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Valkyrie: An Insider's Account of the Plot to Kill Hitler
When on July 20, 1944, a bomb-boldly placed inside Hitler?s headquarters by Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg- exploded without killing the Fuhrer, the subsequent coup d??tat against the Third Reich collapsed. The conspirators were summarily shot or condemned in show trials and sadistically hanged. One of the few survivors of the conspiracy was Hans Bernd Gisevius, who had used his positions in the Gestapo and the Abwehr (military intelligence) to further the anti-Nazi plot. Valkyrie, an abridgment of Gisevius?s classic insider?s account To the Bitter End, is an intimate memoir as riveting as it is exceptional.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1946
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440 people want to read
About the author
Hans Bernd Gisevius
17 books3 followersHans Bernd Gisevius was a German diplomat and intelligence officer during World War II. A strong (but covert) opponent of the Nazi regime, he served as a liaison in Zürich between Allen Dulles, station chief for the American OSS and the German Resistance forces in Germany
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
December 26, 2017
HANS BERND GISEVIUS is one of the few survivors of the group of Germans who actively plotted to do away with Hitler. His book provides unparalleled details and perspectives. One example ...
... On the Sunday before the beginning of the Polish campaign, I again visited Keitel and handed him graphically illustrated statistical evidence on the military-economic potentials of Germany and of the other World Powers. These statistics demonstrated clearly the tremendous military-economic superiority of the Western Powers and the tribulation we would face.
... On the Sunday before the beginning of the Polish campaign, I again visited Keitel and handed him graphically illustrated statistical evidence on the military-economic potentials of Germany and of the other World Powers. These statistics demonstrated clearly the tremendous military-economic superiority of the Western Powers and the tribulation we would face.
December 22, 2019
I saw the movie, which was just okay for me. I thought maybe reading an insider's account would be more true to the real story, and although it seems to be, it lost me about 70% into the book. It wasn't as easy to follow as I thought it would be. There were some words that I literally looked up in a German dictionary. Having to do so, took away from the story, but I knew when I started reading it that it was going to be authentic which meant some words I wouldn't understand.
I really wanted to like the story and root for the plot, but sadly, the only thing I ended up rooting for was the Penguins. Lots of drama, lots of excitement and definitely, lots of goals. So, I started my day with Valkyrie and ended with a win against the Rangers, 7 - 2 to be exact.
I really wanted to like the story and root for the plot, but sadly, the only thing I ended up rooting for was the Penguins. Lots of drama, lots of excitement and definitely, lots of goals. So, I started my day with Valkyrie and ended with a win against the Rangers, 7 - 2 to be exact.
July 17, 2013
One hates to speak ill of any of that gallant band of brave members of the conspiracy against Hitler, but Gisevius unfortunately comes off as a little bitter, and certainly less than impressed with von Stauffenberg. While one appreciates the counterpoint to the "usual" presentation of the heroic Stauffenberg, this book seems to lack a bit of perspective.
The problem may be in translation, but I think more that it suffers from what many histories written in the immediate post-war era suffer from (this book was originally published in 1946). Many military officers writing just after the war assumed their audience would know details of military custom, life in the 1940s, personalities of the day, etc., that we today really don't have a grasp of. Much of the context that a reader in 1946 would simply presume, is lost on a modern reader. You find this in Canadian regimental histories, for example, which might be peppered with military acronyms that are now out of date. So it is with Gisevius' work, which I think presumes the audience to have a deep understanding of who the personalities he writes about are. It's as if officers writing in that period were publishing journals for their families and friends rather than writing histories for posterity.
With that in mind, these books are valuable documents for the researcher, but unfortunately, not recommended for the casual reader.
The problem may be in translation, but I think more that it suffers from what many histories written in the immediate post-war era suffer from (this book was originally published in 1946). Many military officers writing just after the war assumed their audience would know details of military custom, life in the 1940s, personalities of the day, etc., that we today really don't have a grasp of. Much of the context that a reader in 1946 would simply presume, is lost on a modern reader. You find this in Canadian regimental histories, for example, which might be peppered with military acronyms that are now out of date. So it is with Gisevius' work, which I think presumes the audience to have a deep understanding of who the personalities he writes about are. It's as if officers writing in that period were publishing journals for their families and friends rather than writing histories for posterity.
With that in mind, these books are valuable documents for the researcher, but unfortunately, not recommended for the casual reader.
December 9, 2013
How can you make a book about the plot to kill Hitler, written by one of the conspirators, less than thrilling, and, indeed, tedious? Beats me. The whole first half of the book was spent introducing the characters. The author seems to want to point how what "good Germans" each one was. Perhaps he felt the need to stress the fact that they were not Nazi sympathizers or Hitlerian acolytes, at least by war's end. The climate of the times in which this book was published may have necessitated such an approach. But why make it so dull and unfocused?
It's not until the final quarter of the book, when the actual "Putsch" is attempted that the book gains any momentum. Perhaps also, this is where the author's personal experiences really begin, until that point he seems to have been an observer. I don't feel I gained much insight into the men who were driven to plot the assassination of their own commanding officer and head of state.
It's not until the final quarter of the book, when the actual "Putsch" is attempted that the book gains any momentum. Perhaps also, this is where the author's personal experiences really begin, until that point he seems to have been an observer. I don't feel I gained much insight into the men who were driven to plot the assassination of their own commanding officer and head of state.
February 26, 2015
This was tough going, and I finally gave up. I got close to page 100, and all the author had done was introduce various people who were part of one opposition circle or another. Some of the intros extended on for pages, while others were just a brief mention as though the reader should recognize the names. I did not recognize them ... The author also did not, in the portion that I got through, really give the reader the sense of how critical these people might have been to the Valkyrie plot.
This was also an abridged version of the book, which I had not realized. It is possible that much of what I was looking for in the way of explanations and continuity were removed.
This was also an abridged version of the book, which I had not realized. It is possible that much of what I was looking for in the way of explanations and continuity were removed.
February 13, 2009
Convoluted and confusing in a lot of places. Difficult to track who's who and who is doing what. I'm left with the impression that the author was only a tangential member of the group plotting Hitler's assassination and that he had an ax to grind against some of the major figures in the group.
July 6, 2010
Ugh - this book was painful. Scattered notes all over the place, unnecessary details and no real flow. I expected a lot more, although I was warned.
September 20, 2011
Very boring until it reaches the point when they plot in action.
February 11, 2020
It starts out slow, then the tension builds up as history as we know it unfolds. The epilogue is not to be missed.
This is an extremely subjective account of the putschists' long-winded, often convoluted, and exponentially frustrating plot to kill Adolf Hitler by Hans Bernd Gisevius: an intelligent, stubbornly proud, ambitious, and intrepid civil servant with a penchant for posterity. It deserves 5 stars for being one of the few documented insider accounts of the years, months, weeks, days, and eventually, hours leading to the detonation of the bomb that was supposed to off Hitler. Why so few accounts? Because so few of them survived the eventual aftermath. And the few who survived were not as conscientious as Gisevius, who documented the plotters' connections, clandestine meetings, mishaps and strategies, interspersed with his personal opinions and character sketches of his allies, his fears, reflections, and reservations for the future. Which all makes for a mixed bag of random conversations, subplots, and scenarios that make you ask what if...WHAT IF?
The bomb which was to kill Hitler was detonated by Colonel Claus Count von Stauffenberg, who volunteered for the job. Amazingly, Gisevius was no fan of Stauffenberg. He is quick to lionize some of his co-plotters (names abound, and I had to peruse the index countless times just to keep track of them), but relegates the one man who could and would do the most dangerous part of the plot--Stauffenberg-- to a walk-on part, neglecting, even refusing to recognize Stauffenberg's significant role in the whole enterprise. As I analyze it, Gisevius's grievance may have been a result of Stauffenberg's dismissive attitude toward Gisevius's efforts and contribution to the plot, an observation Gisevius gathered based on their one and only meeting at a safehouse, just days before the planned detonation. Taking that timeline into consideration, this meant Stauffenberg would have been too nervous and distracted to think of social niceties and posturing, given the looming uncertainty that lay ahead of him.
It took me a while to finish this book. I had some conflicting, sometimes inconsistent sentiments to certain sweeping conclusions expressed by the author. But ultimately, when Gisevius waxes pragmatic, one can't help but see parallels with the state of the world today:
One of the most remarkable phenomena of the war years, moreover, was the creation not only of a collective frenzy of jubilation, but a collective sense of misery as well. In calculating the inner strength of a government based on terror, one must take into account the tremendous efforts that frightened men will put forth, not out of enthusiasm, desire for victory, or blind submission, but quite simply out of hopelessness and despair. - HBG
Passive acceptance, intellectual subservience, or, in religious terms, failure to pray against the evil, may constitute a kind of silent support for authoritarian rule. Once the system of terror has been installed, however, there is only one course remaining to each individual and to all individuals collectively: to fight the terrorists with the same courage and tenacity, with the same willingness to take risks, that they employ in wartime under "orders" when they fight against the "enemy." - HBG
This is an extremely subjective account of the putschists' long-winded, often convoluted, and exponentially frustrating plot to kill Adolf Hitler by Hans Bernd Gisevius: an intelligent, stubbornly proud, ambitious, and intrepid civil servant with a penchant for posterity. It deserves 5 stars for being one of the few documented insider accounts of the years, months, weeks, days, and eventually, hours leading to the detonation of the bomb that was supposed to off Hitler. Why so few accounts? Because so few of them survived the eventual aftermath. And the few who survived were not as conscientious as Gisevius, who documented the plotters' connections, clandestine meetings, mishaps and strategies, interspersed with his personal opinions and character sketches of his allies, his fears, reflections, and reservations for the future. Which all makes for a mixed bag of random conversations, subplots, and scenarios that make you ask what if...WHAT IF?
The bomb which was to kill Hitler was detonated by Colonel Claus Count von Stauffenberg, who volunteered for the job. Amazingly, Gisevius was no fan of Stauffenberg. He is quick to lionize some of his co-plotters (names abound, and I had to peruse the index countless times just to keep track of them), but relegates the one man who could and would do the most dangerous part of the plot--Stauffenberg-- to a walk-on part, neglecting, even refusing to recognize Stauffenberg's significant role in the whole enterprise. As I analyze it, Gisevius's grievance may have been a result of Stauffenberg's dismissive attitude toward Gisevius's efforts and contribution to the plot, an observation Gisevius gathered based on their one and only meeting at a safehouse, just days before the planned detonation. Taking that timeline into consideration, this meant Stauffenberg would have been too nervous and distracted to think of social niceties and posturing, given the looming uncertainty that lay ahead of him.
It took me a while to finish this book. I had some conflicting, sometimes inconsistent sentiments to certain sweeping conclusions expressed by the author. But ultimately, when Gisevius waxes pragmatic, one can't help but see parallels with the state of the world today:
One of the most remarkable phenomena of the war years, moreover, was the creation not only of a collective frenzy of jubilation, but a collective sense of misery as well. In calculating the inner strength of a government based on terror, one must take into account the tremendous efforts that frightened men will put forth, not out of enthusiasm, desire for victory, or blind submission, but quite simply out of hopelessness and despair. - HBG
Passive acceptance, intellectual subservience, or, in religious terms, failure to pray against the evil, may constitute a kind of silent support for authoritarian rule. Once the system of terror has been installed, however, there is only one course remaining to each individual and to all individuals collectively: to fight the terrorists with the same courage and tenacity, with the same willingness to take risks, that they employ in wartime under "orders" when they fight against the "enemy." - HBG
June 7, 2019
An in-depth account of the failed plot to kill Hitler in 1944.
This book covered a lot of detail of different names and where they sat in the resistance against Hitler. It was interesting to read about how much work had gone on in 1939 and 1940. The book then jumps to 1944 and the attempted Putsch.
The author was a key part on the day, but his account is very personal and it shows just how much misinformation was involved on teh day. It was chaotic, and hurried, and that came across in the writing.
