"Enemy in the East", by Rolf-Dieter Müller

This book is a fascinating insight that sheds light on Hitler’s war plans and brings us behind the scenes of the Wehrmacht High Command strategy to attack the Soviet Union from the very start of World War 11 and the risky move that was “Operation Barbarossa”. “Enemy in the East” is a wealth of research into newly and forgotten documents discovered in archives and notes taken from speeches recorded during meetings Hitler had with his military strategists. At the end of the book we have a list of handy references and foot notes at bottom of pages when need be.

The plan to invade the Soviet Union was in the making long before the Nazis came to power. The author brings us back to the 1800’s and to the early 1900’s with an overview of events that took place and have influenced the “Powers that be” later on. Hitler had planned a war of intervention against the USSR long before he seized power and declared the Nazi Party the only legal political party in Germany. We have surprising information how Hitler manipulated neighboring countries into alliance and used them as bulwark against the Soviet Union.

There is a lot said in this book that I will not touch here that is most interesting and educational. To facilitate our orientation since some countries have changed names and borders since, the author has included useful maps to orient us through the maze. I was happy to have them as reference it helped immensely to understand the strategy and the movement of troops along the different corridors.

In short, the author has written a concise yet a very comprehensive analysis of the military mind-set and what motivated them to carry the Crusade against Bolshevism and the subsequent atrocities that occurred.

If you are interested in the Eastern Front War, “Enemy in the East”, is an excellent addition to any library.

My thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher I.B. Tauris for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.