Season 1

On the 15th of February 1941, a German fighting unit arrived in Tripoli, Libya. Their commander was about to become famous. Soon millions were familiar with these early pictures from the North African theatre of war. General Rommel, commander in chief of the German fighting troops in Africa, with his men at the front. Goebbels wanted to make him into a folk hero, but he wasn't easy to get close to. Part 1 of three examines Rommel's childhood, his early career and his gifts as a military tactician in World Wars I and II. What determined the defeat of the Afrikakorps at El Alamein? Was it Rommel's own strategic error, his opponent Montgomery or the successful deciphering of the Enigma coding machine?

He has long ranked as a hero throughout the world: Erwin Rommel, also known as the "Desert Fox". In Berlin on the 2nd of October 1942 Rommel was presented with the Field Marshal's baton by Hitler. Rommel appeared to be a loyal follower of the regime - but appearances were deceptive. He no longer believed victory was possible in North Africa, and would soon come to doubt Hitler himself. Part 2 follows Rommel's drive to push back British troops in North Africa in 1942 and his subsequent return to Germany, due to bad health. Investigation into the Desert Fox's reputation as a strategist, asking whether he began making serious tactical errors as British reinforcements in Egypt threatened his country's military supremacy.

The mystery of whether Rommel knew about the conspiracy to kill Hitler in 1944, and the circumstances surrounding his own suicide. On the 18th of October 1944, the funeral of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel took place in Ulm, near Stuttgart. Hitler made it into a state occasion: Rommel's death was staged for propaganda. In fact Hitler had had Rommel murdered - for high treason. The conclusion recalls Rommel's conspiracy to have Hitler removed from power. Also: the Field Marshal's suicide in 1944.