Slightly self-serving, but a must read. ( )

Great book by a great mind. ( )

Heinz was an early believer in the power of the tank to change the battlefield and the tactics of war. His views on the proper use of the tank found acceptance with Hitler early in the war when his tactics helped ensure victory against France and her allies on the European continent. He was sent to join the attack against Russia and was eventually relieved of command because of disagreements with Hitler on how to extend their efforts in Russia. You can read in between the lines about how disappointed in hindsight Guderian was that Germany attacked Poland and then later Russia.

General Guderian was eventually recalled to service and served as a leading general in Germany on Hitler's staff trying to stem the losing tide against the Russians. It is clear Hitler and he had some screaming matching with most of the screaming and carrying on being done by Hitler.

Of note, the book includes a chapter on personalities in command at the top in Germany. I copy this portion on Hitler:

I must now turn to Hitler's personal characteristics as they impressed me. What sort of man was he? He was a vegetarian, a teetotaler, and a non-smoker. These were, taken independently, very admirable qualities which derived from his personal convictions and from his ascetic way of life. But, connected with this, was his isolation as a human being. He had no real friend. His oldest Party comrades were, it is true, disciples, but they could hardly be described as friends. So far as I can see there was nobody who was really close to him. There was nobody in whom he would confide his deepest feelings. There was nobody with whom he could talk freely and openly. As he never found a true friend, so he was denied the ability to deeply love a woman. He remained unmarried. He had no children. Everything that on this earth that casts a glow of warmth over our life as mortals, friendship with fine men, the pure love for a wife, affection for one's own children, all this was and remained for ever unknown to him. His path thru the world was a solitary one and he followed it alone, with only his gigantic plans for company. His relationship with Eva Braun may be cited as a contradiction of what I have written. I can only say that I knew nothing of this and that so far as I am aware I never once saw Eva Braun, though for months on end I was with Hitler an his entourage almost every day. It was only in prison that I first learned of this liaison. It is obvious that this woman cannot have had any influence over Hitler, and the more's the pity, for it could only have been a softening one." General Heinz Guderian in his memoirs: Panzer Leader ( )

Great book by a great mind. ( )