As early as August 1944, when the Germans were being crushed in the east and hammered in Normandy, Hitler was talking of an offensive aimed at destroying as many American and British divisions as possible in a massive surprise assault. By December 1944 Hitler was telling his generals, 'the final decisions have been made, everything points to victory'. The code name Die Wacht Am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine) was used for the planning of this top secret German offensive.
Now the new book The Battle of the Bulge: The German View – Perspectives from Hitler's High Command presents primary source material, including translations of German documentation and debriefs of German generals, edited and supplemented by a foremost expert on Hitler's ambitious gamble. The Battle of the Bulge examines preparations for the offensive, the progress of the operation and assessments of the Wehrmacht's performance from leading figures in German high command. There are accounts by Generaloberst Alfred Jodl, head of the high command of the Armed Forces; Schramm, the keeper of the Wehrmacht's war diary; Generalfeldmarschal Gerd von Rundstedt, commander of the German forces in the west; and a transcription of Hitler's key speech to his generals on 12 December 1944, outlining his plan to conquer at the eleventh hour.
The editor of the book, Danny S. Parker, writes:
'In the companion volume to this book (Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, Greenhill, 1997), I provided perspectives on the offensive as seen from army level. This second book instead deals with the battle as it was seen from the highest levels of the German high command, starting with Adolf Hitler himself. The available resource material paints a remarkable portrait of German intentions and operations within those desperate days of late 1944. In composing this volume I have tried to assemble the most illuminating manuscripts from the many that are available from German headquarters.'
The companion volume to this book, Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, was published in 1997 to critical acclaim:
'Danny S. Parker has sought out and transcribed a number of key documents, each of which he introduces but only light edits, giving the reader both a context for, and an insight into, the authentic voice of the general involved ... a good read, well worth the money.'
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