The sensational records that Field Marshal Keitel kept during his imprisonment in Nuremberg until just a few days before his execution on October 16, 1946, are a historical document of exceptional significance and provide an authentic picture of the Wehrmacht leadership before and during World War II. Few officers were as directly involved in Hitler's military planning as Keitel, the Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. Therefore, his memories are among the most important contemporary historical sources that can provide insight into the origins and course of World War II. The work is complemented by the careful, factual commentary, always striving for scientific objectivity, by the prominent military historian Walter Görlitz. The International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg had charged Keitel on all four counts on October 1, 1946.