The Von Bock memoirs allow the reader to see the entire drama of the Second World War through the eyes of one of Germany’s most important military commanders. After the attacks on Poland and Western Europe, campaigns that he helped bring to a successful conclusion, Von Bock became Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Center which carried out the main drive on Moscow during Operation Barbarossa and brought the Red Army to the verge of collapse. Hitler relieved Von Bock when the German offensive bogged down during the winter of 1941/1942. After he returned as Commander-in-Chief of Army Group South, Von Bock was eventually placed in temporary ‘retirement’ when he critised Hitler’s division of forces against Stalingrad and the Caucasus – and the road to catastrophe began. Army commanders like Hoth, Guderian, Kluge and Paulus served under Von Bock, while at his side was his nephew Henning von Tresckow, who led the most active resistance movement against Hitler, and Carl-Hans von Hardenberg, a friend and advisor of Von Stauffenberg. Their efforts to win him over to the resistance failed, yet Von Bock the pronounced resistance sentiments among his staff, and even became privy to the attempted assassination of Hitler on July 20, 1944. This book allows us to reassess Fedor Von Bock, whose complex personality is revealed by his diary entries.