Panzer Leader

by Constantine Fitzgibbon (Translator), Constantine Fitzgibbon (Translator), Heinz Guderian (Author), B. H. Liddell Hart (Foreword), KENNETH MACKSEY (Introduction)

• New

  Illustrated
  2008

  $22.19

  General Heinz Guderian's revolutionary strategic vision and his skill in armored combat brough Germany its initial victories during World War II. Combining Guderian's land offensive with Luftwaffe attacks, the Nazi Blitzkrieg decimated the defenses of Poland, Norway, France--and, very neatly, Russia--at the war's outset. But in 1941, when Guderian advised that ground forces should take a step back, Hitler dismissed him. In these pages, the outspoken general shares his candid point of view on what would have led Germany to victory, and what ensured that it didn't. In addition to providing a rare inside look at key members of the Nazi party, Guderian reveals in detail how he developed the Panzer tank forces and orchestrated their various campaigns, from the break through at Sedan to his drive to the Channel coast that virtually decided the Battle of France. Panzer Leaderbecame a bestseller within one year of its original publication in 1952 and has since been recognized as a classic account of the greatest conflict of our time.

• Used

  Paperback
  1974

  $3.41

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $14.79

  Heinz Guderian - master of the Blitzkrieg and father of modern tank warfare - commanded the German XIX Army Corps as it rampaged across Poland in 1939. Personally leading the devastating attack which traversed the Ardennes Forest and broke through French lines, he was at the forefront of the race to the Channel coast. Only Hitler's personal command to halt prevented Guderian's tanks and troops turning Dunkirk into an Allied bloodbath. Later commanding Panzergruppe 2 in Operation Barbarossa, Guderian's armoured spearhead took Smolensk after fierce fighting and was poised to launch the final assault on Moscow when he was ordered south to Kiev. In the battle that followed, he helped encircle and capture over 600,000 Soviet troops after days of combat in the most terrible conditions. Panzer Leader is a searing firsthand account of the most effective fighting force in modern history by the man who commanded it.