Guderian agreed to lie on L-H’s behalf. One of most problematic aspect here is that Macksey doesn’t seem to understand what various weapons were meant to do. He mentions issues with tank guns being to weak, which ignores the fact that at the beginning of the war guns could fire fast rounds (against hard targets) or large caliber rounds (against soft targets) but not both. So the need for two types of tanks, Panzer III and IV was dictated by necessity, not just sloppy design. Similarly he treats panzerjäger, jagdpanzer essentially ersatz panzers, which of course ignores that they were designed the way they were to allow large caliber, high velocity guns being mobile. It’s even worse when it comes to how he sees StuG, again a poor man’s panzer rather than low cost means to give infantry a self propelled assault gun to provide additional and self propelled firepower, which freed panzers from this role and allowed them to be used elsewhere. So the irony is that he complains about StuGs being produced at the expense of panzers while this allowed more panzers to be used by panzer divisions and not having to be parceled to infantry.

And then, after singing praises to Guderian he feels the need to ask they question of whether Guderian really was as good as the myth says. Very hypocritical, given that Macksey doesn’t challenge the myth itself.

With that in mind, the book needs to be treated with caution. It does provide a good overview of Guderian’s life and work and delves deeper into aspects otherwise ignored, namely the long standing conflict between him and Kluge and how Guderian was not innocent in it. But rather than re-examining the myth and providing more balanced and objective look at it Macksey simply sands off the roughest edges, smooths the most problematic angles and then proceeds to simply repackage the rest. It’s not a bad book and not a bad start for somebody interested in the man but it absolutely needs to be balanced by more critical work and work that places Guderian, Wehrmacht, panzer formations and their campaigns in context.

[William J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book but the author was far too gracious with his praise of Gurderian. Macksey uses Field Marshal Lord Wavell's standards for a high commander in history, "...handled large forces in an independent command in more than one campaign and who has shown his qualities in adversity as well as in success," to establish Gurderian as a Great Captain. The author concedes the fact that Gurderian never exercised truly independent command but he dismisses that with the assessment that Gurderian often found ways to circumvent the orders of his superiors. Macksey rates Gurderain as Germany's greatest WWII leader and a Great Captain. I don't think the evidence supports that conclusion.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a flawed book on Guderian in World War II. It deals with his creation of armored forces which were so victorious in May, 1940 in France and also earlier in Poland and later in the Russian campaign in Smolensk. It gives his full credit for this. But it gets bogged down in the politics of the German General Staff and its relations with Hitler. And finally absolves Guderian of knowledge of the Holocaust. So it misses its mark as objective, a military history or a political history. But is still a valuable read on that era.

[Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a biography of the German General n World War II who is credited with creating the “Blitzkrieg” method of using mechanized weapons for rapid advances against enemy forces. Guderian was very proud of this concept and I suspect after reading this book that his ambition and pride got the better of him as he cast a blind eye at Hitler’s persona just as long as he got a chance to prove to his colleges that his concept of making war was proven to be successful. It was a very successful concept, but as everyone knew, it only worked for campaigns designed to be short and decisive. However, Hitler kept pushing and going until the Germans could no longer sustain a prolonged war of attrition. Then of course, Germany lost the war and their county was destroyed and divided. As a successful General, Guderian received promotions, ultimately becoming Chief of the Army General staff. However, his success and promotion created jealousy and resentment from many of his fellow officers. This book details how those interpersonal feuds hurt the German war effort. Even in something as dangerous as war, human traits cannot be set aside to work towards one common cause. Who will receive credit for success and who will be promoted often rears its ugly head in even in war. Also, Guderian too easily shifts blame for reverses suffered by the German Army to interference by Hitler in the General’s plans. It seems convenient to do so in hindsight and seems to be used too often and conveniently to be always be the true cause of disaster. This book was published in 1975 and more recent histories of the German war effort provides scholarship that there were a number of times where Hitler followed the advice of his generals and disaster occurred anyway. This was a well-researched book as the author used Gruderian’s private correspondence and his personal war diary as well as interviews with Guderian’s son, who was also on the Army’s staff, and other contemporaries of Guderian.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Kenneth Macksey reveals the genius of Guderian and his persistence in developing the armored concepts for the German Army. He also shows that Guderian had the courage to defy and stand up to outdated and outmoded thinking amongst senior officers. Although Guderian was taken in by Hitler's promises of a greater Germany, Guderian later went toe-to-toe with Hitler. Acts that could have cost him his life.

[Bill Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book about the General, who helped create the Panzer forces for Germany. I like Macksey, but his writing is a little dry.

[David Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good account of a great general in a flawed system, who prevailed as well as one could, considering Hitler and his sycophants' maneuvering for prestige, power and status quo.

[Bobby Pillote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every so often I need to read a WWII history or else they’ll revoke my WWII nerd card and make me become… *shudders* a Civil War nerd.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about one of the more daring and intelligent German generals of WW2. His strategy and tactics were at the forefront.

[Mick Maye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and intriguing cover of his wartime career by an excellent author. Very good

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Military genius that survived the war and the aftermath. Known to defend his men and to fight alongside them. Beloved by his troops, respected by Hitler and a source of envy for his fellow officers.

[carl theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of many books by Macksey on Guderian. A consice look, 252pgs on the
General.