Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler by Philipp Freiherr Von Boeselager, With Florence & Jerome Fehrenbach

Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler by Philipp Freiherr Von Boeselager, With Florence & Jerome Fehrenbach lands on the shelves of my shop.

Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2009, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black and White Photographs;

From the cover: When the Second World War broke out, Philipp von Boeselager and his brother Georg fought enthusiastically for their country, leading cavalry units in France and on the Russian Front. But when they discovered what the SS were doing to Jews and Gypsies their enthusiasm quickly turned to disgust. Together they joined a group of conspirators in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. After several abortive assassination attempts, including one in which Philipp was supposed to shoot the Fuhrer with his own pistol, the plotters finally decided on a plan to blow Hitler up with a bomb. Philipp transported the explosives and passed them on to Claus von Stauffenberg. He and his brother then moved their cavalry units to Berlin to take control of the city.

When the plot failed, the SS instituted a terrifying purge of senior army officers. In an attempt to disguise their part in the conspiracy, the Boeselager brothers hurried back to the eastern front with their units. One by one their fellow plotters were found out, tortured and executed, and it is a testimony to their fortitude that they never gave away the Boeselagers names.

Georg von Boeselager eventually died in battle on the Russian Front, but Philipp survived the war, and eventually outlived all the other survivors of the conspiracy. In this unique memoir he tells the story of his life, and the part he played in these historic events.

Very Good+ in Very Good+ Dust Wrapper.

Red boards with Silver titling to the Spine. [XII] 176 pages. 8¾” x 5½”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis by Ian Kershaw

Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis by Ian Kershaw lands on the shelves of my shop.

Allen Lane, 2000, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Maps;

From the cover: WHETHER RIGHT OR WRONG, WE MUST WIN. THAT IS THE ONLY WAY. AND IT IS MORALLY RIGHT AND NECESSARY. AND WHEN WE HAVE WON, WHO WILL ASK US ABOUT THE METHOD? ADOLF HITLER, 1941

It is impossible to offer an adequate parallel to Hitlers situation in 1936. With the peaceful resolution of the Rhineland crisis, Hitler became both the adored object of the vast majority of Germans and an international symbol of modernity and dynamism. He managed this while in reality being the dictator of a system of single-minded viciousness new to human experience.

Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis is the definitive account of the twentieth centurys central figure. Drawing on a vast range of material and using the same skills that made Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris a bestseller around the world, lan Kershaw allows us to understand both the dictator himself and the society that made him.

Perhaps this books greatest achievement is to make clear the often conflicting dynamics that led from the seemingly stable, successful Germany of 1937 to the brutalized military state of the 1940s. By concentrating on the figure of Hitler, Kershaw both gives an immediacy and texture to these terrible events and shows the options available to Germany and its ruler at each point in the unfolding disaster. At the heart of the book lies Hitlers decision to unleash annihilatory war in the East and the terrifying new moral universe this brought into being: the degradation of enemies into beasts and the hatching of the Final Solution.

This is the story of a poisoned world and of a man who was both shaped by that world and to a catastrophic degree created it.

Good+ in Good+ Dust Wrapper. Gently bruised at the spine ends and corners with commensurate wear to the dust wrapper. Text complete, clean and tight.

Black boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. [XLVI] 1115 pages. Index. Bibliography. 9½” x 6¼”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!