In this biography of Erich Ludendorff, the author complicates the classic depiction of this German World War I hero. Ludendorff created for himself a persona that secured his place as one of the most prominent Germans of the 20th century. With boundless energy & an obsession with detail, Ludendorff ascended to power & solidified a stable, public position among Germany's most influential. Between 1914 & his death in 1937, he was a war hero, a dictator, a right-wing activist, a failed putschist, a presidential candidate, a publisher, & a would-be prophet. He guided Germany's effort in the Great War between 1916 & 1918 &, importantly, set the tone for a politics of victimhood & revenge in the postwar era. This book explores Ludendorff's life after 1918, arguing that the strange or unhinged personal traits most historians attribute to mental collapse were integral to Ludendorff's political strategy.