The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel: Chief of the German High Command, 1938-1945

Written in the shadow of the hangman's noose and he knew it. Keitel frequently claims that Hitler kept him in the dark, obscured the political situation, did not let him make decisions, and duped him. He further adds that the Allies had several important opportunities before the fall of France in

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1940 to attack Germany but failed to do so. Keitel defends his deputy General Alfred Jodl, who would also be hanged at Nuremberg. The last chapter was most interesting to me. He was in la-la land as the last days of the war wound down. Walter Gorlitz's introduction paints Keitel as an extremely talented staff officer and hard worker, a portrait quite at odds with the standing view that the Field Marshal (a title he claims he did not want or deserve) was, as Hitler described him, not intellectually fit to be a cinema usher. There are some good nuggets, such as Keitel's account of his discussion with French General Huntziger when the former signed the surrender document in 1940.

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