Countdown to Valkyrie: The July Plot to Assassinate Hitler

by Nigel Jones

Book Overview

Although there were more than 40 plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler, none came closer to success than the July Plot of 1944. The attempt was masterminded by Count von Stauffenberg, a member of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1848325088
• ISBN13: 9781848325081
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Frontline Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

COUNTDOWN TO VALKYRIE: THE JULY PLOT TO ASSASSINATE HITLER

COUNTDOWN TO VALKYRIE: THE JULY PLOT TO ASSASSINATE HITLER NIGEL JONES FRONTLINE BOOKS, 2008 HARDCOVER, $32.95, 308 PAGES, PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS, INDEX, SOURCES Of all the groups that offered resistance to Hitler, the Army was in the best position to topple the Fuhrer. And when the tide of war turned against Germany, some officers made attempts on his life. Under the ubiquitous Nazi system of terror and coercion, it would be inconceivable that resistance among disparate groups of disaffected German youth could have toppled the regime. The only section of German society that could realistically have challenged the omnipresence of the Gestapo and the SS was the German Armed Forces. A German historian, Peter Hoffmann, has said that at least forty-six attempts to kill Hitler were made between 1921 and 1945. In 1933 alone, the year he came to power, there were ten such attempts which the police investigated as being seriously intended. There were also various plots to depose the Nazi dictatorship bloodlessly or with a minimum of bloodshed. It is fixed in people's minds that the well publicized Bomb Plot of 20 July 1944, was the only assassination attempt in which Hitler's life was seriously threatened. That is not so. In November, 1939, the dictator had narrowly missed being killed by a bomb made and detonated by Georg Elser, a small shy man who, although being a communist sympathizer, acted alone. Conspicuously courageous men like the aristocrat Colonel Stauffenberg and the artisan Elser personified the disunity of the German Resistance (Der Widerstand). It was the perceived ineffectiveness of the German Resistance that caused the Allied leaders, political and military, to regard it as being incapable of killing Hitler or indeed of playing any significant part in the war effort. Whether the Allies were correct in making that assessment is a matter of debate. Countless thousands of words have been said and written on that question, which remains controversial even now, so long after the event. That the Allies didn't take Der Widerstand seriously is resented by some present-day Germans, understandably so. However, the matter has been examined dispassionately by Germans as much as by others. In this gripping new account, author Nigel Jones details the growth of German discontent, resistance to Hitler, and the early plots on the Fuhrer's life. He discusses in depth the beginnings of the July Plot and the development of the plan to kill Hitler in his own lair. Both the events of the day and the horrendous aftermath are explored in forensic detail to provide the fullest account yet of this key episode in the history of World War II. The enduring conspiratorial legacy of the Third Reich remains central to our fascination with studying the Nazi era. This is the story of the conspiracies that brought Hitler to power, the fiendish plots he used to attack his enemies, and the story of the courageous Germans who conspired to cause his downfall. Lt. Colonel Robe

An astonishing read

Nigel is to be commended for not cutting any corners, for being truthful, for not painting any of the conspirators in a saintly or devilish light like many other authors have. He does not fawn, flatter, or demonize, he simply tells the story. His usage of times and dates to completely walk the reader through the very origins of the conspiracy is also a wonderful touch, as is the afterword by Count Berthold von Stauffenberg. In all, this is the best book I have read about the July Plot, and it will be extraodrinarily hard to find anything that matches it.

Exciting story about courage

Even though most of us know how this plot against Hitler ended, the story in this book is really exciting and full of suspense. The people involved are far from perfect, but the plotters showed incredible courage. It was valuable to read about earlier plots. A really interesting book. The way everything was identified by date was very valuable.

I Would Consider This Book to be A Must Read

This book is vastly superior to the recent movie. Author Nigel Jones initially covers some of the previous assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler. Hitler always credited "Providence" for his survival, and confirmation that he was to continue with his plan for Germany. The book really picks up its interest when Count Claus von Stauffenberg and his cohorts realized the war was lost with the D-Day invasion at Normandy, and put together their plan to show the world they wanted to save Germany before it was totally destroyed. Bad luck, "Providence" according to Hitler, always seemed to raise its ugly head whenever there was an attempt on Hitler's life, and with the attempt at the Wolf's Lair that nearly succeeded Hitler was determined to extract revenge upon the perpetrators. With Hitler's demise in doubt following the bombing some of those involved vacillated regarding their loyalty. Colonel-General Friedrich Fromm ordered the immediate execution of Claus von Stauffenberg and others to cover up his own involvement. Taking this action into his own hands angered the Nazis, and Fromm faced execution himself the following year. The section of the book on "Retribution" goes into detail on the torture, trial, and execution of those thought to be involved. Judge Roland Freisler relished his role in demeaning defendants on trial. Raving Roland would scream insults from his bench at defendants as they stood before him. Various tortures are described in this section of the book as well. The last section of the book covers each of the characters in the book and what happened to them. After watching the disappointing movie, at least to me, this book was a very pleasant surprise for me and I intend to give it a permanent place in my library.