As soon as it had come, the Putsch had gone and most of the conspirators were dead. This seemed to focus on the wrong parts, but then again it was very personal
This book covered a lot of detail of different names and where they sat in the resistance against Hitler. It was interesting to read about how much work had gone on in 1939 and 1940. The book then jumps to 1944 and the attempted Putsch.
The author was a key part on the day, but his account is very personal and it shows just how much misinformation was involved on teh day. It was chaotic, and hurried, and that came across in the writing.
As soon as it had come, the Putsch had gone and most of the conspirators were dead. This seemed to focus on the wrong parts, but then again it was very personal
October 13, 2021
Extremely self-serving account of the cabal that plotted to kill Hitler July 20th, 1944 inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters...Authored by one of the survivors of Operation Valkyrie, Hans Bernd Gisevius, an intelligence and bureaucratic operative within the Abwehr...No new ground covered here, other than the fractious nature of the cabal behind the plot...Just OK!
May 7, 2023
Just dry. I’m not sure if it was the translation (or if the author wrote in English) but it’s a very dense way of writing. He also comes off, at times, both apologetic and bitter.
I will say that one should have a pretty good knowledge of history, specifically the bastions assassination attempts, prior to reading.
I will say that one should have a pretty good knowledge of history, specifically the bastions assassination attempts, prior to reading.
May 21, 2018
This book was truly an insider’s account, and I learned a lot. I wish it had more information about the actual event itself, but it is truly an insider’s account, not a history of account. Still, I’m glad I read it.
April 28, 2019
Interesting to read a first hand account written at the time. It's not a gripping polished modern narrative history but it is worth reading and the second half is better than the first. However, I couldn't keep track of most of the people and never had a good feeling for who many of them were.
Read
October 12, 2020I couldn’t finish it. It was too difficult to read. I couldn’t understand what was going on.
September 28, 2021
knife edge stuff , like the film, pity it went badly but shows how bad things had got when even the inner core couldn't remove the dictator.
May 12, 2012
To get top of the heap, and to start a war, and to institute Death Camps for Jews and other undesirables, Hitler had to leave many corpses. Among this carnage are the dead bodies of some of Germany's Finest People. If there was any GOOD person more knowledgeable about where the corpses were buried, it was SS Agent H.B. Gisivius, who was also an insider in the tragically unsucessful attempts to get rid of Hitler. Agent Gisivius also distinguished himself as a witness at Nuremberg with his testimony that enraged Herman Goering, the same Goering that was able to frustrate Supreme Court Justice Jackson's prosecution efforts. Gisivius goes though several adventures, from the Nazi Regime's bloody beginnings, to his transfer to the Abwehr [German Military Intelligence] under Canaris, to the frustrating attempts to get rid of Hitler, often interrupted by the major events of the war, and the lawless antics of Nazi Functionaries (including the embarrassing trials that took place for the Reichstagg Fire). Gisivius was a Witness, and like Historian Procopius, who tried to do GOOD in the Midst of EVIL, and He lived to tell about it!
Firstly, Hitler was a constitutional scholar, not in the sense that Thomas Jefferson was, but in the same sense that Houdini was a Locksmith. Hitler reasoned that the Law of the Land was what the Police enforced. His partners, Goering, Frick, Bormann, Hess, Rohm, and later Himmler, proceeded to build the Gestapo, which they eventually integrated into the Police. The SA acted independantly, starting their own private concentration camps. A power struggle broke out for control of the Police which Gisivius describes in detail with black humor. The result was the Night of the Long Knives, where SA Chief Rohm perished and Himmler gets control of the Gestapo. Meanwhile,Goering uses his special units to end the SA private concentration camps with his own special purge (Goering wanted no competition). In its first months, the Nazi Regime has already shot a Mountain of Corpses.
