“The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years’ War to the Third Reich”, by Robert M. Citino

428 pages, University Press of Kansas, ISBN-13: 978-0700614103

The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years’ War to the Third Reich by Robert M. Citino is one of a whole series of books from the “Modern War Studies” collection published by the University Press of Kansas (guess I’ll have to hunt down a couple more titles now). Citino’s central theme is that from the day of its founding in the 1640s, the Brandenburger, then Prussian, and then German armies had a specific philosophy of combat: give your subordinates near autonomy, be aggressive, keep the war “short and lively” – or kurz und lebendig – and go for flank and rear attacks (I should note here that, subtitle aside, this book really starts with 1675 and the birth of the Prussian Army). This philosophy has its upside, as tiny and impoverished Brandenburg-Prussia eventually became a major power, but the ultimate downside was that these armies had little idea of what to do if the war became prolonged. The three Prussian wars in the 19^th Century proved the validity of the quick war, and the strategy for defeating the Entente in World War I followed along the same lines; unfortunately for the Germans, the campaign of 1914 against the French and British did not achieve a quick victory and, in some respects, its failure doomed German aspirations.

In World War II, Hitler, the Oberkommando des Heeres (Supreme High Command of the German Army) and Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces) all constructed plans for rapid campaigns and, initially in Poland, Holland, Belgium and France they were successful. Barbarossa did not achieve its ends in Russia, however, and the turning point was reached following the setbacks before Moscow. A single chance remained: that of defeating the remaining Soviet armies in the summer offensive of 1942, but by July (well before Stalingrad) the handwriting was on the wall. The German logistical concepts were also oriented towards quick campaigns, and both in the winter of 1914–15 and 1941–42 the German armies experienced severe supply problems. What had gone wrong was simply that a long campaign was not planned for, and commanders were forced to improvise to an extreme degree.

A second major point in Citino’s work is the development of the officer corps with its Auftragstaktik (Mission-type tactics); that is, the issuing of orders specifying the mission and leaving execution up to the field commanders. Bolstering this was the Army’s excellent training of officers, both in staff and line functions, and the pushing of authority and responsibility for accomplishing the mission all the way down to the squad leader and assistant squad leader level. Although American films like to present German officers and men as blindly following orders, in actual reality German officers and NCOs enjoyed more freedom in decision-making than American officers. Not surprisingly, after World War II the American Army adopted German training and testing methods on a wholesale basis. With respect to discipline and ruthlessness, Citino noted that the German Army carried out 22,000 death sentences in World War II as compared to only 48 in World War I. These are undebatable statistics, but the vast majority of death sentences were carried out on the Eastern Front while the Wehrmacht was in retreat, and commanders such as Schörner and Model consistently resorted to draconian methods to maintain effective resistance.

If I have any qualms with the book it is that it focuses on the Prussian-German way of war, not going into other traditions of the German States, i.e. Bavaria, Saxony, etc. That would have been interesting – very interesting in fact – but might have made the book prohibitive in length and discourse. Still, I’d like to know what influence, if any, the Bavarian military tradition had on the army established in 1871 by the German Empire and afterwards. This is a small qualification for a first-class book as The German Way of War brilliantly sets out its thesis of a steady and somewhat predictable (attack the enemy wherever they are) military tradition in the German Army from the Great Elector through 1945. Relevant examples are given to support the thesis, and Professor Citino convinced me of his point of view. Fascinating sections on personalities that influenced the German Army through the ages – Frederick the Great, Helmuth von Moltke, Alfred von Schlieffen, Hans von Seeckt and so many others – are interesting and enlightening, while his analysis of the willingness of the German General Staff to accede to the wishes of Hitler – and their later attempts to expunge their record after 1945 – is eye-opening.

“Batman: The Dark Knight Returns”, written and illustrated by Frank Miller, illustrated by Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley

224 pages, DC Comics, ISBN-13: 978-1563893421

What else can be said about the four-issue miniseries that reinvigorated one of Comicdom’s most iconic but, at least in 1986, tired characters? Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is the omnibus collection issued in 2014, but the art and story are all the same (what, I’m gonna plunk down a thousand bucks for a first edition set? Eh…no). First off, I am not a comic book fan or collector; I gave it a go by buying Firestorm back in the 80’s (oh, and Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragonés; ah, how I miss ya, Groo!), but after my Dad took us all on a history-themed vacation in 1982, my heart and my head were forever lost to the past. But when my brother Tom began collection the Dark Knight series, even I was taken with it. Me. Can you imagine? So what is it about this thing that captivated a whole generation of geeks and nerds and breathed new life into not only this one character but, arguably, into the industry as a whole? This series tells the story of a middle-aged Bruce Wayne who has given up being Batman; however, the disastrous situation in Gotham City draws him back to the cape and cowl in order to save the city and its people. I won’t spoil anything for those who haven’t read this (30+ year-old) series, but if you haven’t done so, go out and do so. NOW.

