Disobeying Hitler: German Resistance After Operation Valkyrie - Hardcover

Hansen, Randall

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038566463X ISBN 13: 9780385664639

Publisher: Doubleday Canada, 2014

Synopsis

Both horrifying and life-affirming, Disobeying Hitler tells the untold story of German revolt against the dying Nazi tyranny.
     Anyone with even a passing interest in the Second World War knows about the plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. There was even a Tom Cruise movie. But the story of the great wave of resistance that arose in the year that followed--with far-reaching consequences--has never been told before.
     Drawing on newly opened archives, acclaimed historian Randall Hansen shows that many high-ranking Nazis, and average German citizens in far greater numbers than previously recognized, reacted defiantly to the Fuhrer's by then manifest insanity. Together they spared cities from being razed, and prevented the needless obliteration of industry and infrastructure. Disobeying Hitler presents new evidence on three direct violations of orders made personally by Adolf Hitler: The refusal by the commander of Paris to destroy the city; Albert Speer's refusal to implement a scorched earth policy in Germany; and the failure to defend Hamburg against invading British forces.
     In gripping, story-driven style, Disobeying Hitler shows how the brave resistence of soldiers and civilians, under constant threat of death, was crucial for the outcome of the war. Their bravery saved countless lives and helped lay the foundations for European economic recovery--and continued peace

About this title

About the Author

RANDALL HANSEN is a Professor of Politics and holds a Research Chair at the University of Toronto. He has lived in the UK, US, France, Ireland, and Germany.
He has a master's degree and a doctorate from the University of Oxford, where he was a Commonwealth scholar. He has held a Research Fellowship at Christ Church, Oxford, a Tutorial Fellowship at Merton College, Oxford, and two Chairs at research universities.
He is the author or editor of five books, including Fire and Fury (Doubleday Canada, 2008), a narrative history of the Allied bombing of Germany during the Second World War. He has given public lectures throughout Europe and North America, and his work has been translated into German, French, Spanish, and Italian.
He is frequently interviewed by and quoted in the press, including the BBC, the International Herald Tribune, and the Boston Globe. He has appeared live on NPR, the CBC, the CTV, BNN, and numerous local and national television and radio programs. The author lives in Toronto.

Review

“With a title like Disobeying Hitler. . . Hansen’s second book is likely to grab people right from its cover. The text itself, which focuses on the last days of the Third Reich from the perspective of German officers who refused to follow their Führer’s increasingly irrational orders, does not disappoint. . . . A fascinating look at a complex subject.”
—Quill & Quire

“Vivid and compelling... Hansen’s book is a chilling look at Nazi Germany in collapse, a rudderless nation in upheaval, invaded from the east by an avenging army and from the west by Allies horrified by the factories of death they found. In this charnel house – and in direct contravention to the Fuehrer’s orders – half of Germany’s cities surrendered without opposition. This came as hundreds, if not thousands, defied orders and displayed white flags or persuaded German soldiers to stand down. ‘There was,’ Hansen argues, ‘much more active opposition to the National Socialist regime in the last year of the war than much of the literature, transfixed by the horrifying and enchanting image of a Wehrmacht in its death throes, allows.’ It is Hansen’s achievement to bring that opposition to life.”
—David Shribman, The Globe and Mail

“In Disobeying Hitler, Canadian historian Randall Hansen breaks some fresh ground. . . . Hansen presents a comprehensive review of incidents where both commanding soldiers and civilian leaders chose to deliberately disobey the Fuehrer's orders. . . . [He] makes a compelling case.”
—Winnipeg Free Press

“Absorbing...  [Hansen] clearly did a herculean amount of research writing this book. But don’t be deterred by its impeccable scholarship -- it also reads a bit like a whodunit thriller.”
—Toronto Star 

“An authoritative, compelling study sure to raise hackles.”
—Kirkus Reviews 

“Disobeying Hitler provides a fantastic and detailed overview of the largely forgotten story of German resistance to the Nazi state.” 
—Breibart.com

“It is hard to find anything new to say about Nazi Germany, but Hansen manages this with an excellent, carefully researched and well-written account of German resistance.”
—Evening Standard (UK)
 
“Superlative... a fitting tribute to those whose names are less known to us in the post-20 July 1944 world of Stauffenberg’s failed assassination attempt.”
—The Independent (UK)

“A welcome counterpoint to the Hollywood image of German resistance... Hansen has done a fine job of rescuing from obscurity these few, morally hazy individuals, making decisions at the messy end of a cataclysmic war.”
—The Times of London

Praise for Fire and Fury:
"Many thanks to Randall Hansen for this vivid yet judicious account of Allied bombing in World War Two. This outstanding book will ensure that no one can ever again be in doubt about why there is still a controversy over the effectiveness and the morality of the mass destruction of German cities and towns.
—Margaret Macmillan, author of Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday Canada
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 038566463X
• ISBN 13: 9780385664639
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480