Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German General and the chief of the OKH General Staff from 1938 until September 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler. His diary during his time as chief of OKH General Staff has been a very good source for authors that have written about such subjects as Adolf Hitler, the Second World War and the NSDAP (The Nazi party). In William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Halder's diary is cited hundreds of times.