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Erich Von Manstein: Hitler's Master Strategist Hardcover – Illustrated, July 27, 2010

by Benoît Lemay (Author), Curtis Key (Translator)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 111 ratings
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To many close students of World War II, von Manstein is already considered to be the greatest commander of the war, if not the entire 20th century. He devised the plan that conquered France in 1940, then 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 counteroffensive that, against all odds, restored the German front. Afterward he commanded Army Group South, nearly crushing the Soviets at Kursk, and then skillfully 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 Germano-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.

It is thus through Manstein foremost that the attitudes of other high-ranking officers who fought during the Second World War, particularly on the Eastern Front, can be illuminated. Manstein sought only to serve Germany and was a military man, not a politician. Though not bereft of personal opinions, his primary allegiances were, first, to Deutschland, and second, to the soldiers under his command, who had been committed against an enemy many times their strength. With his grasp of strategy, tactics, and combined arms technology, he proved more than worthy of their confidence. This book is a must-read for all those who wish to understand Germany’s primary effort in World War II, as well as its greatest commander.

Table of Contents

Introduction
I. From the Imperial Army to the Reichswehr
II. The Wehrmacht: Army of the Third Reich
III. Manstein and the March to War
IV. The Polish “Laboratory”
V. The Manstein Plan
VI. Disgrace and a Dramatic Turn of Events
VII. The Incomplete Victory of the Sickle Cut
VIII. Between Two Campaigns
IX. The Conquest of the Crimea
X. The Wehrmacht and the Genocidal War in Russia
XI. Manstein, the Eleventh Army in the Crimea, and the Final Solution
XII. The Winds of Berezina: The Stalingrad Tragedy
XIII. From Retreat to Backlash
XIV. Clash of Titans: The Battle of Kursk
XV. Manstein and the Military Resistance to Hitler
XVI. The Legend of an “Honorable and Upright” Wehrmacht

Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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  1. Print length
    528 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Casemate Pub
  4. Publication date
    July 27, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781935149262
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1935149262
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lemay, well regarded in France as a military historian, offers a well-researched, convincingly reasoned analysis of a general widely considered one of WWII's great commanders, whose memoir is regarded as a classic. Lemay depicts Manstein, who served Hitler to the end, as a master strategist and an inspired general, "the most accomplished product of the Prussian military caste of his time." His talent and achievements gained the respect of his enemies. Hitler himself feared Manstein's independent spirit and strong character. Yet Manstein never addressed the wider aspects of the war he fought and the regime he served; he insisted on restricting himself to military matters, and attributed Germany's defeat to Hitler's incompetent meddling. He insisted the army remained "honorable and upright." So Lemay does a service in carefully compiling, from documents and testimony at Nuremberg, evidence of Manstein's participation in the extermination of the Jews in Ukraine and Crimea. Manstein considered the battlefield "a sort of autonomous territory," separate from politics. In this way, Lemay concludes, he made himself "an obedient instrument in a criminal enterprise." 16 pages of illus.
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Review

"a must read for those interested in not only gaining familiarity with a more moderate position on Manstein, but also for all those who wish to understand Germany's primary effirt in WWII, as well as its greatest commander."
Globe at War

"This book is a must-read for all those who wish to understand Germany’s greatest World War II commander, for both his strategic brilliance and moral ambiguity"
History Book Club

“…never lets us forget that he was morally responsible for his own actions… informative and objective… A worthwhile addition for World War II enthusiasts.”
Library Journal

“…well researched, convincingly reasoned analysis of a general widely considered one of World War II’s great commanders...”
Publisher’s Weekly

“…an objective analysis not only of Von Manstein's campaigns but also of his participation in the criminal aspects of Nazi Germany's war effort. Much to the author's credit, he does not flinch when he exposes Von Manstein's participation in the “Final Solution” and an intense examination of the Field Marshal's politics, attitudes and behavior towards his enemies. An excellent biography of a flawed yet brilliant soldier.”
The Past in Review

“…straightforward and uncomplicated… succeeds in cutting through the post-war rewriting of history perpetrated by Manstein (and others) and gives us a realistic pictures of Manstein’s career warts and all.”
The Wargamer

“It is widely agreed that Erich von Manstein was the Wehrmacht’s finest general. He was a master of strategic planning, operational command, and tactical boldness. . . . Lemay, a civilian scholar and one of the best of the rising generation of French military historians, synergizes Manstein’s campaigns and his role in the Final Solution.”—
World War II

“The author has successfully maintained a balance between admiration for the military skills of Manstein and condemnation of his involvements in war crimes and total failure to understand the nature of Hitler's rule during the war. The result is a portrait of a great commander but a flawed person.”
History of War

“…hefty tome giving a insight into the character of Von Manstein...One of the interesting facets to emerge from the research put into this book was how chance and luck favored the rise of Manstein and also how it affected the outcome of various operations… if you want to know about the man, this is the book you need.”
Military Modelcraft International

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1935149261
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Casemate Pub; Illustrated edition (July 27, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781935149262
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1935149262
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.94 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 111 ratings

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  1. Benoît Lemay

    Benoît Lemay

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  2. Curtis Key

    Curtis Key

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
111 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Aussie Bruce
5.0 out of 5 stars Long overdue
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2013
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Having read Manstein's memoirs twice over the years I formed the view that he, like Albert Speer, had a very convenient memory problem - at best. At worst they were up to their armpits in bestial criminality at a breathtaking scale? How could Manstein not know what was happening around him in areas where he held absolute control? To talk about the honour of the Wehrmacht is a grotesque injustice to the millions of dead (Jewish and non-Jewish) that were the result of an invasion of the Soviet Union that set out to enslave and murder based on crackpot racist nonsense. How easy it was to blame Hitler. There were many hitlers. Lemay points out that the extreme views expounded by Hitler were widely held at the time.

