The plots against Hitler
(Book)

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Published
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.
Status
Central - Adult Nonfiction
943.086 ORBAC
1 available
Westover - Adult Nonfiction
943.086 ORBAC
1 available

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Central - Adult Nonfiction943.086 ORBACAvailable
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Description

A new and definitive account of the anti-Nazi underground in Germany and its numerous efforts to assassinate Adolf Hitler In 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. A year later, all parties but the Nazis had been outlawed, freedom of the press was but a memory, and Hitler’s dominance seemed complete. Yet over the next few years, an unlikely clutch of conspirators emerged – soldiers, schoolteachers, politicians, diplomats, theologians, even a carpenter – who would try repeatedly to end the Fuhrer’s genocidal reign. This dramatic and deeply researched book tells the full story of those noble, ingenious, and doomed efforts. This is history at its most suspenseful, as we witness secret midnight meetings, crises of conscience, fierce debates among old friends about whether and how to dismantle Nazism, and the various plots themselves being devised and executed.   Orbach’s fresh research takes advantage of his singular skills as linguist and historian to offer profound insight into the conspirators’ methods, motivations, fears, and hopes. Though we know how this story ends, we’ve had no idea until now how close it came – several times – to ending very differently. The Plots Against Hitler fundamentally alters our view of World War II and sheds bright – even redemptive – light on its darkest days.

More Details

Published
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.
Format
Book
Physical Desc
xvi, 406 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Language
English

Notes

General Note
"An Eamon Dolan book."
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 300-382) and index.
Description
"A new and definitive account of the anti-Nazi underground in Germany and its numerous plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler"-- Provided by publisher.
Description
"In 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. A year later, all political parties but the Nazis had been outlawed, freedom of the press was but a memory, and Hitler's dominance seemed complete. Yet over the next few years, an unlikely clutch of conspirators emerged--soldiers, schoolteachers, politicians, diplomats, theologians, even a carpenter--who would try repeatedly to end the Fuhrer's genocidal reign. This dramatic book tells the full story of those noble, ingenious, and doomed efforts. This is history at its most suspenseful, as we witness secret midnight meetings, crises of conscience, fierce debates among old friends about whether and how to dismantle Nazism, and the various plots themselves being devised and executed. Orbach's fresh research takes advantage of his singular skills as a linguist and historian to offer profound insight into the conspirators' methods, motivations, fears, and hopes. Though we know how this story ends, we've had no idea until now how close it came--several times--to ending very differently. The Plots Against Hitler fundamentally alters our view of World War II and sheds bright--even redemptive--light on its darkest days."--Dust jacket.

Table of Contents

Opposition in flames
"That damned mare!" : the army top-brass scandal
The officer, the mayor and the spy
"In the darkest colors" : the decision of General Beck
The bird and its cage : first attempt at coup d'état, September 1938
Without a network : the lone assassin
The point of no return : pogrom and war
The spirit of Zossen : when networks fail
Signs in the darkness : rebuilding the conspiracy
On the wings of thought : networks of imagination
Brokers on the front line : the new strategy
War of extermination : the conspirators and the Holocaust
"Flash" and liqueur bottles : assassination attempts in the East
Codename U-7 : rescue and abyss
Count Stauffenberg : the charismatic turn
Thou shalt kill : the problem of tyrannicide
A wheel conspiracy : the Stauffenberg Era
The final showdown : July 20, 1944
The shirt of Nessus
Motives in the twilight
Networks of resistance.

