Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating Beyond Words
Review: Well, if you read only one book about World War II this year, read "The Bedford Boys" and not this revisionist tome. Don't be fooled by the fact that it won a Pulitzer and don't believe all the glowing reviews on this page. Rick Atkinson's agenda while writing this book was apparently nothing more than to smear the entire Allied High Command and make the Axis powers look like inerrant geniuses. The working thesis for the book is "With idiots like this in command, it's amazing we won the war." Everyone from Eisenhower on down is attacked with criticisms that are occaisionaly justified, but usually extremely unfair. The GI's are no heroes according to Atkinson, but bumbling fools with inferior weapons, training, and (at least by implication) minds. This proves that Atkinson is no historian and has little idea of the extremely complicated situation that the Allies faced when they invaded North Africa. I'm suprised that my copy of the book is still in one piece since I threw it across the room at least once per chapter. In short, it's always a good rule-of-thumb to be dubious when reading a history book written by a journalist and that rule applies to this book. It has some interesting stories, but to claim to be THE book on the North Africa Campaign is a little much. I bet he's going to have a field day with Italy, but I'm not going to be fooled into reading this tripe again.
Rating: 
Summary: Win a copy
Review: You can win a copy of this book at
It's worth it. The book is an easy read but filled with interesting details. The author mixes personal anecdotes, operational details, and political events to create a smooth narrative which will probably compel you to try to study this campaign a little more on your own.
Rating: 
Summary: solid look at WW II
Review: By 1942 the allies fighting force consisted of an out of date American military that lacked weaponry and experience, and a British army that had tasted defeat after defeat. It is the Tunisian Campaign in North Africa that hits home how poorly prepared the United States is as they battle the Germans. However, the author contends the war in North Africa is the turning point with changes in leadership, tactics, and weapons. In other words, this is the first effort to modernize the American military with ruthless leadership that under stood men die, but sends those men into helpless scenarios as part of an overall strategy with the United States as the senior ally with improved weapons to compete with the German tanks, etc. For it is in the desert that the Americans begin to end the mythos of the Nazi invincibility and start the path towards superpower.AN ARMY AT DAWN, the first book in the "Liberation Trilogy" is a powerful look at World War II in North Africa during the early to middle stages of the war. The book grips the reader with easy to grasp data and even more intriguing anecdotes that make it difficult to put down especially when the author provides insight into leaders like Patton. Even more enlightening is Rick Atkinson's defense of his hypothesis that this is the theater in which the dawning of modern America as a superpower occurs. The book World War II buffs, military aficionados, and anyone who appreciates a deep look at cause and effect will appreciate this superb tome from the author of THE LONG GRAY LINE. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Great, cant wait for the next books
Review: This is one of the best books and most heavily researched on the north african campaign. Most people interested in WWII are slightly familiar with North Africa. The baptism of fire at Kaserine pass, the emergence of Patton and Ike and the fighting against the Vichy French. Yet this essential campaign has never been fully excplored. Here finally is a book worthy of the study of this important theater. The author looks closely at the American struggle to liberate north africa. It begins with the invasion of Vichy held lands. It continues on to the failures at Kaserine and Pattons assault on the remnants of the German army in Africa. A wonderful account, easily readable with highly detailed campaign maps that explain every battle and every encounter. A must have for the WWII enthusiast.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Stellar!
Review: Even if you've read a lot about WW II, the North Africa campaign may be a bit of a blur. We invaded after we realized that it was too early to invade France, there was some kind of disaster at Kasserine Pass, and then Rommel and our guys chased each other back and forth across the desert and eventually we did ok. Until I came across this book, the whole subject made my eyes glaze over -- it all seemed like something of a sideshow before the "real" European war. Atkinson has accomplished something really stellar -- he's placed the North African campaign in perspective and made its importance clear. He's also done something quite unusual in terms of his narrative: explained the action partly in terms of what the actors knew and believed as it was actually happening. This truly brings depth to the story. It's not just "Patton did x because he was impetuous and warlike." You get Patton's thoughts on a particular action as reflected in a letter written to his wife on that very day. Atkinson also gives you a strong sense of how much all the Allied leaders -- both the top brass and leaders of combat units -- were still learning their trade in 1942. The Eisenhower of TORCH was worlds away from the Eisenhower of D-Day. What an incredible book. I eagerly await the next two volumes.
Rating:
Summary: Anxiously Awaiting Volume Two
Review: I was enthralled by this book from the first chapter. I'm sure my wife got tired of hearing me praise the author's work. This is the second book I have read by Atkinson, the first was The Long Gray Line, and if anything he has refined his craft to a new high. I have not read history this entertaining or well researched in a long time. This book is the first of a three volume series covering the United States Army/Military involvement in the liberation of Europe during World War II. This first volume covers the initial action in North Africa during 1942-1943. Atkinson details the preparation, battles and politics of this first campaign of the war for Eisenhower and the army. The author spares no feelings in a sequential narration of the stumbling and missteps of the campaign. Likewise he is not sparing in his praise for the heroics and gallantry of the line troops. My impression was that the author was fairly unbiased, but in effect this is the story of Americans interacting with Europeans. Any scholar of history will tell you that you cannot get the whole story from a single book, as even the most diligent author/researcher will fall victim to creeping bias or missed source. I get the impression that Atkinson has tried very hard to limit the effect of either of these diseases. In his favor, the author, fails to write down to the reader, assuming that it will be adults, with mature vocabularies and tempering. If I had to pick one thing to criticize about this book, it would be the disappointed feeling I had when I discovered that the last 125 pages or so of the book were devoted to Notes, Acknowledgements and Bibliography rather than more of the story/narrative. I anxiously await the next installment of this series. P-)
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: An Army At Dawn is an extremely detailed and well researched book on the North African Campaign that lasted from November 1942 through May of 1943. Though I already had a working knowledge of this important campaign, this is a book you can't do without if you want a comprehensive understanding on the subject. Atkinson details the reasoning and planning for this campaign and how the British and Americans differed on where they should attack first. Americans like Eisenhower wanted to establish a front on the European mainland while the British led by Churchill wanted a peripheral attack. Both sides agreed to North Africa and thus the planning for Operation Torch began. What makes this book somewhat unique is that it covers a lot of the "little" battles that took place as well as discussing the ordinary combat soldier and what life was like for him. Atkinson does a good job at giving the reader a feel for how soldiers from small towns in places like Iowa suffered such a high proportion of casualities and the affect this had on these small towns. Of course North Africa served as a testing ground for many of the major American military figures like Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley who would all go on to gain fame in Europe. Other military figures like Terry Allen, T.R. Roosevelt Jr., John Waters, Paul Robinett, and others were well covered. This book, I think, does a good job of showing some of the weaknesses displayed by many of these figures especially Eisenhower and how they grew in their abilities as a result of the North African campaign. There were many officers whose abilities were shown not to be so great, especially after the Allied defeat at Kasserine. Another key theme to this book focuses on the working relationship between the Americans and the British. Of course this war would solidify this relationship which has endured to this day, but it did not start out with great promise. Atkinson describes how many of these American officers possessed what he called Anglophobia and that the British did not believe the ordinary American soldier had the ability or the will to fight. Boy were they wrong! America displayed its might in manpower and industrial capacity during World War II and it began to show during this critical campaign that resulted in the complete liberation of North Africa from the Nazis. It was an important testing ground for Americans that served them well in the remaining years of that war. One of the few faults I have is the author's writing style which at times I found to be a bit overdone and pompous in terms of vocabulary. An expansive vocabulary is great, but never assume all readers will be on the same page with you.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Work
Review: This is the first book of three dealing with the war in Europe. It's very well written, very informative, and gives the reader insights into the battle for North Africa which have previously been either overlooked or else not presented in this much scope and detail. For anyone with an interest in World War II particularly the battle for North Africa this book should be read.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel Approach
Review: Prodigiously researched with an attitude, Atkinson's book contains many many stories of the War in North Africa that may never have been told otherwise. The book reads like a novel and novels, of course, are works of fiction. So this method of telling is detrimental; it undermines if not the research, then the conclusions the author draws. The author, given his newspaper experience and many years of hindsight, seems to take a superior attitude and is quick to condemn the actions of very great American generals. He has much more respect for German generals. One can only hope that the Americans were not all boobs, after all. The book is an interesting read, in spite of the vast display of large words in the author's vocabulary, and in spite of the irritating use of "cute" personal stories of the actions of unnamed soldiers in times of crisis (that can never be checked). Events left out of the story are not a problem. No one volume book could contain them all. Better left out would have been the author's apparent contempt, written so authoritatively, of genuine American heroes in action. To be fair, my biases should be given: having known someone who knew both generals Patton and Clark and someone else who was HQ Commandant for Patton and Clark during the span of the book, I am privy to some of the same story the author tells (and some that are not), but with a different point of view.
Rating:
Summary: Superb New History Of The African Campaign In WWII!
Review: One of the most fascinating phenomena arising from the Second World War was the amazing transformation of the American Army from its peacetime doldrums to its more formidable and irresistible status by the evening of its assault on the Nazi's Fortress Europe in the invasion of Normandy. In the first of what promises to be a three-volume trilogy covering the liberation of Europe in 1944-45, author Rick Atkinson develops a narrative that describes, in loving detail, the back-breaking, often bumpy and extremely hazardous road to the creation of that Army in the stinging heat of the African desert. Atkinson maintains the reader should appreciate the degree to which what happened in the African campaign was critical to all that followed. And indeed, he provides powerful evidence that this is so. In fact, the author threads us through an argument that our successes in stopping the Afrika Corps dead in its tracks was as serious a military setback for the Axis forces as either the Soviet victory in Stalingrad or the Japanese defeat at Midway, that it was as significant a turning point in the fortunes of both the German forces and their American and British counterparts as was the Nazi imbroglio and subsequent defeat in the winter mud and snow of the Russian hinterlands. Defeated in the field both by the Soviets and the American-British coalition, Atkinson argues that it broke them of the initiative for the balance of the war. This argument seems a bit inconsistent with the history of the rest of the war to me, especially with the winter breakout of the Germans in the battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes in late 1944. But he makes some convincing arguments supported by historical facts that add credence to much of what he is saying. Atkinson also argues that as the American Army shook off its initial combat setbacks and began to develop both the techniques and experience to implement them, they gradually displaced the smaller and less well equipped British forces into a secondary role. Yet it also true that Montgomery and his forces played a key role both in the African campaign and in the Sicilian, Italian and Normandy efforts as well. One can argue that only after the serious grandstanding miscalculation of Operation Market Garden in the fall of 1944 did Montgomery and his army were relegated to a more marginal back role in the European campaign. Yet Atkinson writes both convincingly and well, and he certainly proves beyond any doubt that the aggravating and costly mistakes and setbacks in Africa both prepared the American Army for later efforts and also prevented a premature attempt to assault Europe in 1943, before they had either the men or the material to accomplish what they did so brilliantly a year later. This is a terrific book, one which provides the reader with a superb and magnificently detailed strategic overview and also gives us intriguing glimpses of ordinary soldiers trying to cope amid the craziness, confusion, and chaos of war. He provides us with knowing details, impeccable documentation, and a lot of interesting insights into both central personalities and their roles in the prosecution of the African campaign. This book is well worth the read, and adds significantly to the general level of scholarship on one of the most important and yet least documented and understood events of the Second World War. Enjoy!
| 
