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Hitler's Commander: Field Marshal Walther Model--Hitler's Favorite General |  | Author: Steven H. Newton
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
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Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 449177
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1ST
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0306813998
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.541343092
EAN: 9780306813993
ASIN: 0306813998
Publication Date: January 2, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The first English-language biography of one of Germany's top battlefield commanders-Hitler's favorite field marshal Field Marshal Walther Model (1891-1945) was an extremely capable and aggressive German commander who rose through the ranks of the Wehrmacht's high command during World War II. His expertise in rebuilding broken fronts earned him the nickname of the "Fuhrer's Fireman," and throughout the war, Hitler relied on the rapidly promoted general to save his army in several desperate situations, despite the fact that Model was often quite blunt with his erratic Fuhrer. Model's greatest achievement was the restoration of stability along the eastern front in June 1944. In August he was sent to restore the deteriorating western front, where he re-established a strong defensive line along the West Wall in September. He was second-in-command at the Battle of the Bulge and was leading the German army when it collapsed at the end of the war. Rather than surrender, he shot himself in April 1945. Although Model destroyed most of his personal papers just before he died, Stephen H. Newton draws on a wide variety of original German sources, including extensive Wehrmacht archival material, to tell the first and only authoritative story of the commander who was Hitler's favorite.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Finally a Biography of a Little Known German General March 6, 2006
John Matlock (Winnemucca, NV)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
Exhaustive research gives us an intriguing account of one of Hitler's most trusted commanders
Walther Model was the German commander thrown by Adolph Hitler into so many of World War II's worst crises that contemporaries nicknamed him the `Fuhrer's fireman.'
The son of a music teacher, he sported a monocle and a field marshal's baton. He also stood up to Hitler in a way that hardly anyone else dared.
Newton dispels rumors and myths that discount Model's intellectual prowess and tactical acumen. Model's motivation was patriotism, but more likely he `internalized almost an eighteenth-century model of the professional soldier...one who served primarily for the glory of the fight...(with) single-minded focus on his own military success.'
Newton suggests that Model's suicide had less to do with honor than his inability to face his own future in defeat. Copious notes and bibliography show the extensive research the author did in both German and American archives and in German war diaries and memoirs. A treasure for history buffs!
The "Fireman" August 5, 2006
Peiper (Crystal, Mn USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Much needed and overdue biography. FM Model served on both the Eastern and Western fronts and commanded all kinds and sizes of German Army units. Professor Newton gives a fair, balanced and thorough description of the man and the commander. This book is for both those who specialize in the German Army and those who will like a good biography.
A very informative read July 5, 2006
P. Welch (UK)
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
This is a very interesting and informative account of Walther Model as a military commander.
There seems to be a paucity of material relating directly to Model (he destroyed his personal papers at the end of the war), and the author has done a very good job of piecing together this well-written narrative. There is not much in it about his personal life - a few lines about his upbringing, and the odd allusion to things like his drinking. He seems to have had only one period of leave, 3 months at the end of 1943. It does not gloss over his character, especially his treatment of his fellow officers and superiors, and suggests why they mostly disliked him, whilst the ordinary soldier may have felt somewhat differently. (When he left one of his commands he had been disliked so much that only one office escorted him away, and after Model had taken off in th eplane phoned to tell the others `Schweinfurt' - not a reference to the town, but `the pig has flow'!).
The book is really about his military career, from before WW1 to his suicide in 1945. I found the author to be fair in his opinions - praise where due, criticism where not, though there was no hindsight judgements. It made clear why Model was supreme in defence. There is quite a bit of information about some of the lesser know battles on the Eastern Front, for instance the defence of the Orel salient during the Kursk battle. The scale of the fighting, and casualties, is made apparent. His relationship to Hitler is explored, and suggests reasons why he was one of Hitler's favourite Generals in spite of - or perhaps because of - Model standing up to him. The half-truths of some of the postwar Generals' accounts is also made apparent. All in all a very informative read. The one major criticism I had was the lack of maps, so it was often hard to follow the battles. There is no map of Poland in 1939 for instance, so it is impossible to follow any of the fighting there. I always feel that in works of military history where possible every place name should figure on a map, and this book falls badly short in that respect. There also seem to be a few unnecessary digressions, for instance a longer than needed account of the German atrocities in WW1 and the reasons for them. However all in all a very informative account, and the author does well in trying to flesh out the details of Model's military career.
