About
Heribert von Feilitzsch grew up in Germany, only yards from the East German border, the "Iron Curtain." In 1988 he came to the United States as a student. Fascinated with the Mexican-American border, he pursued a Masters Degree in Latin-American History with focus on Mexican-German-American relations at the University of Arizona. The Mexican-American border, devoid of self-shooting machines and mine fields, still constitutes a barrier that divides two cultures, two distinct national identities, and creates a complicated economic and political framework worth studying. While pursuing a business career in later years and adding an MBA from Wake Forest University, he remained committed to writing about the Mexican-American border. After twenty years of painstaking original research in the U.S., Mexico, and Germany, von Feilitzsch authored four books on the German naval intelligence agent Felix A. Sommerfeld and the German secret service in the United States between 1914 and 1917. He lives on a farm in Northern Virginia with his wife and children.
Featured Work
The Secret War Council: The German Fight Against the Entente in America in 1914
The Secret War Council illuminates the activities of German agents in the United States in 1914, a critical battlefield of the Great War. This crucial time of German-American relations builds the foundation for a thorough understanding of the road that led the two nations into open confrontation in 1917. A little known group of agents, diplomats, and businessmen organized in the Secret War Council helped pave that road.
Other Works
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The Negotiator's Toolbox: Winning Strategies for Corporate Buyers and Small Businesses
2020
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Felix A. Sommerfeld y el Frente Mexicano en la Gran Guerra
2020
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Felix A. Sommerfeld, Maestro de Espias en Mexico, 1908 a 1914
2016
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The Secret War on the United States in 1915: A Tale of Sabotage, Labor Unrest and Border Troubles
2015
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Felix A. Sommerfeld and the Mexican Front in the Great War
2015
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In Plain Sight: Felix A. Sommerfeld, Spymaster in Mexico, 1908 to 1914
2012
Awards and Recognition
- Independent Publisher's Award, Silver
Press and Media Mentions
- Pancho Villa attacked the little border hamlet of Columbus, New Mexico in March 1916. The raid triggered a massive response from the United States. Not until 100 years later did it become clear that the attack was a German clandestine project.
- The cause of the devastating fire that destroyed a large portion of the Canadian Parliament in 1916 has never been resolved. There is a lot of evidence that German sabotage agents planted incendiary devices.
- Felix Sommerfeld was perhaps the most influential German agent in North America during the Mexican Revolution and World War I. While spying for Germany he became confidante and chief of the Mexican Secret Service under President Madeo, then Pancho Villa's chief arms buyer in the United States. In Plain Sight the german naval intelligence agent operated during the entire World War in New York as a businessman, diplomat, even adviser to the American government.