The book is a long overdue analysis of history that was papered over as the geopolitical realities of the Cold War gripped Europe. The victors executed a swag of war criminals whose primary defence was that they were following orders but no field generals were executed - those who in many cases gave those orders.

In reading the book I was reminded of that excellent movie Stanley Kramer's, Judgement at Nuremburg (1961)starring Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster (also other excellent cast including William Shatner, Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland). It was inspired by the Judges' Trial as part of the war crimes trials at Nuremburg in 1946-47. Lancaster played the character of an eminent German jurist Ernst Janning. The drama was how could the internationally renowned Janning collaborate with the regime clearly steeped in criminality and genocide? The similarity between the Janning character and Manstein as depicted by Lemay's book was quite significant to me. The arguments about the period that led to the Nazi government were the same, all the way to the subsequent post-war pressure to forgive and forget in light of the emerging Cold War. The difference was that Janning, in a memorable speech played by Lancaster, acknowledged his guilt.

It however is easy to judge at a distance of 70 years without understanding the values and turbulent history that led to the disaster. No participants were guiltless, no more than their fathers who stumbled into a similar world catastrophe in 1914. I wonder about our moral high ground when, notwithstanding the lessons of 1945, the March of Folly (apologies to Barbara Tuchman) took us to Vietnam and Iraq with some sordid detours to support some pretty nasty characters like Augusto Pinochet and Francisco Franco.
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Christian Potholm
4.0 out of 5 stars ” Von Manstein was the finest strategic mind and battlefield commander of World War II ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
Benoit Lemay, Erich von Manstein: Hitler’s Master Strategist (Philadelphia: Casemate, 2010). This book is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the military thinking behind many of Germany’s World War II campaigns. It also helps one appreciate the axiom “Two things can be true simultaneously.” Von Manstein was the finest strategic mind and battlefield commander of World War II (Russian marshal Malinowski called him “our most dangerous enemy”). His genius came up with “Plan Sickle Cut” which was not only the movement of German panzers through the Ardennes, but also and even as important, the continuing advance after the Meuse River had been reached. Further, his campaigns in the Crimea and after Stalingrad, saving Army Group A and Don Group and recapturing Kharkov in the spring of 1943 place him in the top echelon of battlefield commanders. Had he been allowed to conduct Operation Citadel at the time and location of his choosing and had he, not Rundstedt been in charge of the Western Front at the time of the Normandy invasion, major battles might have turned out at least somewhat differently. But, and it remains a very big “but” when considering his legacy, Manstein was also complicit in planning the various Nazi wars of aggression and the murderous treatment of Jews, Poles and Russians (including POW’s) on the Eastern Front, and of being, at best, politically naïve with regard to Hitler. All this and more is illuminated in Lemay’s outstanding work.
2 people found this helpful
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L. White
5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced Look at a Revered Figure
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2010
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A balanced biography on a relatively little-studied German general. Lemay does an excellent job in showing Manstein's military genius, yet picks apart the myths regarding Manstein's (and other Wehrmacht generals') lack of knowledge of the extermination of Communists and Jews in overrun areas and possible war crimes. To some extent, Lemay paints Manstein as naive with regards to the possibility of a peace settlement for Germany shy of unconditional surrender. Lemay also deals in great depth with what must have been the complex relationship between Manstein and Hitler, including the reasons while Manstein chose not to support anti-Hitler conspirators. In the final chapter, Lemay criticizes Manstein for inappropriately hiding behind his Prussian sense of honor in refusing to take action against the Nazis to save Germany.

All in all, a well-written and valuable book, although the chapters on the Russian battles can be a slow read.

It is clear that Lemay respects Manstein for his military abilities, but fairly exposes the character flaws that prevented Manstein from being an even bigger part of history.
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Cliente Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Revelador
Reviewed in Brazil on September 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
O Livro é muito bom e dinâmico, infelizmente ainda não tem tradução para o português, mas revelas questões do alto comando alemão até então desconhecidas para mim e acaba com o mito de uma Wehrmacht limpa.
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etienne engelhardt
4.0 out of 5 stars Where is he now that we need him. He would have the Russians out of Ukraine in 3 weeks
Reviewed in Canada on October 4, 2022
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Casual reading
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Kevin R
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2019
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Great book about hitlers second best field marshal after von rundstedt.
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Crusader
4.0 out of 5 stars Great History
Reviewed in Australia on May 31, 2019
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Enjoyed reading about what went on at the higher levels and shows that all was not well.
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Hans Sachs
4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Overview
Reviewed in Germany on June 19, 2012
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Not the best book on this subject, but an easy to read and very comprehensive overview about the subject from strategic genius to the refusal of aknowledging the treatment of prisoner of war and the acting of the Einsatzgruppen. The downside are lots of repetitions, mostly indirect quotings and very few new and original thoughts and sources. However, the big upside and strenghth of Lemay is to summarize the current status of the research and to condense this into a comprehensive and still readable book.
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