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Rommel's Desert War: Waging World War II in North Africa, 1941-1943 (Cambridge Military Histories) |  | Author: Martin Kitchen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
List Price: $38.00
Buy New: $24.83
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Seller: a1books
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 16338
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 616
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1.4
ISBN: 0521509718
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5423
EAN: 9780521509718
ASIN: 0521509718
Publication Date: September 21, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
At the height of his power in January 1941 Hitler made the fateful decision to send troops to North Africa to save the beleaguered Italian army from defeat. Martin Kitchen's masterful new history of the Axis campaign provides a fundamental reassessment of the key battles of 1941-1943, Rommel's generalship, and the campaign's place within the broader strategic context of the war. He shows that the British were initially helpless against the operational brilliance of Rommel's Panzer divisions. However Rommel's initial successes and refusal to follow orders committed the Axis to a campaign well beyond their means. Without the reinforcements or supplies he needed to deliver a knockout blow, Rommel was forced onto the defensive and Hitler's Mediterranean strategy began to unravel. The result was the loss of an entire army which together with defeat at Stalingrad signalled a decisive shift in the course of the war.
Book Description
The first comprehensive English-language history of the Axis campaign in North Africa offers an entirely new account of the battles of 1941-1943, Rommel's generalship, the divisions that undermined the Axis coalition and the place of the campaign within the broader strategic context of the war.
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| Customer Reviews:
Excellent Overview November 13, 2009
Joseph Rogash (Santa Teresa, NM United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is an excellent overview of Rommel's North African campaign but it also emphasizes the higher elements of command from mainly the Italian and German leadership perspective. Thus it may not satisfy those looking for a book that gives more in-depth descriptions of what warfare was like as experienced by individual infantrymen or tank commanders. For that I recommend Holland's Together We Stand. Instead this book discusses and describes the planning and implimentation of military operations across the desert and especially the internal conflicts between the more agressive ambitious Rommel and those in both the Italian and German High Commands who prefered Rommel engage in more of a holding campaign rather than striking for the Suez Canal. The discussions of the critical battles are probably adequate for most readers but those expecting a more detailed operational account may find the author too sketchy or incomplete and the maps also omit some of the finer details. This is especially true concerning Operation Crusader.
This book is also partly revisionist in that its portrayal of Rommel is considerably more negative than most other books on this topic. The author concedes Rommel is a far superior tactician, especially compared to his British opponents, but also considers him vainglorious, callous toward his men, reckless, arrogant, and prone to blame and even punish others for his mistakes. From a military perspective, Rommel's tendency to ignore the logistical impossibilities and subsequent futility of his military goals contributed to his final defeat thus making his earlier victories much in vain. Perhaps the North African Campaign indeed verifies the comment among the German High Command that Rommel was an excellent divisional commander but no more than that.
Other strengths of the book include a more in-depth discussion of the Italian Command structure while also providing a respectable analyses of the logistical problems involved with the North African Campaign. Finally, while this book can be considered scholarly, the author's writing style still keeps the topic interesting. Overall I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in WW2.
A Classic Study of WW II North Africa November 3, 2009
Michael J. Marcolivio
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you're interested in the WWII Western Desert campaign you'll love this book. I own many of the classic books on the subject...from Corelli Barnett's- "The Desert Generals" to Agar-Hamilton's- "Sidi Rezigh Battles" and "Crisis in the Desert"...and I'm always looking for new ones. In my opinion, Martin Kitchen's- "Rommel's Desert War" ranks right up there with this subject's classic works. "Rommel's Desert War" is well researched and written, very readable...in fact hard to put down, full of little known facts attesting to the author's research, and supplemented by good maps and interesting photographs. The Axis perspective in this campaign has never been so clearly detailed to the reader. Yes, from the quality of the paper (you won't believe how heavy this little gem is) to the quality of the scholarship this is a first rate book. There are good researchers and good writers but only a few historians are able to meld the two disciplines into an enjoyable and illuminating read. Martin Kitchen is one of the few and should be proud!
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