Hitler's Commanders

The authors take a brief but probing look into the lives and careers of little-known officers of the Third Reich. The emphasis is more on personalities than on battlefield accomplishments, and Mitcham and Mueller go deeper than the usual Prussian-gentleman-or-Nazi-beast categorization. Friedrich Paulus is cited as an example of the Wehrmacht general who followed Hitler's orders blindly. Hans Hube, on the other hand, exemplifies the rare general who stood up to the Fuhrer. Not all of the officers discussed are of the higher echelon. The authors pay detailed tribute to Hans Marseilles, a lieutenant who shot down 158 Allied aircraft from his Messerschmitt fighter plane, and Michael Wittmann, also a lieutenant, who destroyed 138 enemy tanks with his 88-mm gun. Mitcham is the author of Rommel's Last Battle ; Mueller wrote The Forgotten Field Marshal: Wilhelm Keitel. Photos. (Sept.)