If there was ever a destructive war in the face of humankind, it was World War 2. Innumerable lives were lost and the world was totally shaken up. There were innumerable genocides and crimes and bloodshed than caused by any other diseases. One man who almost shook the very base and came close to attaining total world domination was Adolf Hitler. He almost single-handedly took on the British Kingdom and committed innumerable war crimes and genocides. We would have read about the people who resisted and fought against the man. But this book is on a different kind of resistance and that made me go for this book.
When the world was busy siding against the Axis and the Allied forces and innumerable wars fought there was a resistance that was happening at the very vicinity of the German forces. There were many Germans who plotted against the Nazi regime under the nose of Hitler and Himmler. Most of them were high-ranking office bearers within the Nazi regime and still, they plotted against the Fuhrer as they foresaw the fall of Germany under his leadership. Long before the World War started and the Russians and British turned against Nazis; these men and women predicted the downfall of the fatherland under the leadership of Hitler. The book shows innumerable instances where the resistance group provided a lot of inside information which the other nations never took seriously. The book is about the people who worked as spies in the very heart of Germany and in Switzerland which was a neutral venue stuck between war-mongering nations. The book describes conspiracy, assassination plots, and espionage at the higher levels of the Nazi regime. It also mentions the various flaws in the resistance group, friction between the younger blood and the old among the resistances.
The book in itself is a very interesting read and rather informative too. Being a reader interested in World History, this was totally new information for me. I have read much about the war and the resistance groups against the Nazis. But never on the ones under their very noses. It shows the political situation at the time as well. Not only in Germany but also in the other nations as well and the perception of British, American, and the Russians. The way the leaked information was neglected shows the lack of diligence and foresight on the part of the Allied powers and how lackluster they were until it shook their very base. The author does not waste time on trying to pitch in his views on the happenings rather giving just the facts and giving us the opportunity to think it out ourselves. The language is rather simple enough. This was quite a big read for me as I spend time exploring related articles on the net and you tube. It shows how the innumerable chances for averting the WW were wasted by the so-called Allied Powers. It was rather enlightening to read about Project Anthropoid and Operation Valkyrie which I had known through movies.
To sum up, a 300 or so pages read, which can be a great and riveting read for history enthusiasts. The names like Canaris, Hans Oster, Carl Goerdeler, Ludwig Beck, Paul Thimmel, Sonja, Allen Dulles, Claus Stauffenberg etc. needs to be remembered in the lines of the other famous heroes of WW 2. These unsung heroes tried their very best to avert the grand disaster to no avail. A great salute to them as well. A good book that opens our eyes to how destructive politics can be if not handled in the right sense and how destructive man can be.
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