Book Description
Rommel had a great deal of help in France-and much more than his published papers suggest. His staff officers and company, battalion and regimental commanders were an extremely capable collection of military leaders, which included 12 future generals (two of them SS), and two colonels who briefly commanded panzer divisions but never reached general rank. They also included Colonel Erich von Unger, who would no doubt have become a general had he not been killed in action while commanding a motorized rifle brigade on the Eastern Front in 1941, as well as Kark Hanke, a Nazi gauleiter who later succeeded Heinrich Himmler as the last Reichsfuehrer-SS. No historian has ever recognized the talented cast of characters who supported the Desert Fox in 1940. No one has ever attempted to tell their stories. This book remedies this deficiency. In the weeks prior to D-Day, Rommel analyzed Allied bombing patterns and concluded that they were trying to make Normandy a strategic island in order to isolate the battlefield. Rommel also noticed that the Allies had mined the entire Channel coast, while the naval approaches to Normandy were clear. Realizing that Normandy would be the likely site of the invasion, he replaced the poorly-equipped 716th Infantry Division with the battle-hardened 352nd Infantry Division on the coastal sector. But his request for additional troops was denied by Hitler. Mitcham offers a remarkable theory of why Allied intelligence failed to learn of this critical troop movement, and why they were not prepared for the heavier resistance they met on Omaha Beach. He uses a number of little-known primary sources which contradict previously published accounts of Rommel, his officers, and the last days of the Third Reich. These sources provide amazing insight into the invasion of Normandy from the German point of view. They include German personnel records, unpublished papers, and the manuscripts of top German officers like general of Panzer Troops Baron Leo Geys von Schweppenburg, the commander of Panzer Group West. This book also contains a thorough examination of the virtually ignored battles of the Luftwaffe in France in 1944.
Customer Reviews:
A Rare Perspective on the Desert Fox.......2002-08-21
Mitcham has touched upon an issue of slight controversy here. He talks about Rommel's role from an admirer's point of view. Wasn't an editor from a popular magazine fired last year because he thought that Rommel and other Nazis had good tastes in fashion?
Anyway, Mitcham doesn't worship Rommel like a deity. He was probably right in describing Rommel as the German commander best-suited to preside over the defense of France in 1944. If not for Hitler's stranglehold over the Wehrmacht and Rommel's rivalry with senior commanders/Nazis, he likely would have conducted a better defense, if not driven the Allies back into the sea. Mitcham's description of Rommel as the potential leader of Germany wasn't so far-fetched either. Stephen Ambrose once commented briefly on this prospect.
Mitcham's tendency to make his endnotes miniature stories in themselves is his forte. The damper to this book is his preface, in which he goes off on a tangent by ranting against liberal historians and affirmative action, as if these things bore a direct relation to the subject of his book. Readers may wonder if Mitcham wanted to rant against civil rights, but stopped short of doing so lest it stir up controversy. Please stick to the subject, Dr. Mitcham! If it weren't for your preface, your book would have rated 3.5 stars.
admire Rommel? this book won't dampen your spirits.......1998-07-17
Mitcham's thoughtfully researched analysis of Rommel's final months reads a bit like hero worship, but the thorough documentation of sources (and quality thereof) makes this a definitive third-party analysis of this period of Rommel's career. Mitcham casts Rommel as strategic seer, chronicling the Field Marshal's workmanlike foretelling of so many Allied tactics that you really do wonder if the U.S. would've been pushed back into the sea at Omaha had Rommel been able to a) properly fortify the coastline and b) bring up the 15th Panzer Division, which stood idle during so much of the crucial fighting in the bocage and on the Cotentin Peninsula. In explaining Rommel's role in the Hitler assassination attempt, Mitcham distances Rommel from direct involvement, painting him as politically naive and motivated to prevent a Russian overrun of Germany by "arresting" Hitler and seeing to a political restructuring of the Reich through a negotiated, Allied truce. Whether ! ! or not this was the case is uncertain to me, but it does make me speculate about what a post-Hitler Germany would have been like had the plan worked. Rommel as its president? Mitcham thinks this could have been the case.
