An interesting, if occasionally dry, book which casts a light on a less well known side of the second world war. The Mussolini rescue is well covered in other sources; but the investigation and writing on the less well covered nazi special forces and intelligence agencies is something new. This goes a long way towards making this a book worth reading for students of the period.

A strange, strange story but very satisfying about one of the first modern politician warriors.  A man who is still held in high esteem for his military prowess even while being a political pariah.  Good insights into the complexities of a great warrior regardless of which side he was on.

Otto Skorzeny: The Devil’s Disciple by Stuart Smith is a biography of “Hitler’s favorite commando”, a man who became a legend in his lifetime, but almost forgotten these days.

Throughout my reading on World War II I have yet to encounter the name of SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny, either that or he was mentioned in a passing paragraph. When Otto Skorzeny: The Devil’s Disciple by Stuart Smith popped up in front of me it sounded too interesting to pass up.
I was right.

Skorzeny is a character which even the most brilliant minds in Hollywood would have a tough time coming up with. A man who is as good in self-promotion as he is I soldiering, not afraid to steal other men’s credit to enhance his legacy, but can also “walk the walk” when necessary.

It seems that along with guts, Skorzeny was blessed with charm, and not small amounts of chutzpah. As an Austrian, he also managed to get on the right side of Hitler, to the chagrin of other dutiful Nazis. Even though he was trained as a mechanical engineer, Skorzeny was found he had an aptitude for networking, and a strong liking of the limelight.

As a commando, he has managed to be front and center when rescuing Mussolini and discovered that he and the camera had a mutual liking. An impressive, hulking man with sword dueling scars on his cheek, he seemed to embody the myth he was building for himself.

The author doesn’t buy the self-serving stories though. This biography cuts through the aspects of Skorzeny’s life separating fact from fiction, making logical assumptions about events which we have little, or no, documentation of.

The author highlights Skorzeny’s contradictions, a brave and reckless man who knows who to get on his side, but yet a terrible judge of character. He seemed to believe his own stories, and while at it, make other people believe he has much more power and influence than he ever did. A racist Nazi who actually believed the racial superiority nonsense, but when push came to shove worked with the Israeli Mossad.

It’s surprising that I’ve never heard of this man, a legend then, and it appears now as well since much of the Special Forces methodology today is based on his methods. A fascinating biography of a man which has much in common with today’s politicians, self-serving, aggrandizing, and believing their own self-serving stories, regardless of the truth.

Otto Skorzeny: The Devil’s Disciple is an interesting book. The author definitely did his research. I give it five stars.

Stuart Smith raises the lid on Otto Skorzeny, a man who has become something of a legend which far surpasses the real man, and indeed a lot of this can be put down to Otto himself, charismatic, a person who certainly was in love with himself, and also someone who thought more of himself than others ever did.

Studying and becoming a mechanical engineer, how did this man then go on to be a light in the Third Reich and a supposedly special operations pioneer?  Here the author tries to cut through the myths and legends built up about Otto and get to the truth, although as you would expect this isn’t always that plain sailing.  There are parts of his life that no definitive documentation can be found for, and thus Mr Smith has to use plain common sense, with what probably occurred on occasions.

Born in Austria and with a certain fondness for the fashion of duelling at the time, unlike certain others it would seem that Skorzeny’s scar was legitimately earned, but other aspects of his life are partly a combination of fantasy and truth.  A supporter of the Nazi regime this was a man that really seemed to be good at networking as well as finding that he had an aptitude for celebrity status.  After the liberation of Mussolini where Skorzeny definitely mugged up for the cameras so his rise seems inevitable, but he was someone who although brave was reckless, and not a very good judge of or leader of people, plus he didn’t like the more mundane side of paperwork and organisation and was easily bored.

Here then we read of the contradictions in his life, as well as what others thought of him, and also how he fared after the war, becoming a businessman but still with very right-wing tendencies.  With the bolstering of his self-image – by himself - he was able to dazzle a number of people, with many believing that his power and influence was much greater than it really was.  Thus, a legend has been built up ever since over someone who was just lucky at certain times to be where they were at the right time.

Delving into the time he was alive and the character and life of this man means that Stuart Smith has given us a very good profile that we can all relate to of someone that will always have a certain enigma surrounding him.  There are other things that we can take away from this book, such as looking around and seeing how certain of the world’s leaders have in common with him with regards to their own self-belief and their building of an image of how they perceive themselves to be, rather than the truth.  In all then this makes for a truly fascinating read that should go down well with those interested not only in this particular man but in the Second World War.

I was kindly provided with a review copy of this by the publisher via NetGalley for reviewing purposes.