Deeply researched and vividly written, this book skillfully interweaves the stories of Wehrmacht deserters, the military justice system that brutally punished them, and the postwar German societies that struggled to come to terms with the wartime past. Douglas Carl Peifer makes valuable contributions to both the literature on Germany's war effort and on the long shadow of the Nazi period in divided and reunited Germany after 1945. * Adam R. Seipp, Texas A&M University * Douglas Carl Peifer provides a riveting account of German deserters during World War II, some 20,000 of whom were tried and executed. Piecing together disparate sources, Peifer presents fascinating studies of individual deserters, their motivations, and their court-martial proceedings. He shines a light on the many reasons for the ultimate form of dissent, and the terrible price paid for it. * Norman JW Goda, author of The Holocaust: Europe, the World, and the Jews, 1918-1945 * In postwar Germany it took almost 60 years to recognize Nazi injustice, overturn military court-martial verdicts, and rehabilitate the reputations of deserters. In this long-awaited study, the renowned military historian Douglas Carl Peifer provides a multifaceted survey of desertion in the Third Reich. It offers intriguing insights into the social, legal, and political roles of the military and its gradual re-evaluation after 1945. * Jörg Echternkamp, editor of Germany and the Second World War, vol. 9/1-2 * Deeply researched and vividly written, this book skillfully interweaves the stories of Wehrmacht deserters, the military justice system that brutally punished them, and the postwar German societies that struggled to come to terms with the wartime past. Douglas Carl Peifer makes valuable contributions to both the literature on Germany's war effort and on the long shadow of the Nazi period in divided and reunited Germany after 1945. * Adam R. Seipp, Texas A&M University * Douglas Carl Peifer provides a riveting account of German deserters during World War II, some 20,000 of whom were tried and executed. Piecing together disparate sources, Peifer presents fascinating studies of individual deserters, their motivations, and their court-martial proceedings. He shines a light on the many reasons for the ultimate form of dissent, and the terrible price paid for it. * Norman JW Goda, Author of The Holocaust: Europe, the World, and the Jews, 1918-1945 * In postwar Germany it took almost 60 years to recognize Nazi injustice, overturn military court-martial verdicts, and rehabilitate the reputations of deserters. In this long-awaited study, the renowned military historian Douglas Carl Peifer provides a multifaceted survey of desertion in the Third Reich. It offers intriguing insights into the social, legal, and political roles of the military and its gradual re-evaluation after 1945. * Jörg Echternkamp, Editor of Germany and the Second World War, vol. 9/1-2 * This invaluable volume not only translates and interprets an enormous subject in one volume, but sheds all sorts of lights on the Nazi war machine and ideology. * Richard Lofthouse, QUAD * A well-told tale, one that manages to humanise the victims of Nazi military justice and embed their individual narratives in a thorough examination of the world at war. * Kristin Semmens, History Today * This work not only documents the range of German deserter experiences but also serves as a valuable prism through which to discuss the history of German military institutions and culture, and their place in Germany generally. * R. Spickermann, Choice *