 Newton offers little, given a little August 11, 2008
Charles C. DiVincenti Jr. (Louisiana)
While not recognized in the Pantheon of higher acclaimed German World War II generals (Rommel, von Manstein, et. al., , Newton attempt to shed some light on the enigmatic Walther Model. The problem is, as Newton himself suggests, there 'ain't' much to work with. Model's papers were destroyed near wars' end and much of the 'story' is second/third hand accounts from mostly rivals of the exaggerated-termed 'Hitler's Favorite General'. Granted, Newton give his best effort - his text on the Bulge and Ruhr pocket are grand. Sadly, tho', no one can possibly give us a true biography of this defensive minded FeldMarshal. If I may also note: this book is available thru Hamiliton Books discount service - I paid -oh- $7.99 perhaps. Best to all...Charles C. DiVincenti Jr.
 The dead have broad backs... April 18, 2006
Ramon Fonseca Molina (Miramar, San Juan Puerto Rico)
29 out of 35 found this review helpful
This book offers 365 pages of reading material and a few photos sprinkled throughout. The only book available in english about Walther Model unfortunately. It offers a mere glimpse at one of the most extraordinary commanders in the annals of modern warfare.
Professor Newton has created a book out of thin air and it shows. Not meaning to belittle his herculean efforts in putting this book together from a maze of other individual accounts and offical records, for unfortunately Walther Model took all his knowledge to his grave and made sure nothing survived upon which an author could build an accurate picture of the man and the soldier. For this reason the book lacks cohesion and the one predominant task at hand seems to be the discrediting of one Walther Model. Professor Newton's evaluations seem prejudiced and if anything I am now more confused as refers to Model, the man and the soldier than before reading the book. R. Hinze's fine book, East Front Drama 1944 describes in full detail the impossible task Model had to tackle to rebuild a new and cohesive front after operation Bagrattion tore army group center up in mid 1944. The loss of 50 german divisions (most a mere shadow of their former selves) would have spelled total disaster for any commander. Model arrived well after disaster struck finding himself in the midst of a situation which if not checked would have spelled the end of the war in east. His daunting achievement alone of rebuilding the front should suffice to secure his place in the annals of warfare as one of it's most capable tacticians, yet professor Newton merely skims over this and other of Model's incredible military deeds while dwelling on his failures, specially at Kursk.
Professor Newton spends an inordinately high number of pages at the beginning of the book trying to link Model to war crimes (war crimes as a whole are treated throughout the work as usual, the germans were criminals the allies represented a wholesome mixture of goodness), at this point the writing swerves in a totally different direction for too long and when he finally returns and tries to focus back on Model he does so without conviction basing his evaluation solely on the opinions of men who despised Model for his national socialist stance. There are no interviews of rank and file soldiers who served under Model who idolized him for the most part.
Like I once said, while an author has all the elements for judgment at his disposal and 20/20 hindsight, a soldier does not. Walther Model's field decisions must be judged out of the rationale that he was thrust into situations that were not of his own making, with very little knowledge about them and yet he was expected to find a viable solution for them. I dare say that 90% of the time he managed the impossible and snatched his armies from certain defeat. I fail to envision any allied commander endowed with Model's extraordinary abilities of organization and tactical leadership specially on the defensive, I must agree he was not a grand strategist like von Manstein, but who was? Had Walther Model lived and been interrogated by the allies I have no doubt his contributions would have set the standard for years to come, as is I think a deeper look at his individual campaigns should be made and the man judged accordingly by his achievements on this account, until this happens and he receives his just niche amongst the great commanders of all time, Walther Model will remain as enigmatic as the sphynx. A commander's uttermost obligation should always be to the rank and file, for it is the individual soldier who bears the brunt of his decisions for better or worse and in this respect no one can say Walther Model failed.
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