From Triumph to Disaster: The Fatal Flaws of German Generalship from Moltke to Guderian

London: Greenhill Books, 1996. - 235 pgs. The Nazi army, navy and air force are still remembered as the best organized, best trained, best equipped and most formidable fighting forces of their day. The same can be said of the massive German army that battled under Kaiser Wilhelm a generation earlier. Led by brilliant generals and backed by state-of-the-art munitions industries, these military organizations struck terror in the hearts of enemies & allies alike. So, why did they lose? In this account of the failed German war machine, military historian Kenneth Macksey reveals that Germany's catastrophic failures had little to do with the random fortunes of war, but were the inevitable result of its military structure, leadership and history. Its great strengths--inspired generals & strategists, the innovative development of military forces, and the skill and tenacity of its fighting men--were repeatedly undermined by short-term war policies, arrogance and a tendency to believe its own propaganda. These flaws, problematic even in Germany's 19th century victories, became fatal when combined with 20th century dreams of world dominion. This was reprinted under the title Why the Germans Lose at War. The Myth of German Military Superiority.