This was the first comic book…er, graphic novel, that actually made me give a damn about cartoon characters; I’d watched movies and read literature that did the same, but I’d never read a graphic novel that treated it’s characters so seriously (although, come to think of it, Alien Legion at around the same time was a series work that was awesome, to boot). It’s difficult to describe just how influential this work was, speaking as one who actually read it after its original release. Without The Dark Knight Returns, would there have been Alan Moore’s Watchmen? Or Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman? These, and many others besides, were disruptors of comics, and the genre has never been the same since; it’s so easy to forget with one comic book movie after another dominating the multiplexes of the world just how unpopular you had to be to like these, but this is a direct result of this one, groundbreaking earthshattering masterpiece. The art by Miller was controversially different from what was the norm at the time, as it challenged the predominantly Jack Kirby Style that was prevalent with something a lot more impressionistic, allowing the reader to focus more on the story than being distracted by the art. The art style also emphasized the dystopian nature of the imperfect future described by Miller. For the newbie reading this, bearing the above in mind will help, I trust, enhance the understanding and the enjoyment of the reading experience. Even if you don't like it, I hope you see the importance and significance that this book had on not only one of the most well-known characters of all time, but also an entire medium as a whole. Sooooo…why are you still sitting there? Go out and read The Dark Knight Returns. NOW.

“Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life”, by Alison Weir

464 pages, Ballantine Books, ISBN-13: 978-0345405401

Jeez, can ole’ Eleanor get any respect? In my August 4^th review of Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Mother Queen by Desmond Seward I said that it was rather disappointing as it seemed to be more of a history of the men in the Queen’s life rather than of the queen herself. So now we come upon Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life by Alison Weir, expecting more from one of the most modern respected historians and a woman, to boot, hoping that darling Eleanor of the Golden Boots would get a better shake, but…eh, no. While this book, like the last book, is ostensibly a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine (one of history’s most amazing women, I don’t mind telling you), because of the dearth of sources relating directly to Eleanor it is in reality of history of the times in which she lived and, more accurately, a biography of her two famous husbands, Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. The truth is, we know very little about Eleanor in her own right, and what is known about her is generally in conjunction with one of her spouses or her sons, particularly Richard and John. Nonetheless, remnants of this formidable woman’s life do shine through the deeds of her menfolk (perhaps my favorite story about her is that the closing to her letters usually read “Eleanor, by the grace of God, Queen of England”; however, when the Pope refused to intercede on behalf of her captured son Richard the Lionheart she instead signed her letter to His Holiness “Eleanor, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England” – that she was gutsy enough to threaten the most powerful man in the western world of her day speaks volumes).

How, then, to fill 400+ pages on a subject for which there is no reliable history? Well, I’ll tell ya: First, you fill the book with general history and facts regarding 12^th Century Europe. There is every bit as much, if not more, written about Henry II of England, Eleanor’s second husband, than there is about Eleanor herself. Weir writes extensively about the Second Crusade, undertaken by Eleanor’s first husband, Louis VII of France, but has virtually nothing to say about Eleanor’s role therein (understandable, since there are no sources that speak of it). The book deals primarily with the political and martial dealings between the various Kings, Dukes, Earls and Counts of Europe and England. Next, you write about the role of women in 12^th Century Europe and try to compare and contrast Eleanor’s activities in an attempt to paint her as a much more politically savvy and active member of society than most women of the age. Lastly, you take very flimsy historical information and try to expand it to fill the historical gaps and flesh out the ostensible object of your “biography”. With respect to Weir’s writing style, I found it to be very dry and, at times, merely a recitation of historical facts running for pages at a time. The plethora of names and titles were at times confusing, a situation that was compounded by the aforementioned style utilized by the author. We learn all about Eleanor’s family, titles and estates, and the rough timeline of her marriages, divorce, children and death…beyond that, with respect to Eleanor herself, we know very little (hell, we don’t even have a reliable likeness of her). To sell this work as a “biography” is to give the word a definition with which I am unfamiliar.