Cross of Iron, The Rise and Fall of the German War Machine, 1918-1945

John Mosier

ISBN 10: 0805075771 / ISBN 13: 9780805075779

Published by Henry Holt and Company, NY, 2006

About this Item

Henry Holt and Company, NY. An examination of the of the strategic and tactical growth and combat experiences of the German Army from the end of WWI through the end of WWII. Mosier, the military historian, beleives Germany's military culture provided them with the advantage especially in tactical leadership. He gives Hitler more credit in strategic thinking than normally notes. Mosier does not cover the air or naval aspects of WWII. Very good copy of the stated first edition in a very good dust jacket. 319 pages.

Seller Inventory # 42572

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Cross of Iron, The Rise and Fall of the German War Machine, 1918-1945
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, NY
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805075771
• ISBN 13: 9780805075779
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A riveting account of the origins and development of the German army that breaks through the distortions of conventional military history

Acclaimed for his revisionist history of the German Army in World War I, John Mosier continues his pioneering work in Cross of Iron, offering an intimate portrait of the twentieth-century German army from its inception, through World War I and the interwar years, to World War II and its climax in 1945.

World War I has inspired a vast mythology of bravery and carnage, told largely by the victors, that has fascinated readers for decades. Many have come to believe that the fast ascendancy of the Allied army, matched by the failure of a German army shackled by its rigidity, led to the war's outcome. Mosier demystifies the strategic and tactical realities to explain that it was Germany's military culture that provided it with the advantage in the first war. Likewise, Cross of Iron offers stunning revelations regarding the weapons of World War II, forcing a reevaluation of the reasons behind the French withdrawal, the Russian contribution, and Hitler as military thinker. Mosier lays to rest the notion that the army, as opposed to the SS, fought a clean and traditional war. Finally, he demonstrates how the German war machine succeeded against more powerful Allied armies until, in both wars, it was crushed by U.S. intervention.

The result of thirty years of primary research, Cross of Iron is a powerful and authoritative reinterpretation of Germany at war.

About the Author

A former film critic and member of the Camera d'Or jury at the Cannes Film
Festival, John Mosier is currently a professor of English at Loyola University, New Orleans. His background as a military historian dates from his role in developing an interdisciplinary curriculum for the study of the two world wars in 1969, a program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is the author of The Blitzkrieg Myth and The Myth of the Great War and lives in Jefferson, Louisiana.