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Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Few historical hooks are as sharp as the aching what-ifs of the various plots against Adolf Hitler's life. Orbach's 10-years-in-the-making debut sets out to be the definitive record of every significant assassination attempt by Hitler's own countrymen, most involving Abwehr agent Hans Paul Oster. Though Orbach cautions not to lionize the conspirators some agreed with Nazi goals, just not Hitler's helmsmanship it's difficult not to catch one's breath at Oster's tenterhook probings for recruits or to share his angst at every near-miss, from a beer-hall explosion that Hitler evades by minutes, to a sharpshooter assault on a parade that gets canceled, to a bomb inside a liquor bottle aboard Hitler's plane that doesn't trigger. It all leads, of course, to Claus von Stauffenberg, the dashing, eye-patched, would-be savior whom Orbach presents as, indeed, a man of heroic bent, and whose famous suitcase bomb came mere inches from doing the job. Despite a dry dissertation style, Orbach succeeds in painting an affecting picture of a network nearly a movement struggling to save the country against its own ingrained principles of obedience.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

In this comprehensive history, Israeli historian Orbach scrupulously analyzes the resistance movements that opposed the Nazis from 1933 to 1945. His superb research includes interviews with resistance survivors, family members, and relevant records from archives around the world. It is a balanced history of the resistance that covers the famous Operation Valkyrie plot, but gives equal treatment to the other serious attempts to resist the Nazis and assassinate Hitler. For many readers the extent of the resistance efforts of Admiral Canaris (head of German Military Intelligence), among others, will be surprising. This book is unique in that Orbach attempts to determine the motivation of the resisters in moral and ethical terms. He explains that most historians have either idolized the resisters as heroes or condemned them as self-serving criminals. Orbach sets the record straight when he concludes that the resisters to Hitler's Nazi government were imperfect but in most cases exceptional human beings who reacted with action to the criminal deeds of the Nazis. Likely to become the definitive general history of the subject and the starting place for all future research, Orbach's work is a fascinating story of courage and an excellent study of the struggle of individuals to act morally and honorably. B&w insert. Agent: Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie Literary (U.K.). (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Library Journal Review

In this account, historian Orbach (fellow, Weatherhead Ctr. for International Affairs) explores the psychological, social, and military dynamics of the network of groups who tried to assassinate German politician and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler between 1938 and 1943. The author uses newly discovered diaries and documents to characterize the attempted murder plots, notably the Oster Conspiracy in 1938, led by Gen. Hans Oster; and Operation Valkyrie in 1944, headed by Officer Claus von Stauffenberg in 1943. Owing to chance or miscalculations, Hitler managed to avoid death at the hands of these high-ranking officials. Another recent work addressing this topic is Philip Freiherr Von Boeselager et al.'s Valkyrie: The Story of the Plot To Kill Hitler, by Its Last Member. VERDICT This fresh look at the German Resistance will be appreciated by students of World War II history.-Harry Willems, Great Bend P.L., KS © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

A robust history of the German conspiracy against Nazism.Orbach (History and East Asian Studies/Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) combines intellectual inquiry with thriller dynamics, explaining that resistance to Hitleris a field in which historical arguments are not purely academic but wrought through with passions. The author acknowledges both the admirable aims and ultimate shortcomings of the conspirators, arguing that their story, culminating in Operation Valkyrie in 1944, is deceptively complex, while the plotters moral standings remain subject to competing interpretations. Today, he notes, many doubt not only the moral integrity of the conspirators and their motives but their military skill as well. Orbach counterbalances this by examining the connections between principal figures as the Nazis took hold of German society. Initially, defiance developed among conservative iconoclasts from the military and the nobility. The author uses organizational theory to explore how resistance to totalitarianism moved from such secretive cliques to broader networks, potent but more vulnerable. Of these early groups, mostwere never involved in opposition to the Nazi regime, but a tiny portion went through a process of revolutionary mutation in the opening months of 1938. A planned coup nearly occurred that year, during Hitlers aggression against Czechoslovakia, but it fizzled out following appeasement. As one plotter noted, never, since 1933, was there such a good chance to free Germany and the world. Amazingly, a disgruntled lone wolf nearly killed Hitler the following year, an event that stands in ironic contrast to the increasingly labyrinthine networks. Orbach tracks the conspiracys rise and fall over several years; some participants were motivated by spiraling defeats on the eastern front, others through witnessing genocidal acts. The charismatic Claus von Stauffenberg linked the military, bureaucratic, and civilian cliques into a wheel conspiracy; unfortunately, its efficiency permitted the Nazis to punish most plotters following his failed bombing of Hitlers hideaway. Orbach is thoughtful and careful in portraying a rebellion against evil that ended honorably, perhaps, but in utter failure. A dense but gripping look at a historical counternarrative that remains relevant and disturbing. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

