An Army at Dawn

by Rick Atkinson
Category: "U.S. History - Military"
Pages:541
Year of Publication:2002
Date Added:09/09/2003
Date Read:09/09/2003
Notes:Subtitle: The War in North Africa. From Operation TORCH, the Allies landing in Morocco and Algeria, two the final defeat of two Nazi armies in Tunisia. Atkinson gives us the story of the common soldier and the great men — Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley — as well as the overall military and political picture. Even as he weaves a compelling narrative of a heroic victory, he casts a clear eye on the dark tragedies that haunt every war. This is the first volume of The Liberation Trilogy. The other two books, on the war in Italy and the battles for France and Germany, will be published later this decade.
My Rating: 9

Reviews for An Army at Dawn

Review - An Army at Dawn

If you enjoyed Ambrose's D-Day, you'll like this book. It covers the war in Africa from the time the Americans joined in until the surrender of all German and Italian forces. It includes the early fights the Americans and Brits had against French troops, for which I don't think France should ever be forgiven. I knew it happened, but reading about Americans who were trying to rid the the world of Nazis being killed by pompous French concerned with their "honor" made me very angry. Atkinson is good at changing the subject often enough to keep from getting bogged down. He avoids complex accounts of troop movements as much as possible, although when huge armies are involved it can't be avoided entirely. But even when dealing with numbered units, he does it in such away that I had no trouble following. He gives short biographies of the major players and the maps are great. I hate it when places mentioned in the text can't be found on maps. That never happened in this book. The book won the Pulitzer Prize. I thoroughly enjoyed it and gave it a 9.
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