Book Description
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's heroic opposition to Hitler in 1944 cost him his life. In this intriguing, well-paced tale of a journalistic coup, Marshall, the first to discover the real events behind Rommel's death, tells how he learned the facts from Rommel's widow and delves into the great general's background and death. He arrived at his conclusions based on his intimate knowledge of men on Rommel's staff and his access to Rommel's papers, including letters from the general to his wife. Here, for the first time in paperback, is the exciting story of how the world learned about the way the "Desert Fox" met his death.
Customer Reviews:
outstanding.......2000-06-24
the book is almost of the same caliber Rommel was. Do not waste your time, get it now .Entertaining, exciting, it flows so fast. Buy this book now and have an wonderful time!
Authorative Account of Rommel's Life and Military Career.......2000-05-12
Charles Marshall has done an excellent job in preparing a literary work that is, in my studied opinion, a complete overview of Rommel...as a man and military genius. Marshall's detailed account of Rommel's life is reinforced by information received during interviews with Rommel's widow as well as the letters Rommel sent her during the African campaigns. Further, Marshall, as a former Army Intelligence Officer during WWII, relies heavily on his own detailed diary enteries of interviews with German/Nazi officals in captivity prior to the end of the war. Marshall's work details Rommel's life from pre WWI through his untimely death, forced by Adolf Hitler, before the end of WWII. If there is only one true account of Rommel's life, "Discovering the Rommel Murder" is it.
Book Description
Ride with the Desert Fox as he leads the Afrika Korps to victory.
Customer Reviews:
Great Detail.......2007-02-27
This book covers Rommel's start in Africa until the takeing of Tobruk in 1942.It's a shame it does'nt go further.It provides vivid detail at the tactical level.Indepth research & written in an exciting manner,it is almost impossible to put down.I read almost all of it in one night.The maps are drawn out well to follow the text.One of the best I have read on the Africa battles by far. Excelent,A great buy!
Accurate, concise and well written story.......2006-06-05
I must say that I'm a fan of Mr Mitcham's books and I have read almost all of them, because they have some important strong points: the are detailed but not to the point of being boring, they adopt the correct military terminology avoiding mistakes common to other books, they have excellent narrative which keeps my interest throughout and the are products of long and scholarly research. All these virtues are evident in this book also which is the only one available dealing with the important battles of Gazala - Tobruk in 1942. Mitcham tells the story in a simple but exciting way. He gives a short introduction to the North African campaign and then proceeds with the plans of the two armies and the role of the personalities involved. The battle narrative is very good and it oftens go down to the battalion level, without losing the big picture. The book has enough maps but their quality could be better. There is also a section of black and white photographs and some useful tables of orders of battle.
I was VERY Impressed by this book.......2004-01-14
I was really unsure about buying this book based on a review I saw here but decided to take the plunge and am I glad I did! I am a Wargamer and Scenario Designer and I was concerned by the remarks about the map. If it hadn't been mention I wouldn't have noticed the problem. But what I found very important to me was the level of detail about EACH unit available, down to the Battalion level, German tanks available at various stages of the battle by type and Division, and a well organized Index that allowed me to look up direct references to units I wanted to place or locate at various points in time. This book is helping me make a great computer Wargame that other people will enjoy and learn about history through.
I was not impressed by this book.......1999-10-22
For a professor of history, this is an average book that is rather non-scholary. Apart from the appalling photo captioning and poor maps, the text is little more than a rehash of existing literature, adding little to the body of knowledge on the fall of Tobruk in 1942. I would have though that such an esteemed author would have had his work peer reviewed, but obviously not. For those already familiar with Tobruk and seeking a mediorce account- this is your book.
A well crafted story.......1999-02-05
Not much can be added to the previous review from Amazon.com. I found this book easy and enjoyable to read. The author offers a well presented and researched account of Rommel's capture of Tobruk in 1942. It shows Rommel at his best although he was hepled at times by the Allies lack of understanding of all-arms combat. It shows Rommel was also extremely lucky on occassion but he was a commander who led from the front and took advantage of these lucky breaks.
