Blitzkrieg
From the Ground Up
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Blitzkrieg
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Narrated by:
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Roger Clark
About this listen
The successes of the German Blitzkrieg in 1939-41 were as surprising as they were swift. Allied decision-makers wanted to discover the secret to German success quickly, even though only partial, incomplete information was available to them. The false conclusions drawn became myths about the Blitzkrieg that have lingered for decades.
It has been argued that German victories in the early part of the war rested less upon newly developed tanks and aircraft and more on German military traditions: Rather than creating a new way of war based on new technology, the Germans fitted the new weapons into their existing ideas on warfare. The conduct of German soldiers, particularly the lower-ranking men, on the battlefield was at the core of the concept, and German victories rested upon the quality of the small combat units.
This book focuses on the experience of the enlisted men and junior officers in the Blitzkrieg operations in Poland, Norway, Western Europe, and Russia. Military historian Niklas Zetterling explores how they operated, for example, how a company commander led his tanks, how a crew worked together inside a tank, and the role of the repair services. The author fits these narratives into a broader perspective to give the listener a better understanding of why the Germans were so successful in 1939-41.
©2017 Niklas Zetterling (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Blitzkrieg
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- AU
- 22-07-23
Debunks the blitzkrieg myth with solid arguements
The author is meticulous in his study of the german war doctrine during World War 2. Throughout the book he analyses the central german campaigns and identifies critical success factors which depart from the popular and propaganda driven notions of blitzkrieg.
My only criticism is in 2 areas:
1) The book would have benefitted from a more granular chapter breakdown.
2) The author makes use first person testimonials to reinforce his arguments which could have been shortened or omitted as they focus too much on operational elements.
The narration is solid albeit slow.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-01-24
Fascinating
Aside from the reading style (which you get used to) it’s a fascinating and informative book, well researched and written.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- james
- 20-12-23
Very informative. A very good book!
This was a highly engaging analysis of the evolution of German tactics. I found it informative and well paced. The narrative follows commanders on the ground, detailing the experiences, observations and decision making of small and large unit commanders. This is crucial as it is at these levels that Blitzkrieg was developed. It was not a broad strategic policy but was instead born of ad-hoc and local decision making as the war and battles progressed. This was a very informative, digestible listen. After reading some poor reviews I was very surprised by how good this book is. I didn't find the repetition excessive when compared to other books in this genre. The Narrator made some mistakes but nothing excessive. If you are interested in the subject I think you have to give this a listen. I am glad I did!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Eirik
- 05-08-21
Horrendous pronunciations and repetitive narrative
I couldn’t finish this book. The narrator have not made any attempts on making any research on the pronunciations of the many locations names, ship names and individual names used in the book, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, is of mainly German, Polish, Norwegian, Dutch, French and Russian origin. For a listener which do try to follow along, it was impossible as I couldn’t even begin to understand who he was talking about and where we were geographically.
As for the story, it is mostly based upon many low-level survivor accounts and diary entries by German soldiers. It does try to keep it on a sub-tactical level, but it does elevate up to the operational and strategic level enough of the time, ending in a narrative heard so many times before.
Also, I do wish the author would stop using the word “however” in every third or fourth sentence. It does become quite repetitive in the audio book format.
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1 person found this helpful