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!