The only faults I could find with this book were the maps and some incorrect captions to some of the photos. I felt that the maps could have provided more detail. I hate reading about a location in the narrative but not being able to find it on the relevant map. The author provided numerous maps throughout the narrative but they could have been on a higher standard. I noticed two incorrect captions to the photos, one showing a Panzer MkIV with a 75cm main gun but labled as a Panzer MkIII and another photo listed as a British Valentine tank but which is a Cruiser MkII or MkIII.
Regardless of these minor faults this is still a very good book covering this battle (and only one of few that does!) and was a delight to read. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys military history.
Book Description
Perhaps the most famous soldier to fight in World War II was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who achieved immortality as "the Desert Fox." He is also one of the most admired. Rommel's first field command during the war was the 7th Panzer Division, also known as the Ghost Division, which he led in France in 1940. During this campaign, the 7th Panzer suffered more casualties than any other division in the German Army, at the same time inflicting a disproportionate number of casualties upon the enemy. It took 97,486 prisoners, captured 458 tanks and armored vehicles, 277 field guns, 64 anti-tank guns and 4,000 to 5,000 trucks, and destroyed dozens of others in each category. It captured or destroyed hundreds of tons of other military equipment, shot down 52 aircraft, destroyed 15 more on the ground, and captured 12 more. It destroyed the French 1st Armored Division and the 4th North African Division, punched through the Maginot Line extension near Sivry, and checked the largest Allied counteroffensive of the campaign at Arras. When France surrendered, the Ghost Division was within 200 miles of the Spanish border. No doubt about it--Rommel had proven himself a great military leader who was capable of greater things. His next command, in fact, would be the Afrika Korps, where the legend of the Desert Fox was born. Rommel had a great deal of help in France-- much more than his published papers suggest. His staff officers and company, battalion and regimental commanders were an extremely capable collection of military leaders that included 12 future generals (two of them SS), and two colonels who briefly commanded panzer divisions but never reached general rank. They also included Colonel Erich von Unger, who would no doubt have become a general had he not been killed in action while commanding a motorized rifle brigade on the Eastern Front in 1941, as well as Karl Hanke, a Nazi gauleiter who later succeeded Heinrich Himmler as the last Reichsfuehrer-SS. No historian has ever before recognized the talented cast of characters who supported the Desert Fox in 1940. No one has ever attempted to tell their stories. This book remedies that oversight.
Customer Reviews:
Only for the most dedicated researchers.......2007-06-12
I must admitt that I'm a fan of Mr Mitcham's works since he pays so much attention to detail and is so well informed on his subject. Unfortunately, the topic of this book is rather problematic because it covers only a couple of really important figures (Generals von Bismarck, von Zenger und Etterling and, may be, Hanke) the rest being officers who didn't distinguish themselves much in the following years of the war. There are though some good black and white maps, photographs of all the individuals discussed and a nice prologue which explains the political and military system that bred the kind of officers who led the Wehrmacht in astonishing victories in 1939-42. For the dedicated fans of WW II it may be worth the effort and the money, but the majority of the readers will find it rather difficult to force themselves to learn details about obscure German officers.
Book Description
Early in 1941, the famed British Eighth Army was on the route to victory in North Africa. Just a few months later, this same army was on the verge of total defeat, as the Germans had won victory after victory and were threatening to overrun Egypt and the Middle East.
Here is the classic biography of the man who masterminded this great turnabout, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, commander of the German Afrika Korps. The man who burned Hitler's order to execute British raiders and who gave Allied prisoners the same food and medical treatment as his German troops. The tough general who personally conducted reconnaissance under fire in an open car while his tank commanders hid in armored turrets.
