Otto Skorzeny: The Devils Disciple

(Hardback)

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SS-Obersturmbannfhrer Otto Skorzeny became a legend in his own time. Hitlers favourite commando acquired a reputation as a man of daring, renowned for his audacious 1943 mission to extricate Mussolini from a mountain-top prison. Skorzenys influence on special operations doctrine was far-reaching and long-lasting in 2011, when US Navy SEALs infiltrated Pakistan to eliminate Osama Bin Laden, the operational planning was influenced by Skorzenys legacy. Yet he was also an egoist who stole other mens credit (including for the seminal rescue of Mussolini), brave and resourceful but also an unrepentant Nazi and a self-aggrandizing hogger of the limelight. Stuart Smith draws on years of in-depth research to uncover the truth about Skorzenys career and complex personality. From his background as a student radical in Vienna, to his bloody service with the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front, his surprise rebirth as a commando, and his intriguing post-war career and mysterious fortune, this book tells Otto Skorzenys story in full warts and all for the first time.

Reviews

Stuart has put together a fascinating portrait of a man whose entire career was largely built on one exploit - rescuing Mussolini from captivity in 1943. - IPMS/USA

Author Bio

Stuart Smith is a business journalist. He was a Major Open Scholar in Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford, 197376 and completed an MA in International Relations at Sussex University, 19789. For 20 years, until 2008, Stuart was editor of Marketing Week, a high-circulation business magazine. He lives in the UK.