Thus far, very little has been known about what the German general staff during World War II knew and thought about Hitler, the state of the war, or German war crimes.The historian Sönke Neitzel provides a direct, immediate view into the mental world of the German military leadership through sources he has recently gained access to: the “eavesdropping” transcripts in the British National Archives of German staff officers as prisoners of war of the British. Without realizing they were being heard, high-ranking and highly knowledgeable prisoners openly talked about their war experiences, the prospects of the war, National Socialism, war crimes, and the 20th of July. Neitzel’s work, with its meticulous commentaries and introduction, makes it clear how strongly aware the German military elite were of the catastrophic war situation and the extent of German war crimes, especially on the Russian front. A historical testimony of the highest quality.