Hitler Slept Late and Other Blunders That Cost Him the War

by James P. Duffy

In this surprising reinterpretation of Hitler's impact on the outcome of World War II, James Duffy reveals that the war was not won through American strength and ingenuity alone. Rather, it was lost due to Hitler's phenomenal military blunders. Challenging popular American views, the author shows how Nazi Germany at first substantially won the war in Europe. Yet Hitler proceeded to lose it even before the United States had entered the conflict. Hitler Slept Late sets the stage for each of Hitler's major errors, uncovering why each was made, what happened as a result, and how the outcome of the war might have been different had Hitler followed the advice of others. Duffy shows how Hitler's conquest of Europe ultimately failed due to two glaring faults--his inability to develop a concrete long-range plan and his maniacal belief in the strength of his own will. Offering new insight into Hitler as a military leader, this provocative study provides a clear view of Hitler's strengths and weaknesses and looks at what might have happened had he not blundered so often at vital times during the war.

Duffy begins with a look at Hitler's early victories in the Rhineland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. These victories, achieved through swift surprise attacks, worked because of the indecisiveness and reluctance to act exhibited by the British and French. Hitler's most egregious errors included his belief in his own infallibility as a military leader, his failure to heed the warnings of advisers, and his ultimate decision to surround himself with yes men. Fatal strategic errors include allowing the British army to escape from Dunkirk, failing to invade Great Britain immediately after Dunkirk, and not recognizing the primary importance of Moscow as a target in the Soviet invasion. These character flaws and leadership foibles, as described and analyzed in Hitler Slept Late , vividly illustrate the words of Sir Christopher Foxley Norris, retired Air Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Had it not been for Hitler, [the Germans] would have won.

Genres: History

192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 1991

Reviews

[Noy · Rating 4 out of 5]

great dive into history. well written easy to understand.

[Aaron Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book I got as a young man, as I was fascinated by world war 2. I was also captivated by the premise of this book (inspired by another book "The Man in the High Castle), what if Hitler had won the war? It was, and still is, a fascinating, yet frightening thought in my mind. What is truly troubling, however, is that it was far closer to becoming a reality than most people think.

The writer does an excellent job of devoting time and care to each reason why Hitler lost the war, citing diary entries, books, and other reliable material. He also adds some excellent anecdotes and quotations from the characters involved. It certainly helps that the author is a writer I enjoy reading, and he has me captivated every time I read the book.

I will warn, however, that this is not a purely "scholarly" work, and more for the general audience to read. However, it's an excellent read, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in history and WW2 in general

[Mark Blane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duffy does a great job of organizing some of the greatest blunders of Hitler as a leader of the Wehrmacht from its inception to its ultimate defeat in 1945. This is a quick read, but it packed full of detail and will not disappoint! I roughly added up approximately 14 blunders of Hitler that Duffy covers:

1. His failure to take advantage of the Dunkirk situation when the British were at their most vulnerable;
2. Not invading England immediately following Dunkirk (again when the British were at their weakest);
3. His decision to bomb London instead of Fighter Command where his Luftwaffe was making a difference;
4. Invading Russia in 1941 without the proper reconnaissance of the Red Army's tanks, and generals;
5. Not making Moscow a priority target in 1941 - going with the "Lossberg Plan;"
6. Postponing invasion of Russia by 5 weeks + - original date was May 15, 1941, and he did not begin until June 22, 1941;
7. Not allowing the 6th Army under Paulus to breakout when it had a chance to do so and to occupy a better position (a strategic withdrawal);
8. Lost opportunity to win favor of White Russians and Ukrainians while invading Russia in 1941 and beyond;
9. Declaring war of the U.S. without an official Quid Pro Quo from Japan, or at least waiting to declare war on the U.S. in order to have the U.S. shift their troops to the Pacific theatre;
10. His interference with the ME 262 fighter jet plan - first halting it's production, then resuming it, and then reducing its speed by making it a bomber;
11. Appointing Himmler as Head Commander of Army Group Vistula on 01/28/45;
12. His mistake of aligning himself with both Göring and Mussolini;
13. He halts, waits, then resumes two panzer divisions forward in Normandy making their assault powerless; and,
14. Not seeing the U-boat potential much earlier in the war - he only sees it later when it is too late for them to continue their effectiveness.

The reader will gain this and more by reading the short read on some of the most important blunders made by Hitler.

[James S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duffy, apparently an amateur historian and the author of such books as Learn While You Sleep and Cutting College Costs, offers his interpretation of WWII in this book. He relies too much on Speer and on debunked historians like David Irving and he can play fast and loose with footnotes, but his analysis of Hitler basically seems accurate. Essentially the position of this book is that WWII was started and lost by the same man: an "amateur who conducted the largest war in history on the basis on his intuition." A quick read.

[Connor Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book because it was very detailed about all of the events and was a great look into why Germany lost WWII. It even cites where all of the info was found in the book.

[Wildon Mitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book talks about how Hitler tended to change his mind on decisions and countermand the experts due to his intuition. Eighty years later, and things do not seem to have changed.

[Mark B. Epstein]

Good book, and it does point out that wars tend to be lost as much as they are won. It does get a little far-fetched when it talks about the Nazi's treatment of the Eastern Europeans and the Jews as being a mistake. No kidding, huh? Of course, if it weren't for the fact that the Nazis were pure evil, then the alliance would not have stayed together. But the fact that the Nazis were pure evil is why we were fighting them to begin with.

[Mathieu Gaudreault · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather amateurish book on Hitler mistakes. Not really well researched . Some mistakes are obvious but others like mentionning that Hitler should had invaded great-Britain in July 1940 shows the author lack of military and logistic knowledge. Light reading but not for a serious understanding of rhe Why Hitler lost WW2.

[Stephanie Pender]

I love that we've all worked together so long, so I can be my nerdy self and admit that I'm loving this book. I normally struggle to make it through non-fiction, but I'm fascinated by anything to do with WWII so I'm enjoying this so far.