In 1945 the once mighty Wehrmacht was reduced to a pathetic shadow of its former self as the thousand-year Reich lay in ruins. The war in the West had been lost and its protagonists scattered in prisoner-of-war camps across Europe. In his line of duty, Major Shulman interrogated many enemy prisoners, including such senior officers as von Rundstedt, 'Sepp' Dietrich and Kurt Student, and from them he learnt why it was that such a superbly armed body of fighting men suffered such a calamitous defeat. First published in 1947, this book was the first to reveal the truth of so much that had happened in the war, and how the discipline and ignorance of the German military machine served Hitler well and Germany badly. It is now a classic of military history.