Few historical hooks are as sharp as the aching what-ifs of the various plots against Adolf Hitler's life. Orbach's 10-years-in-the-making debut sets out to be the definitive record of every significant assassination attempt by Hitler's own countrymen, most involving Abwehr agent Hans Paul Oster. Though Orbach cautions not to lionize the conspirators—some agreed with Nazi goals, just not Hitler's helmsmanship—it's difficult not to catch one's breath at Oster's tenterhook probings for recruits or to share his angst at every near-miss, from a beer-hall explosion that Hitler evades by minutes, to a sharpshooter assault on a parade that gets canceled, to a bomb inside a liquor bottle aboard Hitler's plane that doesn't trigger. It all leads, of course, to Claus von Stauffenberg, the dashing, eye-patched, would-be savior whom Orbach presents as, indeed, a man of heroic bent, and whose famous suitcase bomb came mere inches from doing the job. Despite a dry dissertation style, Orbach succeeds in painting an affecting picture of a network—nearly a movement—struggling to save the country against its own ingrained principles of obedience. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

In this account, historian Orbach (fellow, Weatherhead Ctr. for International Affairs) explores the psychological, social, and military dynamics of the network of groups who tried to assassinate German politician and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler between 1938 and 1943. The author uses newly discovered diaries and documents to characterize the attempted murder plots, notably the Oster Conspiracy in 1938, led by Gen. Hans Oster; and Operation Valkyrie in 1944, headed by Officer Claus von Stauffenberg in 1943. Owing to chance or miscalculations, Hitler managed to avoid death at the hands of these high-ranking officials. Another recent work addressing this topic is Philip Freiherr Von Boeselager et al.'s Valkyrie: The Story of the Plot To Kill Hitler, by Its Last Member. VERDICT This fresh look at the German Resistance will be appreciated by students of World War II history.—Harry Willems, Great Bend P.L., KS

[Page 88]. (c) Copyright 2016 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2016 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Content Cafe

Publishers Weekly Reviews

In this comprehensive history, Israeli historian Orbach scrupulously analyzes the resistance movements that opposed the Nazis from 1933 to 1945. His superb research includes interviews with resistance survivors, family members, and relevant records from archives around the world. It is a balanced history of the resistance that covers the famous Operation Valkyrie plot, but gives equal treatment to the other serious attempts to resist the Nazis and assassinate Hitler. For many readers the extent of the resistance efforts of Admiral Canaris (head of German Military Intelligence), among others, will be surprising. This book is unique in that Orbach attempts to determine the motivation of the resisters in moral and ethical terms. He explains that most historians have either idolized the resisters as heroes or condemned them as self-serving criminals. Orbach sets the record straight when he concludes that the resisters to Hitler's Nazi government were imperfect but in most cases exceptional human beings who reacted with action to the criminal deeds of the Nazis. Likely to become the definitive general history of the subject and the starting place for all future research, Orbach's work is a fascinating story of courage and an excellent study of the struggle of individuals to act morally and honorably. B&w insert. Agent: Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie Literary (U.K.). (Oct.)

[Page ]. Copyright 2016 PWxyz LLC

Copyright 2016 PWxyz LLC
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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Orbach, D. (2016). The plots against Hitler . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Orbach, Danny. 2016. The Plots against Hitler. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Orbach, Danny. The Plots against Hitler Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.

Harvard Citation (style guide)

Orbach, D. (2016). The plots against hitler. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Orbach, Danny. The Plots against Hitler Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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