Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader

by Percy Ernst Schramm

Professor Percy Schramm had exceptional access to Adolf Hitler because from January 1943 to the end of the war he was the Führer's official war diarist, working in close proximity with him. This War Diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht was published in several volumes between 1961 and 1965, and in 1965 Schramm edited a new edition of Hitler's Table Conversations, a collection of remarks recorded by a shorthand writer in 1941 and 1942.

This volume contains the introductions written by Schramm to these two works. In addition, there are two appendixes: the first consisting of excerpts from a study composed by Schramm on relations between Hitler and the General Staff; the second a memorandum written by General Jodl in 1946 on Hitler's military leadership.

The result is a valuable contribution to Hitlerian studies. The personal portrait in the first essay is very detailed and contains fascinating material on Hitler's appearance, his prejudices, his reading, his personal relations and his health. The character analysis flows very easily into the consideration of Hitler as a military leader. The author shows how unsuited Hitler was to long-term strategic appreciation. An autodidact, two-faced and reactionary, Hitler had an exceptional memory, great skill in close argument and unusual intuitive understanding. But he was always intellectually insecure and had little ability to distinguish major issues from blind alleys. Schramm is emphatic that Hitler was never mad and that as early as 1942 he recognised that the war was lost, but insisted on adhering to the will to win, no matter how great the sacrifice. The portrait is the more engrossing in that it presents a man of extraordinary, undisciplined powers, capable of advancing headlong in deluded directions.

Genres: Germany, Nonfiction, History, Biography

214 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

some interesting speculation of a wide variety of Hitler's attitudes taken from the 'Table Conversations', but they seem a bit dated and, perhaps, take Hitler's own pronouncements too much at face value. Most of the information has been folded into the better modern biographical works by historians.

[Tomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is actually two essays written by the man who was the diarist for the German general staff under Hitler. It was very interesting. I learned more about Hitler; I was really interested in the fact that he was stuck in the time before World War I. The world had moved on, but Hitler had not. He was a self-educated man who never bothered to study the time he lived in. Schramm did not have personal contact with Hitler regularly, but he caught the essence of the man and answered some of the questions about why Hitler did so much evil. The translator did an excellent job so the book was very easy to read.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schramm, known as an historian of the Holy Roman Empire, served closely with the German General Staff and Adolf Hitler during the latter war years and was called upon to testify during the war crimes trials afterwards at which time he presented a strong defence of Jodl. This book contains his introduction to Hitler's Table Talk as well as the relevant sections of his and Jodl's testimonies. Clearly organized and concise.