It was frustrating work to bring about the end of the Nazi Regime. Hitler, when he was in the deepest of doodoo (as in the Reichstagg Fire Trial) was able to pull off some magic trick to put himself back into a favorable light, be it the Annexation of Austria, the Occupation of the Rhineland (where he narrowly missed being declared insane), the annexation of Czechoslocakia, Poland, and the Russian Front. Hitler, had he passed from the scene during his pinicle after the Annexation of Czechoslavakia, would have been known as the Greatest german Statesman of All Time, and would have been the Supreme Proof that "Character DOES NOT Matter". Instead, Hitler stayed on and things turned sour by degrees, and it took till 1944 before things got bad enough for Assassination Atempts to become sufficiently daring to recieve notice. (Granted, the March 1943 attempt happened, but those in the know did not talk about it. It was so secret, even Hitler did not know!). Hitler was certainly protected by his own Guardian Devil!
The Big Day approaches! We must get rid of Hitler. The German Resistance meets for one last time before it happens. (The German Resistance were certainly a cut above the average Resistance Movement. In the French Resistance, you only had to worry about an interrogation [you did your duty if you lasted 24 hours] and a speedy execution, with some hope of release. The German Resistance, on the other hand, had secrets that had to be kept for months! No quick execution by pistol either! These guys died by long messy execution by piano wire at the end of a Meat Hook! Look up Fritz Nova's book for the biographys of the July 20th Martyrs to get into the details.) They argue and dissent! Stauffenberg delays and delays, with the hope of getting Hitler, Himmler, and Goering in one fell swoop. Leber has been arrested and is about to be shot, whom Stauffenberg wishes to save as a consequence of his tyrannicide. Staufenberg can delay no longer and the bomb goes off!
The Abwehr acts with Operation Valkyrie, or does it? When Gisivius sees that the dawdling that ensues will come to naught, he looks up his friend, Police President von Heldorf and attempts to abscound. Tragicommically, his attempts to leave the country are frustrated. The Good News is that Gisivius'es hous has been bombed, making it an excellent hiding place for the duration of the war. Finally, the Allies escort him out of Germany as Germany perishes in flames.
This is not a book for the weak of stomach! It is a study of Tyranny. Fritz von Hayek's Road to Serfdom had already been published in 1944, but doubtless, had Gisivius and Hayek had ever met, the von Hayek chapters on German and Austrian History would have been thicker. This book deserves to be a contender for the top 100 Great Books of All Times, and is Certainly worth the trouble to read.
Firstly, Hitler was a constitutional scholar, not in the sense that Thomas Jefferson was, but in the same sense that Houdini was a Locksmith. Hitler reasoned that the Law of the Land was what the Police enforced. His partners, Goering, Frick, Bormann, Hess, Rohm, and later Himmler, proceeded to build the Gestapo, which they eventually integrated into the Police. The SA acted independantly, starting their own private concentration camps. A power struggle broke out for control of the Police which Gisivius describes in detail with black humor. The result was the Night of the Long Knives, where SA Chief Rohm perished and Himmler gets control of the Gestapo. Meanwhile,Goering uses his special units to end the SA private concentration camps with his own special purge (Goering wanted no competition). In its first months, the Nazi Regime has already shot a Mountain of Corpses.
It was frustrating work to bring about the end of the Nazi Regime. Hitler, when he was in the deepest of doodoo (as in the Reichstagg Fire Trial) was able to pull off some magic trick to put himself back into a favorable light, be it the Annexation of Austria, the Occupation of the Rhineland (where he narrowly missed being declared insane), the annexation of Czechoslocakia, Poland, and the Russian Front. Hitler, had he passed from the scene during his pinicle after the Annexation of Czechoslavakia, would have been known as the Greatest german Statesman of All Time, and would have been the Supreme Proof that "Character DOES NOT Matter". Instead, Hitler stayed on and things turned sour by degrees, and it took till 1944 before things got bad enough for Assassination Atempts to become sufficiently daring to recieve notice. (Granted, the March 1943 attempt happened, but those in the know did not talk about it. It was so secret, even Hitler did not know!). Hitler was certainly protected by his own Guardian Devil!
