In the service of the Reich

The memoirs of Field-Marshal Keitel were written in manuscript in prison at Nuremberg beginning on 1st September, 1946. The original is in the possession of the Keitel family. His narrative covering the years 1933 to 1938 is included in the German edition, but in this English edition Keitel’s life up to 1937 is dealt with in the editor’s introduction, which contains many extracts from Keitel’s own account of those years. The translation of the memoirs themselves here begins with 1937, on page 36. On the other hand, some passages from the original manuscript, which were not included in the German edition, appear in this translation, as for example the description of the Munich crisis and the planning discussions for the invasion of Britain.