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I don't know what he won for, nor do I care, but I do know that if it hadn't been for Eisenhower, Patton, our Army and Navy, he wouldn't have had the right to make a comment much less write a book criticizing his country.I will never touch another one of his books. We made tons of mistakes and learned the hard way. BIG MISTAKE. We were new at this game and had a lot to learn. I would not have minded those tidbits of info regarding the humanity of those men, even the comments regarding their weaknesses, to a point. But, this book is a constant put down of everything American. 188 pages in I am extremely fed up with the constant, negative commentary about Eisenhower, Clark, Patton, our Navy, Army, etc. He wasn't supposed to whitewash the truth but he could have been more objective.
The book was so confusing that it was hard to understand where "I was" in any given moment. So, Atkinson won a Pulitzer Prize. I wanted to know the history of our country's involvement in North Africa so I purchased this book w/o reading others' reviews. So much negativity in fact, that I began to wonder what Atkinson's agenda was. One moment you're with Patton, the next Terry Allen and it's not clear how you got there.
His narrative history is a masterpiece of meticulous research and extensive descriptions. They went so far as to scheme to put their three top guys below Ike so as to elevate him in title and yet remove all power from him for England. At the beginning of the book you aren't too familiar with the North Africa Campaign, but by the end of the book you know it so intimately that you feel as though you were there.Going into this I had read extensively on Europe after D-Day and a little of the Italian Campaign, as well as a lot on the Pacific Theater. Bradley stood out in the end, although he may have stepped in at just the right time.Another shocker was that we fought the French in WWII. This blew me away that the French resisted as though they were part of the Axis, which makes sense considering the hostages held by Germany and the threat to invade the rest of France. And oftentimes they may have been speaking honestly, but most of the time it was the top dog mentality that made them feel so superior.
Quite a shock. Atkinson captures the true essence of the early American Army in not only the officers but in the soldiers as well. He meticulously combed through a plethora of sources that painted a picture that was real and alive. The US did not have this benefit as they had to learn from trial and error who the standout officers were and who had to go home.
They had air superiority and top panzer divisions battling it out. In some cases this was the case. Rommel bloodied the Allies repeatedly before material and soldier superiority in numbers overwhelmed them.This isn't to say that the American generals didn't have their flaws. They also thumped their chest and played at top dog, especially Patton. The struggle for Algiers and Tunisia was important, I knew that, but it never captured my interest enough to read more.
But the elitist feeling certainly blinded them to the fact that their very own generals and soldiers were having the same problems as the US. WWII never ceases to amaze me.Atkinson, too, amazed me. I mean the German army in 1942-3 was at the top of its game. This is where the first allied success with the British in Egypt came about, this was where many a general either sank or swam and, more importantly, where Ike and the US Army grew into a mean fighting machine. This, of course, was the dear lesson that the Allies had to learn through destruction in North Africa before their fighting machine learned what it meant to go to war and began to excel at it. They used one another for their own purpose.
You understood the mentality of all sides and could understand the where, why and how of what was happening. Nonetheless, the whole Algiers campaign was the US and British against the French. A few pages into An Army at Dawn and I was 100% invested and couldn't believe that I hadn't read more on it sooner. What he illustrated so beautifully, and came as a complete shock to me, was how the allies weren't too fond of one another. After all, they had been fighting the Axis for 2 years by the time the US got involved and they had already separated the wheat from the chafe as so often combat does.
A definite recommend for both the author and the book.5 stars. I cannot wait to read the second book in the trilogy and see if he can repeat his performance in the liberation of Italy. Simply put, this is possibly the best WWII book I've ever read, and easily ranks up there as one of the best history books I've ever read, right up there with The Armada by Garrett Mattingly. The British were so elitist it was almost comical, constantly berating and belittling the American Army and its generals, especially Ike, their supreme commander. They went in to the war thinking of the glory they would obtain and that nobody could best them and their mighty army.
I cannot wait for the third installment of this trilogy to be published, as it too will be an addition to my collection. Don't be put off by the volume of the works, as both books are fast and easy reading. Atkinson, I was able to follow my own father's war adventure from Casablanca to Tunisia, to Sicily, and up through the Italian boot. Atkinson has included many valuable stories of heroism, mistakes, and interesting characters of World War 2. I have read Army At Dawn along with the sister book, The Day of Battle by Rick Atkinson and was greatly pleased with both selections. Through the excellent story-telling of Mr. Mr.
Just wanted to put my two cents in for a very well written book that impressively captured both broad strategic strokes and personal vignettes that made the battles real. Atkinson's books after reading this one. Other commenters did a great job of reviewing this book. Highly recommended, and I will be buying more of Mr.
On the down-side Atkinson occasionally does a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking and may spend a bit more text than necessary on the less appealing activities of US troops, but these are minor problems and doesn't seem to affect his description of events. In short, it's a model of a good military history book for the lay reader. Be aware the focus is on the Americans but sufficient details regarding the French, British, Germans, and Italians are woven in. and then some. An excellent balance of descriptions of the commanders, interesting vignettes of individual soldiers, descriptions of the battles, maps, and photographs all tied together with some darned good writing. This is one of the best campaign books I've read. Within pages it becomes apparent the author has done is homework. This shouldn't be a surprise, the book, starting with the title, makes it clear this is really about the evolution of US forces.
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