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Hitler's Commander: Field Marshal Walther Model--Hitler's Favorite General ReviewThis is a very interesting and informative account of Walther Model as a military commander.
There seems to be a paucity of material relating directly to Model (he destroyed his personal papers at the end of the war), and the author has done a very good job of piecing together this well-written narrative. There is not much in it about his personal life - a few lines about his upbringing, and the odd allusion to things like his drinking. He seems to have had only one period of leave, 3 months at the end of 1943. It does not gloss over his character, especially his treatment of his fellow officers and superiors, and suggests why they mostly disliked him, whilst the ordinary soldier may have felt somewhat differently. (When he left one of his commands he had been disliked so much that only one office escorted him away, and after Model had taken off in th eplane phoned to tell the others `Schweinfurt' - not a reference to the town, but `the pig has flow'!).
The book is really about his military career, from before WW1 to his suicide in 1945. I found the author to be fair in his opinions - praise where due, criticism where not, though there was no hindsight judgements. It made clear why Model was supreme in defence. There is quite a bit of information about some of the lesser know battles on the Eastern Front, for instance the defence of the Orel salient during the Kursk battle. The scale of the fighting, and casualties, is made apparent. His relationship to Hitler is explored, and suggests reasons why he was one of Hitler's favourite Generals in spite of - or perhaps because of - Model standing up to him. The half-truths of some of the postwar Generals' accounts is also made apparent. All in all a very informative read. The one major criticism I had was the lack of maps, so it was often hard to follow the battles. There is no map of Poland in 1939 for instance, so it is impossible to follow any of the fighting there. I always feel that in works of military history where possible every place name should figure on a map, and this book falls badly short in that respect. There also seem to be a few unnecessary digressions, for instance a longer than needed account of the German atrocities in WW1 and the reasons for them. However all in all a very informative account, and the author does well in trying to flesh out the details of Model's military career.
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