The Rommel Papers; Edited with the assistance of Lucie-Maria Rommel, Manfred Rommel, and General Fritz Bayerlein

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1953. Presumed First U. S. Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xxx, 545, [5] pages. Endpaper maps. Footnotes. Illustrations. Maps (incl. 2 fold-out). Appendix. Index. Index to Editorial Notes by General Bayerlein. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. It has wear, tears, soiling, and chips. Embossed stamp of previous owner on title page. Contents include: Introduction, The Story of the Rommel Papers by Manfred Rommel, Editorial Note, Part One: France 1940; Part Two: The War in Africa--First Year; Part Three: The War in Africa--Second Year; Part Four: Italy; Part Five: Invasion. The Rommel Papers is the collected writings by the German World War II field marshal Erwin Rommel published in 1953. The book included Rommel's writings of the war, edited by the British strategist and historian B. H. Liddell Hart, the former Wehrmacht officer Fritz Bayerlein, who served on Rommel's staff in North Africa, and Rommel's widow and son. The volume contained an introduction and commentary by Liddell Hart. Liddell Hart had a personal interest in the work: by having coaxed Rommel's widow to include material favorable to himself, he could present Rommel as his "pupil" when it came to mobile armored warfare. Thus, Liddell Hart's "theory of indirect approach" became a precursor to the German blitzkrieg ("lightning war"). The controversy was described by the political scientist John Mearsheimer in his work The Weight of History, who concluded that, by "putting words in the mouths of German Generals and manipulating history", Liddell Hart was in a position to show that he had been at the root of the dramatic German successes in 1940. The historian Mark Connelly argues that The Rommel Papers was one of the two foundational works that lead to a "Rommel renaissance", the other being Desmond Young's biography, Rommel: The Desert Fox. The book contributed to the perception of Rommel as a brilliant commander; in an introduction, Liddell Hart drew comparisons between Rommel and Lawrence of Arabia, "two masters of desert warfare. Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German general during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox, he served as field marshal in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as serving in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany. Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his actions on the Italian Front. In 1937, he published his classic book on military tactics, Infantry Attacks, drawing on his experiences in that war. In World War II, he commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established his reputation as one of the ablest tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname "the Desert Fox". Among his British adversaries he had a reputation for chivalry, and his phrase "war without hate" has been uncritically used to describe the North African campaign. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944. With the Nazis gaining power in Germany, Rommel gradually came to accept the new regime, with historians giving different accounts on the specific period and his motivations. He was a supporter of Adolf Hitler, at least until near the end of the war, if not necessarily sympathetic to the party and the paramilitary forces associated with it. In 1944, Rommel was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler. Because of Rommel's status as a national hero, Hitler desired to eliminate him quietly instead of immediately executing him, as many other plotters were. Rommel was given a choice between committing suicide, in return for assurances that his reputation would remain intact and that his family would not be persecuted following his death, or facing a trial that would result in his disgrace and execution; he chose the former and committed suicide using a cyanide pill. Rommel was given a state funeral, and it was announced that he had succumbed to his injuries from the strafing of his staff car in Normandy. Rommel has become a larger-than-life figure in both Allied and Nazi propaganda, and in postwar popular culture, with numerous authors considering him an apolitical, brilliant commander and a victim of Nazi Germany. Rommel's reputation for conducting a clean war was used in the interest of the West German rearmament and reconciliation between the former enemies – the United Kingdom and the United States on one side and the new Federal Republic of Germany on the other. Several of Rommel's former subordinates, notably his chief of staff Hans Speidel, played key roles in German rearmament and integration into NATO in the postwar era. The German Army's largest military base, the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf, is named in his honor. The longtime mayor of Stuttgart, Germany and namesake of Stuttgart Airport, Manfred Rommel, was his son. Condition: Good / Fair.

Keywords: WW1, Erwin Rommel, Liddell Hart, Military History, Military Thought, Strategy, Third Reich, Wehrmacht, Afrika Corps, Armored Warfare, Desert Warfare, Alamein, Fritz Bayerlein, Cavallero, Kesselring, Bernard Law Montgomery, Archibald Wavell

[Book #830]

Price: $75.00