Rommel's Desert War: Waging World War II in North Africa, 1941–1943

by Martin Kitchen

• ISBN13: 9780521509718
• ISBN10: 0521509718
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

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 19411943, 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.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. viii
List of maps	p. x
Acknowledgements	p. xii
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy	p. 14
Germany intervenes in North Africa	p. 40
Tobruk: the first round	p. 72
Counterattack	p. 107
Withdrawal	p. 141
On the offensive again	p. 181
Tobruk	p. 216
El Alamein: the first round	p. 256
El Alamein: defeat	p. 309
Torch	p. 353
The retreat from Mersa el Brega	p. 380
Tunisgrad	p. 422
Notes	p. 459
Bibliography	p. 535
Index	p. 590
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