Book Review: The Hitler Conspirator by Eberhard Schmidt

Book Review: The Hitler Conspirator - The Story of Kurt Freiherr von Plettenberg and Stauffenberg’s Valkyrie Plot To Kill The Fuhrer, by Eberhard Schmidt

Published in 2016 by Frontline Books, Barnsley

ISBN: 9871473856912

I have read quite widely on all things Second World War, particularly the German side, and the most fascinating thing about this book is that I have never heard of Kurt Freiherr von Plettenberg - ever.

Despite his relative anonymity, if you read the whole book, you will discover that he was a really important figure – both in the circles of the German nobility and in the eventual plan to get rid of Adolf Hitler.

I don’t want to give too much away as you really need to read the book to fully understand the man himself and his motives for how he acted.  Suffice it to say that he was a highly valued civil servant, a respected officer and soldier in the First World War and a friend of the former German royal family.

The book is very interesting all the way through and tells of all sorts of other things that I didn’t know about  – such as an earlier plot  to oust Hitler that almost came about in 1938 but was abandoned once the Munich Agreement had apparently brought the infamous “Peace in our time…”.

It has been written with the help and support of von Plettenberg’s son and daughter so there are references to family diaries and also lots  of great photos -  so it is a really charming book, even if the final subject matter is a little unfortunate.

One thing needs saying, however.  This English version has been translated from Eberhard Schmidt’s original German version and some of the tenses in the English text are a bit, erm, shall we say -  “inexact”.

I don’t want to get too technical here but, as I have studied degree level German, I can fully understand why the narrative tenses meander in certain places and it doesn’t actually bother me - but a pure English speaker might find it a bit off putting.

Pretty much in a similar way to when you watch a historical documentary on TV and the expert analyst uses phrases such as “He is…” or “They are…” when they are clearly describing something that happened over 100 years ago, it’s a bit niggly, but you can still understand it. 

That said, the book is still a fascinating and enjoyable read and it serves to shine a spotlight on a hitherto unacknowledged - yet highly important - player in the Germany of the early 20th century.

If you are interested in World War 2 and inter-war German history, this book is definitely one for you!

To order this and lots more great military titles, check out www.frontline-books.com

Book Review: An Alternative View Of The World Of Cricket by Stuart Latham

Having just finished binge-reading all of Lynda La Plante’s Anna Travis detective novels in the correct order (and been a bit annoyed at some unnecessary continuity inconsistencies in the last one when it referred back to an earlier case…)  I thought I’d have a change of subject and read about the slightly less corpse-ridden world of cricket for a while.

And the right thing came along at exactly the right time as Stuart Latham has just published the most delightful book about that fascinating sport called:

“An Alternative View Of The World Of Cricket”

Now, I ought to flag up here that I may be a little biased as I am friends with Stuart and we share a lot of sporting interest and we have collaborated on a few projects together in the past - but this book has really grabbed my attention and I am very much enjoying reading it.

It is written from a personal point of view – by which I don’t mean it’s all “me, me, me...!”  all the way through – but the subject matter IS based around Stuart’s own involvement in cricket at various levels and he writes about the clubs that he has been associated with, some of the famous players he has met and others who he has admired over the years - including Jack Russell, Bob Willis, Farokh Engineer, Chris Broad and Hansie Cronje, among others.

A good example of this is the somewhat humorous “Ian Botham sanitary bin” story which, in fact, reminded me that I once saw Botham playing league football for Scunthorpe United – which is a story which will have to wait until I produce my own, admittedly shorter, cricketing memoir at some time in the future...

Stuart also has some interesting family connections within cricket and is directly related - via a migrating ancestor - to the former New Zealand test and ODI player Rod Latham and his son Tom, who is the current international wicket keeper for the “Black Caps”.

There is also an interesting section on the Hearne family from Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, from whom Stuart is descended and who produced a number of fine County and “All England” players in the Victorian era and beyond.

Stuart has written numerous books on many different and fascinating subjects, including ice hockey, rugby, motor racing and military history and you can find a complete list with order links on his sales website at: https://www.sandtsales.co.uk/online-shop