Disobeying Hitler: German Resistance in the Last Year of WWII

Raze Paris to the ground. Burn the bridges. Destroy all industry.

These were just a few of the insane orders issued by Hitler in the closing months of the Second World War, as the Allies made their unstoppable advance on Germany.

Had it not been for the determination and bravery of a few Germans – officers and ordinary civilians – who disobeyed Hiter, Europe might have been a scorched ruin. Many paid with their lives.

Might Rommel have opened the Western Front to the Allies on 20 July 1944 had he not been shot at a few days earlier? Did Albert Speer single-handedly prevent the destruction of bridges, factories and towns? Did a Prussian general save Paris?

In this compelling book, distinguished historian Randall Hansen explores the extraordinary phenomenon of disobedience-as-resistance and its effect on both the war and its aftermath.

A gripping account of German resistance to Hitler's tyranny in the last year of World War Two, in its 80th anniversary year.