The Big Day approaches! We must get rid of Hitler. The German Resistance meets for one last time before it happens. (The German Resistance were certainly a cut above the average Resistance Movement. In the French Resistance, you only had to worry about an interrogation [you did your duty if you lasted 24 hours] and a speedy execution, with some hope of release. The German Resistance, on the other hand, had secrets that had to be kept for months! No quick execution by pistol either! These guys died by long messy execution by piano wire at the end of a Meat Hook! Look up Fritz Nova's book for the biographys of the July 20th Martyrs to get into the details.) They argue and dissent! Stauffenberg delays and delays, with the hope of getting Hitler, Himmler, and Goering in one fell swoop. Leber has been arrested and is about to be shot, whom Stauffenberg wishes to save as a consequence of his tyrannicide. Staufenberg can delay no longer and the bomb goes off!
The Abwehr acts with Operation Valkyrie, or does it? When Gisivius sees that the dawdling that ensues will come to naught, he looks up his friend, Police President von Heldorf and attempts to abscound. Tragicommically, his attempts to leave the country are frustrated. The Good News is that Gisivius'es hous has been bombed, making it an excellent hiding place for the duration of the war. Finally, the Allies escort him out of Germany as Germany perishes in flames.
This is not a book for the weak of stomach! It is a study of Tyranny. Fritz von Hayek's Road to Serfdom had already been published in 1944, but doubtless, had Gisivius and Hayek had ever met, the von Hayek chapters on German and Austrian History would have been thicker. This book deserves to be a contender for the top 100 Great Books of All Times, and is Certainly worth the trouble to read.
January 30, 2022
Certainly not a book for everyone unless there is not only a vested interest in Nazi, Germany history but also general knowledge to make sense of the names/happenings being mentioned in the book.
March 1, 2017
An excellent firsthand account of not only the Valkyrie plot, but also of the political and military personalities behind the several organizations involved, this memoir offers a unique perspective from one of the more involved conspirators. The detail with which Gisevius recalls the events leading up to the July 20th Putsch is remarkable, and gives a realistic view of the several opinions even within those seeking to establish the new government. This account is abridged, and piqued my interest to read the original book, "To The Bitter End".
April 7, 2010
This book is a lot of talk with very little action. So if you are looking for a WWII book with lots of gory details I would say to keep on looking. That being said, there was a reason for the lack of gore. The author, Hans Gisevius, was merely writing everything from HIS perspective -- which was mostly as a main conspiritor in the assasination of Hitler. I had already seen the movie, so it was different not seeing Stauffenbourg in the same kind of light (if you read the introduction you'll find out a little more about why Gisevius disliked him so much). It was an interesting book, but very hard to keep track of the "players" and the different groups.
I would recommend it to people who enjoy reading WWII books. But if you are looking to read it because you found the movie to be riveting and exciting, I would look elsewhere. The movie was made to keep you on the edge of your seat while the book (admittedly so by the author) is simply to relate what happened from his eyes concerning the attempts on Hitler's life.
I would recommend it to people who enjoy reading WWII books. But if you are looking to read it because you found the movie to be riveting and exciting, I would look elsewhere. The movie was made to keep you on the edge of your seat while the book (admittedly so by the author) is simply to relate what happened from his eyes concerning the attempts on Hitler's life.
July 24, 2016
How can you make a book about the plot to kill Hitler, written by one of the conspirators, less than thrilling, and, indeed, tedious? Beats me. The whole first half of the book was spent introducing the characters. The author seems to want to point out what "good Germans" each one was. Perhaps he felt the need to stress the fact that they were not Nazi sympathizers or Hitlerian acolytes, at least by war's end. The climate of the times in which this book was published may have necessitated such an approach. But why make it so dull and unfocused?
It's not until the final quarter of the book, when the actual "Putsch" is attempted that the book gains any momentum. Perhaps also, this is where the author's personal experiences really begin, until that point he seems to have been an observer. I don't feel I gained much insight into the men who were driven to plot the assassination of their own commanding officer and head of state.
It's not until the final quarter of the book, when the actual "Putsch" is attempted that the book gains any momentum. Perhaps also, this is where the author's personal experiences really begin, until that point he seems to have been an observer. I don't feel I gained much insight into the men who were driven to plot the assassination of their own commanding officer and head of state.
