Lost Victories: The War Memoirs of Hitler's Most Brilliant General

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Summary: A must read for any military and warfare student.
Review: I, like many amateurs of military studies used to think that Rommel was Germany's greatest commander, and that men like Patton were the best generals, and models of military genus and leadership.

That all changed when I took a much deeper look at the Second World War, and the strategy of the German leadership, which put its field commanders in positions of near impossible success. No other commander was as highly respected by either his comrades or for that matter his former enemies for his abilities and leadership than Field Marshal von Manstein. Heinz Guderian, and Gerd von Rundstedt were both close for other reasons, Guderian his tactical understanding of armor and blitzkrieg, and Rundstedt for his stedfast and effective method of decentralized and effective command of large theaters that sets the standard for the "non-micromanagement" model that commanders today are expected to follow.

Mansteins book, captures his accounts without the extra fat and political attack on others that one would expect from a commander of his level, where careerism and ego are hallmarks (read Patton, and Mongromery). His accounts of the command of 11th Army and later Army Group Don are required reading for any aspiring senior commander of large formations. This is a man who effectively used every resources he had, and understood his enemy better than the enemy himself.

Well, written, and translated, with a great forward by BH Liddell Hart, I have read this book, along with Guderian's Panzer Leader several times each and learned more and more every time.

I would consider this book required reading for every Army officer of the combat arms branches.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but re-written history
Review: Manstein's "Lost Victories" in many respects remains the definitive German post-war memoir. Without a doubt Manstein was probably one of the Wermacht's most brilliant military tacticians during WWII. At the war's conclusion Allied military personnel subjected Manstein to hundreds of hours of interviews and interrogations. What befuddled the Allies the most was how the German military machine, a fraction the size of the combined Allied forces, could wage and sustain a near-successful war for almost 5 years? Manstein was the logical person to ask! Manstein helped orchestrate some of the German Wermacht's most stunning victories, from the early blitzkrieg triumphs in Poland and France, to the latter-stage Kharkov battle in Russia, where 3 weakened SS divisions completely annihilated 4 Soviet armies. In "Lost Victories" Manstein writes compellingly about the dozens of campaigns, battles and operations he was involved in throughout the course of the war. Many of the battles Manstein describes have long since faded into history, existing only as unpronounceable names in dusty US military archives. One of the most striking things the reader walks away with having read "Lost Victories", is just how ferocious and all consuming the German war against the Soviet Union really was. 10's of millions of German and Russian soldiers were involved in far-reaching, tragic campaigns coolly orchestrated by men like Manstein far from the front. Whole divisions and even entire armies disappeared off the face of the map as the war reached its fever pitch. The death toll of some of these battles eclipsed the entire American casualty count for the entire war!
Manstein approaches his subject matter as a military tactician. He remains eerily detached and the reader is never given a glimpse into his personal views concerning his actions, the war and its consequences. In almost all respects Manstein mimics his post-war contemporaries. ALL military failures are blamed on the "tyrannical" Adolf Hitler, while every single victory is attributed to the discipline and perseverance of the rest of the German high command. Manstein forgot that it was Hitler's generous flexibility and "dynamic new approach" to waging war that allowed men like Manstein to develop unorthodox battle strategies, employ them, and climb the ranks when they were successful. Manstein was one of Hitler's favorites and was given almost carte blanche when it came to planning his own military campaigns. That "Hitler's favorite general" saw fit to engage in post-war character assassination of Hitler is one of histories (and this books) greatest ironies. Despite Manstein's constant and consistent attempt to shift blame off of himself and onto Hitler, "Lost Victories" provides a good glimpse into the mindset of one of the last centuries greatest military tacticians, AND illuminates the types of personalities that made the Third Reich's war machine as brutally efficient as it was.

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Summary: A Review of Manstein's Work
Review: With an emphasis on analysis seldom presented in a book this accessible, Manstein has presented his readers with a rich history of his activities in the Second World War. The majority of the book is devoted to his greatest operational achievement, the successful withdrawal of several German army groups on the Southern end of the Russian front after the defeat at Stalingrad. There are moments in the recounting of this operation when the reader can fully appreciate the difficulties confronting Manstein and his staff; the tension, always understated by the author, becomes palpable, if only because of what he does not say. Lost Victories is a glimpse into one of the most brilliant military minds of this century and a book not to be missed.