- Author
- Paddy Ashdown
- ARRSE Rating
- 4.5 Mushroom Heads
At a time when all German acts of cruelty or barbarity in the Second World War are attributed to “The Nazis”, rather than saying anything beastly about the Germans, it is refreshing to open a book that carefully analyses the opposition to Hitler. Much of what occurred was in secrecy but Ashdown has carefully unpicked the history with a good G2 eye for detail. The opposition started well before the Second World War and continued throughout the war, even after the failed Valkyrie plot.
The central enigmatic character is inevitably Canaris, the head of the Abwehr. A man of many facets but somehow managing to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds until the closing months of the war. Had he survived there would doubtless have been a place for him in the post war intelligence order alongside Gehlen and others.
The book is meticulously written and the surprising scale of the opposition is most informative. As well as the committed there was a legion of fence sitters. Some of the higher ranking players were never revealed but high grade intelligence was deliberately leaked to the allies. The depressing outcome was how slow the allies were to act upon it, if at all in some cases.
Of particular interest to military historians will be the links to other wartime topics. The considerations behind Operation Anthropoid are an intriguing example.
The book is produced to a high standard with good quality photographs, a bibliography comprehensive index and copious source notes. The book runs to 320 pages. Cover price is £25.00 but copies are on Amazon from £14.35 , Kindle £14.99 and paperback from £9.99
Amazon product
The central enigmatic character is inevitably Canaris, the head of the Abwehr. A man of many facets but somehow managing to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds until the closing months of the war. Had he survived there would doubtless have been a place for him in the post war intelligence order alongside Gehlen and others.
The book is meticulously written and the surprising scale of the opposition is most informative. As well as the committed there was a legion of fence sitters. Some of the higher ranking players were never revealed but high grade intelligence was deliberately leaked to the allies. The depressing outcome was how slow the allies were to act upon it, if at all in some cases.
Of particular interest to military historians will be the links to other wartime topics. The considerations behind Operation Anthropoid are an intriguing example.
The book is produced to a high standard with good quality photographs, a bibliography comprehensive index and copious source notes. The book runs to 320 pages. Cover price is £25.00 but copies are on Amazon from £14.35 , Kindle £14.99 and paperback from £9.99
Amazon product