July 14, 2009
After seeing the movie of the same name, I had to read the book...it was a little difficult to figure out who was who, but that was okay. The author was one of the main "conspirators." If you read this book, be sure to read the prologue, because it explains his strained relationship with Col. Stauffenburg, whom he criticizes quite a bit in the book. The tragic sense of loss he expresses is sadly moving as he describes the fate of his dear friends one at a time. One of the most interesting parts at the end addresses the role/responsibility of the German people in the whole disaster...even though he personally believed in the existence of "demonic forces," he attributed the domination of the Nazis merely to inaction and indifference on the part of the German people. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in WWII history.
July 8, 2016
Couldn't make it far in this at all. The first half of the book has nothing to do with the story from the title and is essentially ramblings from a guy who seems to be incredibly jaded from the fact that he wasn't as involved as he'd like to be. I really wanted to enjoy this and this time period is my favorite to read and study, but this book wasn't even close to holding my interest. Avoid. 2 stars only because I think it's important for people to write history down no matter how little they're involved. That being said, this should have been made to be a reference for historians, not a book for the masses.
October 5, 2019
Un témoignage de l'intérieur de la montée du nazisme entre 1933 et 1939 qui dénote parfois de l'histoire qu'on nous enseigne. Hitler apparaît ainsi hésitant, attentiste, presque toujours dépassé par les situations et constamment manipulé par Himmler et Goering. Et puis est éclairci la violence entre S.A et S.S, l'ambition de tous ces nazis, leurs brutalités et leurs faiblesses intelectuelles et le désastre qu'ils construisent où la guerre se révèle être le dernier échappatoire pour masquer encore un peu la ruine de l'Allemagne qui s'annonce...
February 28, 2010
I'd not realized that this book was written during and after the war. Gisevius ends with a tribute to his many friends who died ". . . not fighting destiny, but for their sincerest convictions. Few ages have produced so many martyrs as ours, and in time to come countless Germans will also be included in the roll of honor of those who perished for freedom and a better future." I have learned about and honored those as I have read this book.
August 17, 2011
A remarkable account of the German resistance to the Third Reich. It's complicated writing but worth it to understand better what went on. It is history worth learning in order to avoid it in the future.
"In truth, perhaps the greatest perversion of human nature that takes place under a system of terror is that more character is needed, more courage required, to lie than to confess the truth." --Hans Bernd Gisevius
"In truth, perhaps the greatest perversion of human nature that takes place under a system of terror is that more character is needed, more courage required, to lie than to confess the truth." --Hans Bernd Gisevius
April 3, 2015
This book shows a lot about the beginning of the Jewish genocide led by Adolf Hitler around World War 2. While depicting Hitler's background, this book tells us of the many different plans used to assassinate Hitler, yet none ever succeeded. A little dry in content, but I recommend this book to anyone with fascinations towards history!
January 23, 2016
Excellent book
If you're at all interested in what went on in the Third Reich, this is a book to add to your reading list. Gisevius is a primary resource about the growth of terror and the Gestapo from the earliest days of Nazi Germany.
He's also a good writer. The chapters flow. It an effective combination of his experiences and his commentary. I highly recommend this book.
If you're at all interested in what went on in the Third Reich, this is a book to add to your reading list. Gisevius is a primary resource about the growth of terror and the Gestapo from the earliest days of Nazi Germany.
He's also a good writer. The chapters flow. It an effective combination of his experiences and his commentary. I highly recommend this book.
December 19, 2017
It picked up in the middle (as you'd probably expect in an assassination thriller), but the events leading up to Jan. 20, 1944, which are essentially Gisevius' thoughts on those events, didn't hold my interest.
January 17, 2009
I chose this book because the ads for the movie were all over the television I am not a Tom Cruise fan (sorry Scientolgy [sp:] fans), but I wanted to know more about the story.
Having read the book, I now need to see the movie to see how true the screenplay is to the book.
Having read the book, I now need to see the movie to see how true the screenplay is to the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews