SWORD AND SWASTIKA

The chief prosecutor of German war criminals in the Nuremberg trials and head of the U.S. Army Intelligence Division working on the German General Staff during World War II here presents an historically weighty document of the internal battles of the German men of might and policies from 1918 to 1940. This is essentially the story of the struggle and jockeying of the German army generals, educated and acclimated in the pre- 1918 Prussian tradition, held in the increasingly restrictive and strengthening grip of Nazism, and of Hitler's handling of them, gradually replacing them by younger men, by the SS and SA and Luftwaffe. It involves the rise and fall and purging of numerous men. As well as giving insight into the internal maneuverings of forces in Germany, the author shows how Hitler and his followers approached the war, sometimes disagreeing in attitude toward potential foes and victims. The book closes with the conquest of Poland, for the author tells us that the generals had planned no further and had expected to cease aggrandizement temporarily at least.- He leaves to the reader the task of evaluating the actions of the German staff members. Appendices include information of rank, the men who were at the helm, a map of Germany, charts of organization of forces, notes, bibliography, index. A book for the serious pursuer of history by a man equipped by his experience as perhaps no other non-German is to reveal the inside story of Germany.