Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader

Professor Percy Schramm had exceptional access to Adolf Hitler because from January 1943 to the end of the war he was the Führer's official war diarist, working in close proximity with him. This War Diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht was published in several volumes between 1961 and 1965, and in 1965 Schramm edited a new edition of Hitler's Table Conversations, a collection of remarks recorded by a shorthand writer in 1941 and 1942.

This volume contains the introductions written by Schramm to these two works. In addition, there are two appendixes: the first consisting of excerpts from a study composed by Schramm on relations between Hitler and the General Staff; the second a memorandum written by General Jodl in 1946 on Hitler's military leadership.

The result is a valuable contribution to Hitlerian studies. The personal portrait in the first essay is very detailed and contains fascinating material on Hitler's appearance, his prejudices, his reading, his personal relations and his health. The character analysis flows very easily into the consideration of Hitler as a military leader. The author shows how unsuited Hitler was to long-term strategic appreciation. An autodidact, two-faced and reactionary, Hitler had an exceptional memory, great skill in close argument and unusual intuitive understanding. But he was always intellectually insecure and had little ability to distinguish major issues from blind alleys. Schramm is emphatic that Hitler was never mad and that as early as 1942 he recognised that the war was lost, but insisted on adhering to the will to win, no matter how great the sacrifice. The portrait is the more engrossing in that it presents a man of extraordinary, undisciplined powers, capable of advancing headlong in deluded directions.

Percy Ernst Schramm (1894-1970), one of Germany’s most distinguished historians, was author of over two dozen books and scores of articles. He became a professor at Goettingen University in 1929, the year of publication of his Kaiser, Rom und Renovatio, a landmark study in the interpretation of medieval political symbolism and ideology, a field on which he concentrated throughout the 1930s. An English translation of one of his works from this period, A History of the English Coronation, was published in 1937 by Oxford University Press. During the Second World War, Schramm was ordered to Hitler’s headquarters as War Diary Officer of the High Command of the German Armed Forces, a position that afforded him unique insight into the dictator’s military leadership and his frequently bitter conflicts with his generals. Having disobeyed the order to destroy the war diary at the end of the war, he was able to publish it in four volumes in the 1960s, together with a detailed introductory essay on Hitler as a military leader. In 1963 he also published a scholarly edition of Hitler’s table talks with an extensive introductory essay on Hitler the man. English translations of these two essays appeared in 1971 in a volume entitled Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader that was reprinted in 1999.Donald S. Detwiler, professor of history at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, received his doctorate cum laude at Goettingen. He is chairman of the World War Two Studies Association and a council member and past president of the Association for the Bibliography of History. Detwiler's publications include Hitler, Franco und Gibraltar, an annotated translation of Percy E. Schramm's Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader, the documentary collection World War II German Military Studies (24 volumes), and, with Ilse E. Detwiler, an annotated bibliography, West Germany: The Federal Republic of Germany.

Percy Ernst Schramm (1894-1970), one of Germany’s most distinguished historians, was author of over two dozen books and scores of articles. He became a professor at Goettingen University in 1929, the year of publication of his Kaiser, Rom und Renovatio, a landmark study in the interpretation of medieval political symbolism and ideology, a field on which he concentrated throughout the 1930s. An English translation of one of his works from this period, A History of the English Coronation, was published in 1937 by Oxford University Press. During the Second World War, Schramm was ordered to Hitler’s headquarters as War Diary Officer of the High Command of the German Armed Forces, a position that afforded him unique insight into the dictator’s military leadership and his frequently bitter conflicts with his generals. Having disobeyed the order to destroy the war diary at the end of the war, he was able to publish it in four volumes in the 1960s, together with a detailed introductory essay on Hitler as a military leader. In 1963 he also published a scholarly edition of Hitler’s table talks with an extensive introductory essay on Hitler the man. English translations of these two essays appeared in 1971 in a volume entitled Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader that was reprinted in 1999.

Donald S. Detwiler, who earned his doctorate cum laude at Goettingen University under Professor Schramm, is professor emeritus of history at Southern Illinois at Carbondale, past Chairman of the World War Two Studies Association, and past president of the Association for the Bibliography of History. His publications include Hitler, Franco und Gibraltar (1962), Germany: A Short History (1976, 3rd ed., 1999), the documentary collection World War II German Military Studies (24 vols., 1979), and, with Ilse E. Detwiler, an annotated bibliography, West Germany: The Federal Republic of Germany (1987).