"An Army at Dawn" by Rick Atkinson

[REVS]

As this is a book on the Tunisian Campaign of 1942-43, I figured it might fit here, but maybe it's a GF topic? Anyway, I'll start here.

I notice that it's a Pulitzer prizewinner, so it obviously has been well received and has some cred.

But I'd be interested in the opinions of those who have read it. I have almost finished it, and I love it. One of the most enjoyable military histories I have read.

I come from a literature background, and I'm a journalist, so I incline towards good writing and story telling, and this book certainly does both very well.

And I like the honesty of the book. It is about the "dawn" of the mighty fighting force that was the US Army of WWII, and this early dawn was painful, not all that glorious, but it was utterly important to the development of the hardened fighting unit of Italy, Normandy and beyond.

How did you react to this book? While interested in everybody's opinions, of course I'd be fascinated to hear from US military history buffs about their take on the book.

[Michael Emrys]

Originally posted by REVS:

How did you react to this book?

Pretty much exactly as you do. A good story well told. I enjoyed it. So far as I know, the history is fairly accurate but incomplete. Because his focus is (legitimately) on the US forces, he is compelled to condense the story of the other four armies involved. If you want to get a more complete picture of the fighting in French North Africa, you will have to do a lot more reading. But this one is good and has an honored place on my North Africa shelf.

Michael

[Mies]

I agree with you both. The style of writing of an Army at Dawn for me as a not native English speaker was a lot easier to read than for example Ericsson's Road to Stalingrad.

Mies

[Soddball]

Stonking book. If this is book one of three(as the front cover of mine proclaims), has there been any movement on book 2?

Emrys, you mentioned books covering other aspects of Tunisia. Got any recommendations?

[Tarkus]

I've got mostly praises for it as well.

I really enjoyed reading it, with both in-depth perspective on the subject, yet good rythm if I may say. The author evidently went on the spot he is writing about, something not all military writers cares to bother about. Although he focuses on the front lines, he still pauses at time to talk about the larger scope. Maps are sharp and clearly indicates the tactical/operationnal situation at hands.

Coming from an historical background, I would have liked Atkinson to use endnotes more consistently to state clearly his sources. Not that I doubt of the authenticity, but it would have been interestingn (and useful, mind you) to know exactly where infos where taken.

Also, to take Michael comment further, a big forte of the book is that it holds one of the most thorough bibliography on the North Africa campaign there is. I'd say this book is definitely a very good start.

Cheers

[David I]

Totally awesome book, and extremely well written. It was also one of the few glances I have gotten into Vichy France. I was inspired to get the documentary "The Sorrow, and the Pity". I highly recommend it to you for a very good look into Vichy France and it's workings.

I don't know when his next book is due, but I have saved my pennies and will by it the momment I hear it's out.

DavidI

[Michael Emrys]

Originally posted by Soddball:

...has there been any movement on book 2?

Amazon claims that it hasn't been released yet, but you can pre-order it from them.

Emrys, you mentioned books covering other aspects of Tunisia. Got any recommendations?

Allan Moorhead's March to Tunis gives a readable account from the British perspective. The Rommel Papers gives some coverage from the German. I don't have anything for the French or Italians. If you want to read more from the American side, the US Army volume Seizing the Initiative, part of the Green Book Series available from MHI, is very detailed with superb maps (if you can find an older copy with the complete set). It's also available on CD.

Samuel Elliot Morrison has a volume covering the naval aspects, but once again is American-centric. I need to find one covering the British naval operations in greater detail. Also, a single volume dealing with the air war over NA would be nice. I have bits and pieces gleaned from many sources, but not a single comprehensive narrative.

Michael

[Berlichtingen]

One of the few books about Tunesia I enjoyed reading. I'm actually looking forward to the next two

[rune]

Actually a lot of "An Army at Dawn" came word by word fro the Green Books. I have the cd set of all the books, and it was a great investment. However, "An Army at Dawn" still has quite a bit of information, and is definitely worth the read. I have a couple books by Alan moorehead for the british perspective, however, remember he was a newspaper reporter, and some of his facts are wrong, but still good for an overview.

Rune

[Richie]

It is a good read!

But... from a non-American perspective I found it sloooow to start with and quite political. I read the Intro and found it very Americanized. I actually put it down for a couple of months and found it hard to get back into. As already stated some of the English participation was glossed over too.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good book with an excellent feel of the campaign. Some of the battle descriptions are amongst the best I've ever read. I will definitely buy the sequels when they make it out to Australia.

Richie

[Michael Dorosh]

My review at amazon.com - note that some of the reviewers there were whining because they didn't understand "big words" like torpor, akimbo, desiccated, punctilious or abstemious. If your vocabulary can't handle those, the book may not be for you.

It is an odd mix of scholarly words yet an easy to read style.

This book was oft discussed at the www.battlefront.com discussion boards (BFC just released a game on North Africa), and I can now see why. This is not just a dry recitation of the facts surrounding the campaign in North Africa, this is a full blown Cornelius-Ryan-esque portrayal of the US Army's trials and travails, from TORCH to final victory. Few authors tend to look beyond the stories of their own nationality; Atkinson has very masterfully worked in the British, French and German sides of the story as well. Historical figures are treated as characters in a drama rather than as simple names to be recited; dozens of commanders - many only briefly touched on elsewhere in the historical record - are fleshed out and brought to life with vivid descriptions.

Atkinson has a command of the English language that most writers only dream of, and summons the correct words from a very rich vocabulary eminently suited to getting his points across.

This is a detailed, and yet very, very entertaining, treatment of a topic that has not seen a lot of study in recent years, or perhaps even at all, beyond the official histories and the biographies of the notables involved (such as Farago's book on Patton, which did mention in detail Patton's North African experiences).

Only shortcoming might be the lack of detailed footnotes, but I personally don't think this detracts at all from the presentation. This is certainly not a textbook, though one might be forgiven for turning to it as a valuable reference in addition to being an excellent and engrossing read.

A page turner and in a class of its own.

[Ted]

Sitting here in a torpor with my arms akimbo, my brain becoming desiccated by the big words the punctilious Mr. Dorosh had written. I was doing pretty well until I reached “abstemious”.

Then it became quite perspicuous that since the word has nothing to do with my life style, indeed I rebel against such meanings, it became quite clear to me why I was in such a discomposure.

For who here would agree with Milton when he said “Under his special eye Abstemious I grew up and thrived amain”.

Not I!

Now back to North Africa……

[Speedy]

Bollocks!