Panzer Leader - Softcover

Heinz Guderian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0306811014 ISBN 13: 9780306811012

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2001

Synopsis

General Heinz Guderian's revolutionary strategic vision and his skill in armored combat brough Germany its initial victories during World War II. Combining Guderian's land offensive with Luftwaffe attacks, the Nazi Blitzkrieg decimated the defences of Poland, Norway, France,and, very neatly, Russia,at the war's outset. But in 1941, when Guderian advised that ground forces should take a step back, Hitler dismissed him. In these pages, the outspoken general shares his candid point of view on what would have led Germany to victory, and what ensured that it didn't. In addition to providing a rare inside look at key members of the Nazi party, Guderian reveals in detail how he developed the Panzer tank forces and orchestrated their various campaigns, from the break through at Sedan to his drive to the Channel coast that virtually decided the Battle of France. Panzer Leader became a bestseller within one year of its original publication in 1952 and has since been recognized as a classic account of the greatest conflict of our time.

About this title

Review:

"This brilliant memoir is a mesmerizing read.... A great book by a great soldier."--Stephen E. Ambrose
"Panzer Leader belongs on the shelf of every serious student of this violent twentieth century."--John S. D. Eisenhower
"Guderian's memoirs belong to the classics of military literature, comparable to Grant's or Sherman's."--Newsweek
"His contempt for the Nazis is never far from the surface.... What the general does not say about the great moral and human issues of his era is as revealing as anything ever written about the mentality of the German officer corps."--New Yorker
"There is no soberer and better story of how and why the Wehrmacht failed in Russia.... The military detail is touched by sharp descriptions of the fighting and vivid glimpses of the vague, distorted, half-life of men at war."--New York Times Book Review

From the Back Cover:

'A brilliant, mesmerizing read ... his portrait of Hitler at war is superb ... recommended without reservation' Stephen Ambrose, author of Band of Brothers

Heinz Guderian - master of Blitzkrieg and father of modern tank warfare - commanded the German XIX Army Corps as it rampaged across Poland in 1939.

Personally leading the devastating attack which traversed the Ardennes Forest and broke through French lines, he was at the forefront of the race to the Channel coast. Only Hitler's personal command to halt prevented Guderian's tanks and troops turning Dunkirk into an Allied bloodbath.

Later commanding Panzergruppe 2 in Operation Barbarossa, Guderian's armoured spearhead took Smolensk after fierce fighting and was poised to launch the final assault on Moscow when he was ordered south to Kiev. In the battle that followed, he helped encircle and capture over 600,000 Soviet troops after days of combat in the most terrible conditions.

Panzer Leader is a searing firsthand account of the most effective fighting force in modern history by the man who commanded it.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0306811014
• ISBN 13: 9780306811012
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 552