| An Army at Dawn - The War in Africa, 1942-1943
(2002)
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| Front Cover |
Book Details |
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| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
Africa, North - History, Military; Operation Torch, 1942; World War, 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Africa, North |
| Publication Date |
10/2/2002 |
| Format |
Hardcover (9.3
x
6.4
mm)
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| Publisher |
Henry Holt & Co |
| Language |
English |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
| Description |
| In the first volume of his monumental trilogy about the liberation of Europe in WW II, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson tells the riveting story of the war in North Africa The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story of courage and enduring triumph, of calamity and miscalculation. In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern reader can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power. Beginning with the daring amphibious invasion in November 1942, An Army at Dawn follows the American and British armies as they fight the French in Morocco and Algeria, and then take on the Germans and Italians in Tunisia. Battle by battle, an inexperienced and sometimes poorly led army gradually becomes a superb fighting force. Central to the tale are the extraordinary but fallible commanders who come to dominate the battlefield: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, Montgomery, and Rommel. Brilliantly researched, rich with new material and vivid insights, Atkinson's narrative provides the definitive history of the war in North Africa. |
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| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
D766.82 .A82 2002 |
| Dewey |
940.5423 |
| ISBN |
9780805062885 |
| Edition |
[1st ed.] |
| Cover Price |
$35.00 |
| No. of Pages |
704 |
| First Edition |
Yes |
| Rare |
No |
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| Notes/Review |
I normally don't care much for WWII histories of great scope - entire theaters or campaigns. I tend to prefer more personal stories, the narratives of infantrymen, pilots, sailors, or even war correspondents. But this book is quite good. Nice maps are included for each significant battle adjacent to the appropriate text. Sources, bibliography, and index are included.
This book basically tells the story of the American army in North Africa. It doesn't limit itself to the American experience; it doesn't exclude the British contribution but it begins with operation TORCH, so the entire British involvement in Libya and Egypt is barely mentioned. And it doesn't specifically exclude the navy and air force contributions, it is limited to the support those branches provided for the Army.
This early in the war, American involvement was on a much smaller scale. Atkinson can describe many of the battles at the company and battalion level. This probably contributes to my liking of the book. We'll see how the second and third volumes of the history compare when the actions are on much larger scales, involving dozens of divisions. |
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