The Oster Conspiracy of 1938 : The Unknown Story of the Military Plot to Kill Hitler and Avert World War II

New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003. Bright, clean, square, tight copy. Lightly rubbed Dust Jacket is not price clipped (27.95). No chips. No tears. No owner's name or bookplate. No remainder marks. No underlining. No highlighting. No margin notes. Illustrated with maps and 8 pages of photos. Chapter notes/sources. Index. Bound in the original black boards with red spine. "First Edition" is so stated, with complete number row (10 987654321) on the copyright page. Based on British and German sources, including previously unexploied documents in the U.S. Army War College's Military History Institute. From Publishers Weekly: "As Hitler planned to invade Czechoslovakia, disenchanted German military men believed that the campaign would be a disastrous failure. Lieutenant Colonel Hans Oster had watched during the early 1930s as Hitler brutally deposed and executed men under whom Oster had served, in order to consolidate his hold on the military. A military intelligence officer, Oster (1887-1945) played a crucial role in a plan, never executed, to capture or kill Hitler. A professor of History at the University of Tampa, Parssinen opens each chapter with cursory background material, then describes events as they unfolded day by day. The action jumps from the members of the German military who hatched the coup plan, to Hitler's inner circle and the SS as it moved toward war, to the British government as it prevaricated and then sent British Prime Minister Chamberlain to Germany to meet Hitler and defuse the Czech crisis. The pact in Munich that September left the conspirators in a quandary, as they had planned to begin their revolt after the order for the invasion of Czechoslovakia had been given, and they destroyed their assassination plans. Oster was involved in an actual failed attempt against Hitler in 1943. He was arrested and executed... Parssinen offers a clearly written, well-researched and accurate history of what might have been during the immediate period before World War II, and of a clear-sighted figure who followed his conscience.". Signed by Author (on title page - signature only). First Printing of the First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine condition./Very Good+ Dust Jacket.. 8vo. xxii, 232pp. .