Heinz Guderian (1888-1954) was born in Kulm, West Prussia (now Chelmno, Poland). His family, like that of many Prussians, was historically composed of landed nobles and lawyers, his father being the only soldier with whom he was closely related. Guderian, being the son of a soldier, moved around a lot during his youth until he joined the army himself in 1907. During World War I, Guderian served as a signals officer, which gave him provided an understanding of how technology could be used to facilitate military actions. . After the war, Guderian found himself in the German Army (Reichswehr), reduced to 100,000 men, where he slowly began to develop his ideas of mobile warfare, bringing together the ideas of his fellow military theorists JFC Fuller, BH Liddell Hart and Charles de Gaulle. This resulted in Guderian's book Achtung – Panzer! which sets out his ideas on armor and aircraft in modern warfare. Guderian would eventually test his theories in action with the start of World War II, making spectacular progress in Poland, France, and Russia. Perhaps because of his place among the first to adopt both the theoretical and practical implementations of blitzkrieg, he is sometimes called the father of blitzkrieg and modern military theory. Panzer Leader, or Erinnerungen eienes Soldaten (Memoirs of a Soldier) in the original German, is ostensibly the autobiography of Heinz Guderian covering perhaps the most critical and defining years of his life; his first combats within the German army to create and develop the German armored forces, the first German successes from 1939 to 1941, beginning with the incorporation of Austria and the Sudetenland into the Reich, followed by the campaigns in Poland, France and the First Invasion of the S...... middle of paper ......contributes to the stock of war literature should interest the student of the specialized mind and personal career of the author. It is of less interest as a study and analysis of German strategy and tactics. » and, in general, I agree. But it will forever be a shame that one of the major forces behind blitzkrieg and modern military theory provided so little direct information about his life and ideas. Works Cited Addington, Larry H., The Blitzkrieg Era and the German General Staff, 1865-1941 (New Jersey, 1971) Guderian, Heinz, Panzer Leader (Toronto, 2000) Macksey, Kenneth, Guderian: Panzer General (London, 1975) Norman , Albert, “Review: Panzer Leader,” The American Historical Review 58, no. 4 (1953), pp. 918-920. Rothbrust, Florian K., Guderian's XIXth Panzer Corps and the Battle of France: Breakthrough in the Adennes, May 1940 (New York, 1990)