Desert
War
An
Army at Dawn
by Rick Atkinson (Author)
In An Army at Dawn,, a comprehensive look at the 1942-1943 Allied invasion
of North Africa, author Rick Atkinson posits that the campaign was, along
with the battles of Stalingrad and Midway, where the "Axis ... forever
lost the initiative" and the "fable of 3rd Reich invincibility was dissolved."
Additionally, it forestalled a premature and potentially disastrous cross-channel
invasion of France and served as a grueling "testing ground" for an as-yet
inexperienced American army. Lastly, by relegating Great Britain to what
Atkinson calls the status of "junior partner" in the war effort, North
Africa marked the beginning of American geopolitical hegemony. Although
his prose is occasionally overwrought, Atkinson's account is a superior
one, an agile, well-informed mix of informed strategic overview and intimate
battlefield-and-barracks anecdotes. (Tobacco-starved soldiers took to smoking
cigarettes made of toilet paper and eucalyptus leaves.) Especially interesting
are Atkinson's straightforward accounts of the many "feuds, tiffs and spats"
among British and American commanders, politicians, and strategists and
his honest assessments of their--and their soldiers'--performance and behavior,
for better and for worse. This is an engrossing, extremely accessible account
of a grim and too-often overlooked military campaign. --H. O'Billovich
- Amazon.com
Hardcover: 704 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 2.17 x
9.56 x 6.46
Henry Holt & Company, Inc.; ISBN: 0805062882; 1st
edition (October 2, 2002) |
| |
Desert
War : The North African Campaign 1940-1943, Comprising Mediterranean Front,
a Year of Battle, the End in Africa
by Alan Moorehead
In The Desert War, which includes the complete texts of The Mediterranean
Front,
A Year of Battle, and The End of Africa, Alan
Moorehead recounts with dazzling prose and intimate detail the epic struggle
between the Allies and Axis powers in North Africa from 1940 to 1943. Here
is the extraordinary story of the "Rats of Tobruk," of Alamein, of Rommel's
prized Afrika Korps locked in fierce battle with Montgomery's Eighth Army.
Moorehead's Desert War is a masterpiece of reportage ... Amazon.com
Paperback - 656 pages (April 2001)
Penguin USA
(Paper); ISBN: 0140275142 |
| |
The
Bloody Road to Tunis : Destruction of the Axis Forces in North Aftica :
November 1942-May 1943
by David Rolf
(Hardcover - March 2001)
Born
of the Desert : With the SAS in North Africa (Greenhill
Military Paperback)
by Malcolm James
(Paperback - April 2001)
El
Alamein (Wordsworth Military Library)
by Michael Carver
(Paperback - July 2000)
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1887-1976 : A Selected Bibliography
(Bibliographies of Battles and Leaders, No. 23)
Listed under British Army
A Good Clean Fight
Fiction by Derek Robinson
Haile Selassie's War: Haile Selassie, Lion of Judah, Africa's Greatest
Military Leader
by Anthony Mockler
Listed under Ethiopia
In
Rommel's Backyard : A Memoir of the Long Range Desert Group
by Alastair Timpson, Andrew Gibson-Watt
As the British 8th Army dug in at El Alamein to make a last stand against
the Afrika Korps' advance on the Suez Canal, the German forces under Erwin
Rommel were bedeviled by an endless series of hit-and-run raids. Instrumental
in the British commando effort was the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG).
Equipped with modified trucks and jeeps, the LRDG carried out its own raids
and reconnaissance missions, and moved Special Air Service and Commando
units into position for their own attacks. Alaistair Timpson, a captain
in the Scots Guards, was commander of 6 (Guards) Patrol of the LRDG. His
missions often involved 1,200-mile treks across the desert for attacks
and scouting behind German lines. Timpson's original narrative has been
brilliantly edited by Andrew Gibson-Watt, who places each LRDG mission
in the broader context of the Desert War and gives some insight into the
character of the author. Amazon.com
Hardcover - 192 pages (July 2000)
Pen & Sword; ISBN: 0850527147
Inside the Afrika Korps: The Crusader Battles, 19411942
by Rainer Kriebel
Listed under Afrika Korps
Hurricanes
over Tobruk : The Pivotal Role of the Hurricane in the Battle for Tobruk,
Western Desert, January-June 1941
by Brian Cull, Don Minterne (Contributor)
(Hardcover - November 1999)
Morshead
: Victor at Tobruk and El Alamein (Australian Army History)
by David Coombes
Hardcover: 272 pages
Oxford University Press; ISBN: 0195513983; (April 2002)
Meeting
the Fox: The Allied Invasion of Africa, from Operation Torch to Kasserine
Pass to Victory in Tunisia
by Orr Kelly
"Orr Kelly has dramatically brought to life the desert war by masterfully
weaving the view of higher headquarters with the pathos of the foxhole.
MEETING THE FOX takes the reader on a gripping journey from North Africa's
beaches and drop zones, the practically forgotten disaster at Sidi bou
Zid, to the final battles in Tunisia. MEETING THE FOX is destined to rank
among the best narrative histories on the American experience in North
Africa."
The Publisher
Hardcover - 400 pages 1 edition (April 12, 2002)
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471414298
Operation
Compass 1940 : Wavell's Whirlwind Offensive
(Campaign Series, 73)
by Jon Latimer.
The first battle of the desert war, Operation Compass was originally
envisaged as a spoiling attack, combined with a reconnaissance in force
to disrupt the Italian forces that had advanced into Egypt in September
1940. Lt Gen. Richard O'Connor launched what amounted to a British 'Blitzkrieg',
sweeping 500 miles along the coast of North Africa in less than two months.
Amazon.com
Paperback - 96 pages (August 2000)
Osprey Pub Co; ISBN: 185532967
Tank
Combat in North Africa : The Opening Rounds : Operations Sonnenblume, Brevity,
Skorpion and Battleaxe February 1941-June 1941 (Schiffer Military)
by Thomas L. Jentz
Hardcover (March 1998)
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; ISBN: 0764302264
Special Order
Tobruk
1941 : Rommel's Opening Move (Campaign, 80)
by Jon Latimer; Paperback
The World War II Tommy : British Army Uniforms
European Theatre 1939-45 in Colour Photographs
by Martin Brayley, Richard Ingrams
Listed under British Uniforms
Born
of the Desert : With the SAS in North Africa (Greenhill Military Paperback)
by Malcolm James
Born of the Desert is a classic account of the early years of the SAS.
The Special Air Service was formed in 1941 and quickly earned a reputation
for stealth, daring and audacity in the Western Desert campaign. This elite
force utilized the endless expanse of the desert to carry out surprise
attacks and hit and run raids behind the Afrika Korps' lines, sowing confusion,
fear and consternation. Amazon.com
(Paperback - April 2001)
Long
Range Desert Group 1940-1945 : Providence Their Guide
by David Lloyd Owen, et al
(Paperback - July 2001)
Rommel
and the Secret War in North Africa, 1941-1943 : Secret Intelligence in
the North African Campaign
Janusz Piekalkiewicz
Book Description: Chronicles the British Secret Inteligence
Service (SIS) and the "Ultra" secret, and its effect on the campaign in
North Africa during the Second World War. On the German side, Rommel also
knew the use of intercepted enemy messages - an awareness that the British
were able to gain only much too late and after many sacrifices. The decoding
of Rommel's radio messages, which were coded using the "Enigma" cipher
machine, provided the British command with unawaited possibilities, which
are described for the first time. These behind the scenes activities are
depicted here on a day-to-day basis. Before this background, many decisions
by the British high command in the Near East in their battle against the
"Desert Fox" are now understood for the first time. The fact that many
of Rommel's operations described as strokes of genius in military history
were only possible thanks to the constant information from his surveillance
company, was learned by the British leadership only on July 10, 1942; during
the previous night, units of the Australian 9th Division had made a bold
move and captured the German Intelligence Long Range Reconnaissance Company
621 at Tel el Eisa. It had been Rommel's ear in the enemy's camp. Its elimination
can be regarded as the real turning point in the North African campaign.
Hardcover: 239 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.75 x
11.00 x 8.25
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.; ; (June 1992)
ISBN: 0887403409
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