A must-read for all those who wish to understand Germany’s primary effort in
World War II, as well as its greatest commander. To many students of World War
II, von Manstein is already considered to be the greatest commander of the
conflict, if not the entire 20th Century. He devised the plan that conquered
France in 1940, thence led an infantry corps in that campaign; at the head of a
Panzer corps he reached the gates of Leningrad in 1941, then took command of
11th Army and conquered Sevastopol and the Crimea. After destroying another
Soviet army in the north, he was given command of the ad hoc Army Group Don to
retrieve the German calamity at Stalingrad, whereupon he launched a
counter-offensive that, against all odds, restored the German front. Afterward
he commanded Army Group South, nearly crushing the Soviets at Kursk, and then
skilfully resisted their relentless attacks, as he traded territory for
coherence in the East. Though an undoubtedly brilliant military leader - whose
achievements, considering the forces at his disposal, cast those of Patton,
Rommel, MacArthur, and Montgomery in the pale - surprisingly little is known
about Manstein himself, save for his own memoir and the accolades of his
contemporaries. In this book we finally have a full portrait of the man,
including his campaigns, and an analysis of what precisely kept a genius such as
Manstein harnessed to such a dark cause. A great military figure, but a man who
lacked a razor-sharp political sense, Manstein was very much representative of
the Prussian military caste of his time. Though Hitler was uneasy about the
influence he had gained throughout the German Army, Manstein ultimately declined
to join any clandestine plots against his Führer, believing they would simply
cause chaos, the one thing he abhorred. Even though he constantly opposed Hitler
on operational details, he considered it a point of loyalty to simply stand with
the German state, in whatever form.
