Published for the first time in English, this is the personal account of Nicolaus von Below, a Luftwaffe aide always at Hitler’s side from 1937 until the last days in Berlin. Von Below was a 29-year-old pilot when Goering selected him for the position of Hitler’s Luftwaffe adjutant. He was with Hitler at every stage as World War II was planned, started and unfolded, and his observations tell of Hitler’s responses to momentous events as well as military decisions and policy-making at Führer Headquarters. His account is a superb source describing life in Hitler’s inner circle, relied on by Gitta Sereny in her biography of Albert Speer. He provides fascinating insight into how Hitler planned the invasions of Poland and Russia, what he thought of Britain and America, how he reacted to news of the Normandy landings, why he placed his faith in the V-1 and V-2 projects, how others dealt with him, and much more. Von Below was present at the assassination attempt in July 1944, and records the effect on Hitler and his followers. He portrays the hopeless mood caused by Germany’s losses in 1944 and the collapse of German fronts in 1945, leading to Hitler’s final days as the war in Europe came to an end. Von Below was the last of Hitler’s close military entourage to emerge from the bunker alive. His frank memoir will appeal to anyone interested in how Hitler ran his war. Appraisals of von Below’s memoirs “Since as Luftwaffe Adjutant Nicolaus von Below saw Hitler on an almost daily basis from 1937 down to the last days in the bunker, I found his memoirs indispensable in writing the second volume of my biography of the Dictator and now greatly welcome their appearance in English translation.” Ian Kershaw “Nicolaus von Below was almost constantly at Hitler’s side for eight years. In his memoirs ... he provides a thoughtful record of those years from the point of view of a professional army officer . ... Von Below’s book is probably a unique document in that it represents a serious attempt, by a comparatively uncomplicated but unfailingly sincere man, to come to terms with matters he would ordinarily have considered totally beyond him.” Gitta Sereny in Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 108 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com