The author of this book, Brigadier General Desmond Young, fought against Rommel in North Africa, was captured by him, and after his release at the end of the war visited Rommel's family and talked with many of his fellow officers. Thus, he is able to tell us about intrigues that went on in the German High Command during the war, he is able to give a blow-by-blow description of such decisive battles as Tobruk and El Alamein, and he is able to give personal anecdotes about Rommel and to sort out the facts from the legends that have sprung up around this extraordinary general.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting, but not the ultimate Rommel biography.......2007-07-16
This book is interesting provided you treat it as a narrative of the war and don't expect the ultimate Rommel biography. Written by a British general only five years after the war, the book has some problems as a scholarly work, the most blatant being it is hardly impartial. The author takes an "us vs. them" tone, always referring to the British as "we" and making no secret who he feels the good guys are. Young tends to get sidetracked and talk about himself and tell stories about other officers that don't necessarily have a lot to do with Rommel, just because he finds them interesting. He also fails to explain many abbreviations or translate foreign phrases.
It works as a book, however, because it is an interesting look at the time period and the way Rommel was viewed by his contemporaries and his opponents. He interviews Rommel's wife and son as well as many men who served with him and who fought against him. It was written at a time when the war was still fresh in everyone's mind and no one knew how Germany was going to turn out. This gives it an immediacy that most historical biographies, usually written decades or centuries later, don't have. This also means it lacks the new information that would have been uncovered by decades of research, but as I said, it is not the ultimate biography of Rommel, just one side of the story. If you treat it as such, it is an interesting read.
mere propaganda-not history.......2004-11-26
I possess a copy of this book,which I do not deem as being the work of a serious historian.Rather,it is simply a dated and stale product of WWII British propaganda,and certainly better works have been written on the same subject.
See for example the book by David Fraser.
The role of the Italians -who made up the great majority of Rommel's soldiers in the African theater- is grossly underestimated,and ripe with negative clichès on their fighting capabilities,while at the same time skillfully avoiding to give any credit to their most valuable units,such as Ariete,Folgore or Giovani Fascisti.
Not the work of an historian.
A waste of time.
Has its merits.......2003-06-12
Written shortly after the war, Rommel is a fairly sympathetic biography of the famed "Desert Fox". Most interesting was the story of his pre-war military service, in particular his service during the First World War. Previously not familiar with this, I found it interesting how it was tactics learned while serving with a special Wuerttemburg army unit that influenced his thinking during the North Africe campaign. Certainly worth reading for all those interested in the war, but there are no doubt better, more thorough studies of Rommel available.
Very Interesting Psycho-Bio of the Desert Fox.......2003-02-08
Young did a commendable job writing his biography of German Field-Marshal Erwin Rommel. He was able to provide an interesting psycho-biographical picture of Rommel the man, which all too often is avoided in other books chronicling the lives of great military commanders. Rather than only concentrate on the battles and strategies of Rommel, Young provided insight into the opinions of the General in regards to Hitler, the Nazi party, and other aspects of WWII.
According to Young, Rommel was a private man, devoted to his family and to the German people. His commitment to Germany was shown quite clearly when he encouraged the Fuehrer to seek a peaceful solution to the war in order to save the lives of his soldiers and German citizens. However, his commitments ultimately cost Rommel his life.
However, I wish Young would have provided more in-depth information regarding the major battles in which Rommel participated. A slightly deeper analysis of the campaign in Africa would have brought to light Rommel's decision to join in the attempt to remove Hitler from power. Some maps would have also proved helpful for those of us who lack a profound knowledge of North African geography.
Still, Young provided an excellent profile of the one of the most famous commanders of WWII, and of all time.
Good read but not too accurate.......1999-09-24
Written by a soldier who has experienced first hand the desert war, naturally makes this book a good read. However it was written just after WW2 and there was much myth and confusion surrounding the figure of Rommel himself. A standard biography during its time(churchill constantly refers to this book in his WW2 memoirs), however time and research has revealed that Young's portrayal of Rommel's character is not so accurate. For example he says that Rommel was humble and disliked publicity but we now know that the Desert Fox was quite vain, courted publicity and exploited it. The best book on Rommel is I beleive, David Irving's "On the trail of the FOX". The book reads like an explosive novel and I finished the book in one night. Fraser's "knight's cross" is also very detailed although it is not as exiting a read as Irving's book.
