Becket Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 I really like Glantz's work on the East Front -- reliable, accurate, and insightful (to me at least). Let me know if you know of anyone particularly reliable & insightful on the North African front. (Going to pick up Atkinson's "Army at Dawn" and Latimer's "Alamein" soon.) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted August 24, 2003 Share Posted August 24, 2003 Look for Agar-Hamilton, who wrote the official South African history. The Sidi Rezegh Battles is one of the finest combat narratives I've seen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rune Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 I have the book that Jason mentions, and it is indeed excellent. However, it is extremely hard to find, so good luck in tracking it down. I would up getting mine from a store in South Africa. Rune 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 It is rare, yes. Your best bet is probably inter-library loan. (Or begging Rune, lol). The U of Chicago library used to have a copy (which is the one I read), but somebody has since lifted it. It is that good. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rune Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Also, I have an Army at Dawn, an excellent book, but I was surprised to see how much of it came out of the US ARmy in WWII, Med, European, and Africa Theatre of OPeration, which is available from the gpo. A 4 CD set with tons of reference materials, an excellent buy if you are interested. Rune 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becket Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 Thanks guys, I'll start looking for the South African book (who knows, maybe there's a South African version of eBay now...heck, I got a limited edition LotR from the Aussies, so anything is possible. Re "from GPO" -- I'm not familiar with the acronym, could you enlighten me? Also, I'm taking away from this that there isn't one prolific author covering the African campaign in detail, as Glantz does with the OstFront, correct? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conscript Bagger Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 gpo = Government Printing Office link to CD-ROM collection Granted, much (most/all?) of the material on the CDs is already online. [ August 25, 2003, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: Impudent Warwick ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 Originally posted by Becket: Also, I'm taking away from this that there isn't one prolific author covering the African campaign in detail, as Glantz does with the OstFront, correct? There are tons of books on NA. It has attracted writers like flies, especially in the UK. The problem is, as you suspect, there isn't one single author who stands out in the way that Glantz does at this particular moment. The book that Rune refers to (which is called Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West) is excellent. I have it both in printed and CD format. It deals with Operation Torch and the subsequent fighting in Tunisia and focuses mainly on the US Army. It omits everything prior to that and doesn't give much coverage to the CBE forces at all, so it skips most of what we as gamers might be interested in. But what it covers, it covers surperbly. I am going to try to get a reading list together in time for the release of CMAK that is taken from my own collection. This is difficult because it is extensive and badly scattered at the moment, but will contain numerous titles devoted to the kind of small scale actions dear to the hearts of CMers, as well as several that cover more or less the entire campaign. Take heart! Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 There's quite a good bibliography on a little known site called battlefront.com, perhaps you've heard of it? Here's the link in case you haven't . [ August 25, 2003, 05:37 PM: Message edited by: Firefly ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 The Battlefront bibliography is good but not comprehensive. The last time I took a look at it I thought it a little idiosyncratic. But then, I'm sure my own could be described in the same way. Best advice is to keep your ears open and make your own choices based on your own interests. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Lucke Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 There's always the official British histories, put out by Her Majesty's Stationary Office (the Brit equivalent to the GPO): Playfair, I. S. O. (et al) History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 1: The Early Successes Against Italy, to May 1941 London: HMSO, 1954 Playfair, I. S. O. (et al) History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 2: The Germans Come to the Help of Their Ally, 1941 London: HMSO, 1956 Playfair, I. S. O. (et al) History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 3: British Fortunes Reach Their Lowest Ebb London: HMSO, 1960 Playfair, I. S. O., C.J.C. Molony (et al) History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 4: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa London: HMSO, 1966 Molony, C. J. C. History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 5: The Campaign in Sicily, 1943 and the Campaign in Italy London: HMSO, 1973 Molony, C. J. C. History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 6: Victory in the Mediterranean, part 1: 1st Apr - 4th June 1944 London: HMSO, 1984 Jackson, General Sir William History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 6: Victory in the Mediterranean, part 2: June to October 1944 London: HMSO, 1987 Jackson, General Sir William History of the Second World War The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 6: Victory in the Mediterranean, part 3: November 1944 - May 1945 London: HMSO, 1988 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 26, 2003 Share Posted August 26, 2003 The NZ Official Histories are pretty good too. IMHO There are eight campaign histories (Greece, Crete, CRUSADER, defence of Egypt, the breakout at Alamein, the rest of North Africa, and two volumes in Italy), plus seperate histories for each of the inf bns units and support units. Quite a lot of ink for a single division really! Anyway, the first couple are available in their entirety on line here. A full listing of the various nations Official Histories is available here. [ August 26, 2003, 04:16 AM: Message edited by: JonS ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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