Readers may have heard of Rear Admiral Canaris as head of the Abwehr, the German Aremy Intelligence Service, but until they have read this fascinating book, they will probably not have been aware of his personal history. He was a single-minded individual throughout his naval career, but he knew how to stay in his position against the internal enemies he had made over the years.
He was, initially, an advocate of Hitler after the WWI, he gradually became disillusioned when the Nazi excesses against Jews and ethnic minorities became apparent. He had a reputation of being diligent with his work ethic and also very aware of the forces, mainly the Gestapo and the SS, who were plotting against him however, he had cultivated Hitler and won him over to his view of the wars’ progress. Canaris was less well know for saving the lives of scores of Jews allowing them to leave Germany and occupied Countries, by issuing visas to leave as agents of the Abwehr to proceed to expand his intelligence network. His authority was sufficient to override the border control imposed by the Nazi government and this was one of the major issues that caused his ultimate downfall. He was ultimately removed from his position by elements of the SS and sequestered to a dead end appointment however he continued to to attempt to subvert the Nazi regime. His ultimate end came after the July 1944 attempt on Hitler’s life when he was linked to the conspiracy and he was executed in a horrendous manner at Flossenburg concentration camp.
This story of an honorable and compassionate opponent of the Nazi regime shows there were such men during this time, risked their lives and paid the ultimate price. A book worth reading.

3.75 stars if I’m being specific!

Admiral Canaris is a someone who I hadn’t heard of before, and I selected this book based on the blurb.

It’s an individual I’m glad I have now learnt about, but getting into the book was a bit difficult. I wasn’t immediately hooked, but preserved through.

It was a dark time in history, but knowing that individuals like this exist gives the world hope.

An extremely well written book on Admiral Canaris and his efforts to sabotage Germany during WW2. His efforts to save Jews from the death of the concentration camps was inspiring. A great read for the history fans!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Admiral Canaris is, in my opinion, one of the more fascinating characters in 20th century history. His whole life was a series of contradictions, and he could be on opposite ends of an argument at the same time. I have read numerous biographies of him previously, and was looking forward to more details or insights on the man.

=== The Good Stuff ===
* Johnson’s work appears to be well-researched. As is always the case with Canaris, there are some details that just don’t seem like they would be true, but Johnson has credible references to back them up.
* The author does capture some of the paradoxes of Canaris’ life. He was chief of military intelligence for Nazi Germany, and despite some of his actions, that position is just not going to be filled by a total “girl-scout”. Just to get into the job requires playing power-politics with some of history’s nastier characters. And yet Canaris had a softer side. He regularly used the capabilities of his office to smuggle people out of Germany who were at risk of being jailed or executed. He was either a sly old-fox of intelligence, worthy of John LeCarre, or a bumbling idiot who had no business being in his position.
* The book concentrates on Canaris’ professional life. There is scant detail about his childhood, his family or other aspects of his life not directly tied to his military career.

=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===
* The book wanders. There is a fine line between background information on what else is going on in the world during the time being discussed- and filler. A fair chunk of the book comes across as filler- historically accurate, just not germane to the narrative of Canaris’ life and struggles.
* The book was mostly a rehash of material I had already read about Canaris. There was no new analysis or observations made about the man and his inner conflicts with the Nazi regime. Of all the senior leadership of Nazi Germany, Canaris was one of the few whose conduct crossed the line into treason, as he occasionally leaked detailed intelligence to the Allies. The author reports on this, but offers little insight.

=== Summary ===
Canaris is one of my favorite biographical subjects of the 20th century, and I am still not sure his story ahs been told as well as it should be. This book was a nice summary of some of what is known, but had trouble staying on topic, and offered little new insight.

3.5 stars. Fascinating story, but a little dry. Johnson did a good job of showing the complexities of Canaris' decisions and what he may have been thinking.

Decent book overall. It was interesting to learn how Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, chief of the Abwehr, a Nazi intelligence agency, thwarted the Nazis and rescued Jews. He got away with it for ages, too. His downfall was the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. Even though he wasn't directly involved, he was arrested and eventually executed in April 1945 when his secret diaries detailing what he'd done for years were discovered.

I do wish the author had maintained more focus in this book. There were random digressions throughout that, while interesting, didn't really relate to the book as a whole. The author also has an issue with abbreviations. We don't need to be told every time what the SS is. Putting the full name in parentheses once is sufficient. Also, call him "Admiral Canaris" or "Adm Canaris". Stop switching between the two!

I also wish the publisher had decently formatted the ebook! There were no page breaks, sections that allow you to jump to chapters, hyperlinks for footnotes and in the table of contents, pictures that should be in a pictures section at the end sprinkled throughout, page numbers from the hard copy intruding in the ebook copy... I could go on. I really hope the copy that is sold to customers in the future is better done than what I received, because it's 2024. We can format ebooks properly! (In fact, I would format this if the publisher paid me... just saying.)