Book Description
230 b/w illustrations! One of World War Two's greatest generals took on Britain's most powerful forces in one of the world's severest terrains. Historian Delaney, armed with new information only recently seen in the West, provides a fresh, concise, and authoritative account of the dramatic desert campaign. Lavishly illustrated with 230 photos from London's Imperial War Museum, the riveting narrative covers the darkest hours of Allied fortunes in North Africa. It offers an astute analysis of British and German generalship, and highlights the massive logistics problems of desert warfare. The fateful battle for Tobruk and the advance to El Alamein receive day-by-day, blow-by-blow accounts of a time and place where quick thinking and surprise action mattered more than deliberate plan and careful calculation. Trim size: 8 1/2 x 10 3/4.
Customer Reviews:
Hard to evaluate.......2000-09-28
The book reads like a well researched account of the battles. But there are no footnotes, no bibligraphy, and not even a bio of the author. So I enjoyed reading it, but it can harldly be considered authoratative.
The fact that there are mistakes like saying the Rommell first met Hitler during the Polish campaign do not make me feel better about the book.
Book Description
Perhaps the most famous and admired soldier to fight in World War II was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who achieved immortality as the "Desert Fox." Rommel's first field command during the war was the 7th Panzer Division--also known as the Ghost Division--which he led in France in 1940. During this campaign, the 7th Panzer suffered more casualties than any other division in the German Army, at the same time inflicting a disproportionate number of casualties upon the enemy. It took 97,486 prisoners, captured 458 tanks and armored vehicles, 277 field guns, 64 anti-tank guns and 4,000 to 5,000 trucks. It captured or destroyed hundreds of tons of other military equipment, shot down 52 aircraft, destroyed 15 more aircraft on the ground, and captured 12 additional planes. It destroyed the French 1st Armored Division and the 4th North African Division, punched through the Maginot Line extension near Sivry, and checked the largest Allied counteroffensive of the campaign at Arras. When France surrendered, the Ghost Division was within 200 miles of the Spanish border. No doubt about it--Rommel had proven himself a great military leader who was capable of greater things. His next command, in fact, would be the Afrika Korps, where the legend of the Desert Fox was born. Rommel had a great deal of help in France--much more than his published papers suggest. His staff officers and company, battalion, and regimental commanders were an extremely capable collection of military leaders that included 12 future generals (two of them SS), and two colonels who briefly commanded panzer divisions but never reached general rank. They also included Colonel Erich von Unger, who would no doubt have become a general had he not been killed in action while commanding a motorized rifle brigade on the Eastern Front in 1941, as well as Karl Hanke, a Nazi gauleiter who later succeeded Heinrich Himmler as the last Reichsfuehrer-SS. No historian has ever recognized the talented cast of characters who supported the Desert Fox in 1940. No one has ever attempted to tell their stories. This book remedies that deficiency.
Average customer rating:
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Foxes of the Desert
Paul Carell
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 General
| World War II
| Military
| History
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ASIN: 0553265911
Release Date: 1966-12-01 |
Average customer rating:
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Rommel - The Desert Fox
Manufacturer: Berkley Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GZIOSY |
Average customer rating:
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Rommel The Desert Fox
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FPH4G8 |
Average customer rating:
|
A Scottish Country Doctor: Recalled by His Son, Thomas Wyld Pairman (Flashbacks series)
Thomas Wyld Pairman
Manufacturer: Tuckwell Press, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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ASIN: 1862322260 |
Book Description
Robert Pairman's lifelong service as country doctor to the town of Biggar, Lanarkshire, is detailed in this enlightening biography. Pairman's entire life is explored, from his humble beginnings and education at Edinburgh University to the exemplary care he showed for his patients.
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Discovering the Rommel Murder: The Life and Death of the Desert Fox
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