Memoirs of Franz von Papen

The memoirs of Franz von Papen offer a fascinating view of the German Hierarchy from the reign of the last Kaiser to the reign of terror of Adolf Hitler. Although there is an element of self-justification, Conservative von Papen lays bare the machinations of the German politicians that led to Hitler to supreme power in Germany. Born into a wealthy, but not aristocratic, family in 1879 von Papen he started his career in the Imperial German Army rising to the General Staff and a diplomatic posting