Read An Army at Dawn The War in North Africa 19421943 The Liberation Trilogy Volume 1 Audible Audio Edition Rick Atkinson George Guidall Simon Schuster Audio Books
Read An Army at Dawn The War in North Africa 19421943 The Liberation Trilogy Volume 1 Audible Audio Edition Rick Atkinson George Guidall Simon Schuster Audio Books
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An Army at Dawn The War in North Africa 19421943 The Liberation Trilogy Volume 1 Audible Audio Edition Rick Atkinson George Guidall Simon Schuster Audio Books Reviews
- I am halfway through the book and have found several inaccuracies but these are not really significant. The real point is that the author tells the story through a sort of condescending "Monday Morning Quarterback" style. This was a citizen army rushing into it's first ever major league conflict. The author seems to sort of have a joke about the shortcomings of the allies. I wouldn't read this as a first learning of the conflict. It's OK if you are quite familiar with what actually happened already. It is a kind of story composed of anecdotal pieces, interesting, but does not really combine to give the whole story. I feel that the author tried to make the work more interesting and entertaining rather getting to
the heart of the matter. I admit that I am only half way through the book but that is increasingly my impression. - Atkinson is a gifted writer with a talent for presenting WWII combat in blunt, unadorned prose faithfully describing the chaos, terror, emotional shock, pathos and savagery of each battle. As an additional bonus, the author focuses on the ordinary American infantryman and the American home front, two heroes often given short shrift in WWII non-fiction books. Using his talent for almost lyrical prose, Atkinson can make you experience the frustration, fears and hopes of ordinary soldiers fighting desperate battles - the sense of stark realism is tempered by his compassion for ordinary soldiers attempting to follow orders, orders both foolish and brilliant. Atkinson also acknowledges our debt to the American home front which produced an abundance of weapons, supplies and food which powered not only the American forces but the Brits, Russians, Chinese and Canadians on various fronts. His description of a small Iowa town receiving a blizzard of "We regret to inform you" telegrams from the War Dept. after a single, bloody battle conveys a sense of the shock and despair experienced by the town's residents upon learning that many of their sons had died in combat - a truly moving depiction of the grief shared by a close knit community of average Americans.
However, Atkinson shares an obsession held by many historians. He drags the reader through the childish politics of the North African war, the oft told tale of the Darlan incident, the juvenile antics of Churchill and Roosevelt touring the countryside after their self serving conference in Casablanca and the feud between British and American generals detailing the Brits' national inferiority complex over American efforts to assist them and the American's unwarranted feelings of inferiority toward a British military who retreated in France, were hastily evacuated, had their capitol city thoroughly bombed, surrendered an impregnable fortress in Singapore and after many initial failures finally managed to stand up to the Germans in Africa. If you're looking for a Homeric tale of heroes like Achilles and Hector - only with Eisenhower and Montgomery playing the hero role then this isn't the book for you. Atkinson is unimpressed with our various Great Men but he consistently tries to be fair in his criticism of their faults. Overall, an excellent WWII history with the exception of tedious political squabbles. - This is the first volume in Atkinson's "Liberation Trilogy," essentially the story of the U.S. Army in the African and European Theater from 1942 to 1945. The air force and navy (and the British) each play a role too, but the focus is firmly on American generals and soldiers. What makes this such a great read is the author's journalistically-trained hand at telling a gripping narrative. We don't get lost in "order of battle" details, but rather focus on what people were thinking (based on letters and diaries, for example) and doing on both sides of the battle line.
This first volume centers on the 1942-43 war in North Africa which was a difficult learning experience for Eisenhower and everyone else. Sometimes we got beaten by the superb German fighting man. Slowly, backed by the growing military industrial output of the home front, we edged the Germans out of Africa. But it was never easy. (Volume II relates the campaigns in Sicily and Italy; volume III from D-Day to the end of the war with Germany.)
This volume and its successors are military history even for those who think they don't like military history. They are eminently readable--often hard to put down, even though you know what happens in the end. The meld of high command and trench-level viewpoints is very effective. I've done a good deal of reading in the literature of World War II, and I'd place these volumes very close to the top in terms of quality...and approachability. Read them--you'll see. - While this is the first book in Rick Atkinson's trilogy, I actually read his final volume first. That lead me to read this book. The author writes very eloquently, and never fails to hold my interest. While having read innumerable books on World War II, I confess to never having a full understanding of the North Africa campaign. Rick Atkinson has resolved that problem for me. He very much brings that crucial period of the war back to life. His descriptions of the key leaders are insightful and provocative. But Mr. Atkinson does not neglect to tell the stories of the soldiers in the field, which makes the narrative more personal.
There are no criticisms that I can offer, though there were times when the description of a particular combat action seemed overly brief. That's a minor issue though in a book that is truly magnificent.
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