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    Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk
    Unavailable
    Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk
    Unavailable
    Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk
    Ebook591 pages9 hours

    Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk

    By Len Deighton

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A compelling history of Blitzkrieg: the ‘lightning war’ by which Hitler and his generals overwhelmed the Allied armies in Western Europe.

    ‘Blitzkrieg’ begins with a chilling portrait of Hitler’s rise to power in pre-war Germany, setting the stage for the outbreak of the Second World War and his conquests of Poland and Norway. This riveting history sets out clearly the tactical thinking behind Blitzkrieg and focuses an expert’s eye on the materiel – pre-eminently the Panzer tank – that made it possible. Concluding with a compelling account of the campaigns that drove the German armies through the Low Countries and into France, Deighton reveals the Führer’s ‘fatal flaw’, which made possible the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk.

    ‘Blitzkrieg’ is the story of Hitler’s triumph and Europe’s darkest hour. Few writers have understood it as well as Deighton – an ex-RAF pilot – and perhaps none has been able to describe it so tellingly.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateMar 27, 2014
    ISBN9780007549511
    Unavailable
    Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk

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    Reviews for Blitzkrieg

    4.5/5

    4 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This was a pretty good book, but it had some information and assertions that surprised me. I've spent my whole life as a war buff, spent much of my youth consumed with WW II, thought I understood how Blitzkrieg theory was actually fought in WW II, but apparently, I'm wrong. The book gives a pretty good history and summary of German war status, theory, preparation, Hitler's rise, mindset, theories of various military strategists. And then the war finally commences. Obviously, then, if this is well known to others, I'm showing my own ignorance here, but I'd always heard that Germany's Blitzkrieg techniques were unleashed on Poland, before excelling in Belgium and France, and ultimately later Russia, to a degree. If you've believed that too, Len Deighton will argue you're wrong. His thesis is it was not used in Poland, it was somehow not used in Russia, and it wasn't even really used in Belgium. Merely in France, in the Ardennes, to a shocking degree of success. This was news to me, but I'll grant Len authority status and take his word for it.I wasn't totally stunned at how inept France's leadership, both political and military, was, as I'd read other books on France in other wars of the century where the beaurocracy, logistical and communication nightmares are simply legendary, but it was still a bit of a shock to find out how the previously thought to be best army in Europe/the world was so incredibly fucked up! It took 48-72 hours to relay orders, because the leaders didn't use radios, everything was hand carried (orders), and just because you got orders, you didn't do anything until they had been confirmed one to two more times. By which point the German army was 60 miles behind your lines, destroying your country. Fucking idiots! The British, initially, weren't a lot better, at least not the vaunted RAF, which was disappointing to read, but if the truth hurts, it hurts. Some of the French actually played soldier at Dunkirk, allowing hundreds of thousands of British and French troops to escape to Britain, but again, I continued to be shocked at how willing the French political and military leadership was to surrender to Hitler and essentially conspire in his plot against Jews and others, while the Free French forces in Britain were led by only one real general of note, and we all know who that is. Why France is on the UN Security Council is beyond me. They've insisted they're one of the great world powers, but they got their asses kicked in WW I, went over to Hitler after getting their asses kicked in WW II, lost Indochina (although embarrassingly, America followed France's exact same mistakes with the same results), lost most or all of their colonies, and while they're the centuries biggest losers, they land a permanent spot on the UN Security Council. Don't get it. I've read about how they insisted. THEY HELPED HITLER! They shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the UN Security Council! Of course, while implicitly bragging about the US in the first half of the century, like an ugly American, I could admit to a number of American "irregularities" that many people wouldn't want known about a LOT of countries around the world where uninvited or unwanted westerners stuck their noses into things and propped up or took down "dictators" all over the damn place, so in the end, maybe the US shouldn't be on the Security Council either, eh? LOL! Okay, I'll stop with the politicizing. Sorry. It's a good book, an easy read, interesting to those who would find the topic interesting, but stops with the capitulation of France, and I guess I knocked a star off because I wish the author had gone on to address Russia and explain just why that was NOT blitzkrieg warfare -- what the differences were -- because without having studied it in detail lately, it seems like similar tactics were used to launch the Eastern Front, but obviously I'm wrong. I just want to know how and why I'm wrong, and I never got that information from this book, so one star off for that. Otherwise, recommended.
    • 4/5
      Whilst this might seem a little dated, this rather oddly structured book is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the strategy of blitzkrieg. By cutting behind the myth of the German Army's advanced technology it goes a long way to explaining what happened next in the war.The opening chapters on interwar Germany are fairly standard fare, and to anyone who has studied the period, will not do it justice. The account of Hitler's effective takeover of the German Army is interesting enough, and the account of the campaigns/diplomacy of the late 30s is also interesting.It is the account of the machinery and tactics of Blitzkrieg that I found most illuminating - the tiny amount of armour available to the German's; the very conventional strategy of the Poland campaign; the German inferiority in every department in the war in France (the opening two weeks of which are, in the authors opinion, one of the few real moments of true blitzkrieg warfare).I would suggest, it is this lack of strength in depth, and the very specific nature of the terrain blitzkrieg works in, that explain the failure of the Russian campaign, just as much as the weather. It also throws a poor light on the policy of appeasement.A book for those with an interest in military affairs rather than just politics, but interesting stuff.