Has anyone ever read the book An Army At Dawn by Rick Atkinson? I want to learn more about the North African campaign and heard this would help. I believe it's a part of his trilogy call The Liberation Trilogy.
It is a fantastic book. Absolutely recommend it. Also, the 2nd book in the trilogy "Day of Battle" is a great one also.
Both of the above posts reflect my thinking. Get it, read it, then read Thbe Day of Battle. Excellent reading.
I can't wait for the third book! The Day of Battle was the first book that I read about the Italian campaign in depth.
Okay, I have to chime in here. First, boths books in the Rick Atkinson trilogy are beautiful thick volumes, like the way history books used to be. And since I am a completist, I had to own them. But if you are looking for a "balanced" account, you won't find it here. I stress the word "balanced." If one side of the scale is, "The Allied Armies did everything right, and never made a blunder," then Rick Atkinson is at the extreme other end of the scale: "The Allied Armies could not do anything right, and performed one blunder after another." Both extremes are not helpful. Yes, Atkinson is critical, and that is admirable. An historian has to be critical, but Atkinson just describes one mistake after another page after page, chapter after chapter. All I read is praise for his work. Hasn't anyone gotten bogged down with this style, or is it just me? Greg C.
I don't think his writing conveys the allies couldn't do anything right. I think he is a bit over critical of command mistakes, at the very least...but after how many volumes of books that only wrote about the grandeur of the Allies and the honorable, mistake free war they fought from one end of the world to the other...it's a good thing to read that the Generals didn't know all the angels, they made huge mistakes at times, at times failed to capitalize on enemy mistakes, and that at times it was a disorganized mess from top to bottom. I haven't yet gotten bogged down by his writing style, but I didn't read these two books one right after the other, it was a couple years apart.
I read both in rather quick succession. I found them to quite readable, almost edge of the seat reading. I found it almost refreshing to look at the US preparations and early involvement without all the high praise we generally see about how the Americans came in and saved everyone's bacon. Obviously, mistakes were made. My father was involved in both North Africa and Salerno, and I remember him talking about the difficulties he faced. I would still recommend these books and anxiously await the completing volume.
The Day of Battle covers North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. The third volume will deal with northern Europe, I guess from D-Day through the Bulge then to the end. I think it's due out next year.
I have been hemming and hawing about ordering both these books for some time now. Then I thought hit me: With our current government apologizing and making self-deprecating remarks all over the world for our past; and the fact Atkinson won a Pulitzer Prize for these books; and then reading these posts, I felt compelled to go ahead an order these books and read them for myself. I now have both books wending through the labrynth of the US Mail on their way here. By the time I finsih these two tomes, the third one will have been published. Thanks guys.
I, too, recommend both An Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle. Both books are splendidly researched and Rick Atkinson is a darn good writer. I had the privilege to hear him speak about the books at the AHEC and the AWC. His presentation at the AWC was standing room only. By the way, he autographed both of my books and he is a regular visitor to the AHEC here in Carlisle, where he has done much of his research. His dad lives nearby, too. Dave
I just bought both books on the recommendations in this topic, i just wanted to thank you all for your inputs on this series making it a easy decision for me.
