One the great military autobiographies of World War II. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring was one of Germany’s most capable military strategists. Originally a Bavarian army officer, he transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1935 and became Göring’s deputy, commanding air fleets during the invasion of France and the Battle of Britain. In 1941, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief South, sharing the direction of the North African campaign with Rommel. As Commander-in-Chief in Italy in 1943–44, his brilliant defense of the peninsula became legendary. In 1945, after the Ardennes offensive failed, Kesselring replaced von Rundstedt as Commander-in-Chief West. In his memoirs, Kesselring describes his military training, his service in World War I, his work in the Reichswehr, his role in the founding of the Luftwaffe, and all aspects of his command in World War II. Conducing with Kesselring’s account of his trial and imprisonment for war crimes, these memoirs give a full picture of the whole military experience of one of Germany’s great commanders. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Postwar analyses of Germany’s last ever Field-Marshal, Albert Kesselring, have tended to be sympathetic and even adulatory in their appraisals. This book raises fundamental questions about their legitimacy, and challenges the widely held belief that he was one of the “greatest commanders to emerge” from the last World War. It illustrates that this reputation has been bolstered by the need to conceal the ineptitude and inexperience of Allied opposition. Often seen as a benign and good-natured patrician, the study shows that he was deeply implicated in the Nazi preparation for war, that he was guilty of serious war crimes, and that he committed perjury to save himself at the expense of a junior general. The book also highlights that the SS became a scapegoat for the whole Nazi regime, that he became a pawn in Cold War politics which assisted his release from execution and prison, that he survived the denazification process because it became a nonsense, that those who hoped he would assume a leadership in postwar Germany were disappointed by his inability to accept the new Europe, and that he died in ignominy. The book is a re-appraisal of Kesselring and demythologises many deeply held concepts of the period between 1930 and 1960.

Generalfeltmarskal Kesselring deltog i to verdenskrige og skrev også sine erindringer. Biblioteket har også originaludgaven på tysk, "Soldat zum letzten Tag".

The renowned WWII historian’s in-depth biography of the Nazi military commander who played a key role in the invasions of Poland, France and Russia. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt was one of the most important German commanders of the Second World War. He served on both the Western and Eastern Fronts of World War I and rose steadily through the ranks of the German army before retiring in 1938. Then, only a year later, he was recalled to help execute Hitler’s invasion of Poland. He played a leading part in this and the subsequent invasion of France. Thereafter he commanded Army Group South in the assault on Russia before being sacked at the end of 1941. Recalled again, Rundstedt was made Commander-in-Chief West and as such faced the 1944 Allied invasion of France, but was removed that July. He resumed his post in September 1944 and had overall responsibility for the December 1944 Ardennes counter-offensive. Captured by the Americans, he gave testimony as a defense witness at Nuremberg. Though he was charged with war crimes, he was spared trial due to his ill health.

“An insider view of Hitler’s closest circles, providing an invaluable account of the final months of the war” (History of War). Erich Kempka served as Adolf Hitler’s personal driver from 1934 through to the Führer’s dramatic suicide in 1945. His candid memoirs offer a unique eyewitness account of events leading up to and during the war, culminating in those dark final days in the Führer’s headquarters, deep under the shattered city of Berlin. He begins by describing his duties as a member of Hitler’s personal staff in the years preceding the war, driving the Führer throughout Germany and abroad, and accompanying him to rallies. The crux of his memoir, however, covers his life with Hitler in the Berlin Führerbunker. Crucially, Kempka witnessed Hitler’s marriage to Eva Braun and his last dinner and personal farewell to all those present, before he and his wife committed suicide. Hitler’s final order to Kempka was that he have ready enough petrol to burn him and his wife. Under constant Soviet artillery fire, Kempka, Linge, and others poured petrol over the bodies and burnt them. The account concludes with Kempka’s hazardous escape out of a burning Berlin more than 800 kilometers through Allied-occupied Germany, his arrest, and interrogation before being sent to serve as a witness at Nuremburg.

Illustrated with maps and a center section of black and white photographs. Kesselring-commander, leader, administrator; the only senior German officer to start and finish the Second World War holding a high command appointment. There was scarcely a major campaign in which he was not at some time deeply involved: he flew in the forefront of the battle over Poland, Holland, Britain, Russia and the Western Desert and was shot down five times; as a field commander he defended Tunisia, Italy and, ultimately, Germany. But it is as much for his role in the formation and development of the Luftwaffe that Kesselring is remembered-his were many of the ideas, plans and insights about the part played by aircraft in the land battle. They were central to the careful, systematic reorganization and building up of the German military machine in the 1920s and 30s. This first complete biography presents the complex, fascinating personality of a man whose qualities of utter determination, charm and good humor, harnessed to outstanding training and experience, enabled him to cope with both victory and defeat and, finally, when placed on trial for his life, to face his judges with dignity, equanimity and a staunch defense.

In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy.