The Von Bock memoirs, which appear here for the first time, allow the reader to see the entire drama of the Second World War through the eyes of one of Germany's most important military commanders.

After the attacks on Poland and Western Europe, campaigns he helped bring to a successful conclusion, von Bock became commander-in-chief of Army Group Center which carried out the main drive on Moscow during Operation Barbarossa and brought the Red Army to the verge of collapse in the great battles of encirclement.

Hitler relieved von Bock when the German offensive bogged down during the winter of 1941/1942. After he returned as commander-in-chief of Army Group South, von Bock was eventually placed in temporary retirement when he criticized Hitler's division of forces against Stalingrad and the Caucasus-the road to catastrophe began.

Army commanders like Hoth, Guderian, Kluge, and Paulus served under Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock, while at his side stood his nephew Henning von Tresckow, who led the most active resistance movement against Hitler, and Carl-Hans von Hardenberg, a friend and advisor of Stauffenberg. Their efforts to win over von Bock failed, yet the Generalfeldmarschall tolerated the pronounced resistance sentiments among his staff, and even became privy to the attempted assassination of Hitler on July 20, 1944.

This book allows us to reassess Fedor von Bock, whose complex personality is revealed by his diary entries, and by the biographical sketches by editor Klaus Gerbet.