Overview

Transcripts of Secret Conversations, 1942–45 Edited by Sönke Neitzel and Foreword by Ian Kershaw . Tells the fascinating story of this surveillance operation . Includes biographies of the officers who appear in the transcripts . Explodes the myth of the 'unblemished Wehrmacht' 'An outstanding work' – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 'Professor Neitzel's research opens up to us previously untapped rich sources for exploring the mentality of Germany's military elite . . . For this excellent edition we are very much in his debt' – Ian Kershaw Between 1942 and 1945, MI-19, a division of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, created a number of Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centres in and around London. The most important of these centres was at Trent Park, in North London. Sophisticated tapping equipment was installed, and secret gramophone recordings were made of conversations between German general staff officers. In these transcripts, the officers reflect on how they thought the war was progressing, and the direction of German politics and strategy. The officers discussed the July Plot of 1944, the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler, collaboration with the enemy, and their experience of German war crimes. The editor has written biographies of all of the officers who appear in the transcripts, and has meticulously researched the valildity of their assertions. Tapping Hitler's Generals also tells the extraordinary background and details of the surveillance operation. One tactic for acquiring information involved mixing up Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe officers in order to elicit more detailed explanations of events and technologies. German stool pigeons were used to stir up debate, and a bogus welfare officer named Lord Aberfeldy acted as an undercover interpreter. Sönke Neitzel is Professor of Modern History at the University of Mainz. Since 1994 he has been specialist adviser in history to the German ZDF television network. He is the author of a number of books on World War II, including Kriegsausbruch and Weltmacht oder Untergang. Ian Kershaw is the author of 'The Hitler Myth': Image and Reality in the Third Reich.

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9781844157051

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Reviews

A goldmine of information about what the German High Command privately thought of the war, Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and each other. . . . Attempts to suggest that genocide was solely the responsibility of the SS and Nazi fanatics, and not widespread across the whole Wehrmacht, completely collapse before the evidence of these recordings. -- Daily Mail An outstanding work. -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

A goldmine of information about what the German High Command privately thought of the war, Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and each other. . . . Attempts to suggest that genocide was solely the responsibility of the SS and Nazi fanatics, and not widespread across the whole Wehrmacht, completely collapse before the evidence of these recordings. --Daily Mail An outstanding work. --Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Author Information

SÖNKE NEITZEL is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, having also held positions at the universities of Glasgow, Saarbrucken, Bern and Mainz. He is the author of seven books, including the best-selling 'Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying' and appeared on the major Channel 4 documentary 'Spying on Hitler's Army'. SÖNKE NEITZEL is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, having also held positions at the universities of Glasgow, Saarbrucken, Bern and Mainz. He is the author of seven books, including the best-selling 'Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying' and appeared on the major Channel 4 documentary 'Spying on Hitler's Army'.

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