Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager was born in Bonn, Germany,
in 1917, the fifth of nine children. He was raised with a liberal
education, strong moral and religious values, and a love of
hunting. In 1938, he enlisted and was placed in the cavalry
regiment. He rose to the rank of commanding lieutenant, only to
join the German resistance in 1941. His participation in Valkyrie
went undetected, and he lived to be the last surviving member of
the plot. In 2003, France awarded von Boeselager the Legion of
Honor. He died on May 1, 2008.
Florence Fehrenbach is the granddaughter of Karl von Wendt,
a coconspirator and close friend of Philipp von Boeselager. She and
her husband, Jérôme Fehrenbach, convinced Boeselager, at the
age of eighty-nine, to recount his experience.
“Memorable. . . . This book deserves your time because of its
fascinating story, plainly but sharply told, of an individual in an
extraordinary situation.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Remarkable. . . . An astonishing memoir. . . . Of real
significance to Second World War historians.”
—Daily Telegraph (London)
“Boeselager’s book doesn’t tarry in the realm of might-have-been.
Instead, it explores reality—the importance of making accessible to
future generations the full truth of history.”
—The Christian Science Monitor
“An extraordinary memoir. . . . A one-of-a-kind eyewitness account,
essential for students of the Third Reich and all champions of
freedom against tyranny.”
—Booklist
“Celebrates a long-since-vanished generation of scholar-warriors. .
. . von Boeselager [was] both intelligent and honourable.”
—Daily Mail (London)
“[A] brisk, illuminating description of how one German solider
struggled to reconcile his profound religious and moral sensibility
with his cavalryman’s patriotic code of honour and thereby became
part of this conspiracy.”
—Daily Express (London)
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