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The End of the Beginning
1942 - British troops are stranded in the desert, struggling to hold back Rommel's Afrika Corps. Hitler's armies have reached Moscow, and there are murmurs of discontent at home as new doubts emerge about Churchill's leadership. Elsewhere in Europe there is chilling evidence of the mounting persecution of the Jews, stretching from Poland to the Channel Islands. For many, it seems there is little hope.
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First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 9, 2016
A followup to their previous bestseller "Finest Hour", Tim Clayton and Phil Craig have written a comprehensive and deeply affecting book in "End of the Beginning" which spans the period May to November 1942. A couple of the people both authors had interviewed for "Finest Hour" -- e.g. Edith Heap who has gone on in her role as a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) to serve with RAF Bomber Command in 1942, and Peter Vaux, who has gone on to fight in North Africa as an intelligence officer in an armored unit of the Eighth Army --- return here and share with the reader their war experiences during this crucial period in the War. Indeed, it is the personal stories of the veterans Clayton and Craig interviewed for "End of the Beginning" - British, American, and Maltese - along with the inclusion from supplementary sources of a number of the primary historical figures on the Allied side (e.g. FDR; Harry Hopkins - FDR's Special Envoy and close friend; Winston Churchill; General Alan Brooke - Chief of the British Imperial General Staff; and 3 of the leading commanders of the Eighth Army) which give this book a poignancy and immediacy that makes the war so vividly real to the reader.
The book's focus is on the period of the Second World War in which the Axis Powers held the upper hand in both North Africa and the Eastern Front. In May 1942, Erwin Rommel, the commander of the vaunted Afrika Korps, unleashed an offensive in Libya with German and Italian forces against the British, which brought Hitler within hailing distance of Cairo, Alexandria, and the Suez Canal over the next 2 months. At the same time, with Axis forces advancing deep into Southern Russia towards Iran (whose oil fields, along with those of Iraq, were vital to the Allied war effort), it seemed possible that Rommel could overrun British and Commonwealth forces in the Middle East (invading and capturing the key Mediterranean island of Malta in the process) and link up with his compatriots in Russia - and ultimately with Japanese forces advancing from Burma to the borders of India.
Britain was faced with a crisis not altogether different from what it had confronted in the summer of 1940. Churchill desperately needed a decisive military victory against the Germans if his coalition government were to remain in power. "End of the Beginning" shows how the fortunes of the war were eventually tipped in favor of the Allies by November 1942, following the Eighth Army's key victory against Rommel at El Alamein and the lifting of the Siege of Malta. Truly, this is an epic book well worth reading.
The book's focus is on the period of the Second World War in which the Axis Powers held the upper hand in both North Africa and the Eastern Front. In May 1942, Erwin Rommel, the commander of the vaunted Afrika Korps, unleashed an offensive in Libya with German and Italian forces against the British, which brought Hitler within hailing distance of Cairo, Alexandria, and the Suez Canal over the next 2 months. At the same time, with Axis forces advancing deep into Southern Russia towards Iran (whose oil fields, along with those of Iraq, were vital to the Allied war effort), it seemed possible that Rommel could overrun British and Commonwealth forces in the Middle East (invading and capturing the key Mediterranean island of Malta in the process) and link up with his compatriots in Russia - and ultimately with Japanese forces advancing from Burma to the borders of India.
Britain was faced with a crisis not altogether different from what it had confronted in the summer of 1940. Churchill desperately needed a decisive military victory against the Germans if his coalition government were to remain in power. "End of the Beginning" shows how the fortunes of the war were eventually tipped in favor of the Allies by November 1942, following the Eighth Army's key victory against Rommel at El Alamein and the lifting of the Siege of Malta. Truly, this is an epic book well worth reading.
October 20, 2012
Once again the talented combination of Tim Clayton and Phil Craig have produced a new and exciting account of a well know period of the Second World War. Their newest book, apparently the second in a trilogy designed to mark the 60th anniversaries of Britain's three most important moments during WW2, covers the year 1942, the turning point in the Allied camp.
Following on from their excellent book Finest Hour, we again meet up with some familiar faces from that story. Peter Vaux, now fighting with the famed Desert Rats, Edith Heap working with R.A.F. bomber crews in England and Ken Lee still flying fighters in the R.A.F. but now over the desert. The authors have used the same winning formula with their last book and we follow these people and their stories along with a few others through the events of 1942.
We experience the fighting in the desert against Rommel and his men. We read how the British tanks are out classed by the German panzers and how the R.A.F. try to protect the Allies and harry the advancing German and Italian units as they advance towards Alexandria. We read about the desperate battles on the sea and in the sky to get convoys into Malta. We hear the stories of the inhabitants of that bombed out Island, hanging on desperately against the might of the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica during daily bombing missions and with the fear of invasion hanging over their heads.
The story takes us back to Europe and we learn of the fate of many of the R.A.F. bomber crews fighting their own lonely war over the dark skies of occupied Europe. We read about the terrible tragedy at Dieppe and the political infighting amongst the leaders of the allied nations. Most of the story has been told before, however there are some elements that most readers will find new and interesting. I was not aware of the American intelligence blunder that gave away many Allied secrets to the Germans nor was I aware of the true mastermind behind the defence at El Alamein.
These things and more are told here for the first time and we read the stories of those who experienced this frightening but also uplifting period with a mixture of awe and amazement. This is a good book and in just over 400 pages we get a good feel for what it was like for many participants to be involved in this most important period in British history. One story that I won't forget and found hard to believe was the account of a young Jewish woman that was deported to Auschwitz from Guernsey. You read this story and you ask yourself 'how could this happened?'
I am sure that most people who enjoy popular history will get a buzz out of this book. "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning". - Winston Churchill, 10th November, 1942
Following on from their excellent book Finest Hour, we again meet up with some familiar faces from that story. Peter Vaux, now fighting with the famed Desert Rats, Edith Heap working with R.A.F. bomber crews in England and Ken Lee still flying fighters in the R.A.F. but now over the desert. The authors have used the same winning formula with their last book and we follow these people and their stories along with a few others through the events of 1942.
We experience the fighting in the desert against Rommel and his men. We read how the British tanks are out classed by the German panzers and how the R.A.F. try to protect the Allies and harry the advancing German and Italian units as they advance towards Alexandria. We read about the desperate battles on the sea and in the sky to get convoys into Malta. We hear the stories of the inhabitants of that bombed out Island, hanging on desperately against the might of the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica during daily bombing missions and with the fear of invasion hanging over their heads.
The story takes us back to Europe and we learn of the fate of many of the R.A.F. bomber crews fighting their own lonely war over the dark skies of occupied Europe. We read about the terrible tragedy at Dieppe and the political infighting amongst the leaders of the allied nations. Most of the story has been told before, however there are some elements that most readers will find new and interesting. I was not aware of the American intelligence blunder that gave away many Allied secrets to the Germans nor was I aware of the true mastermind behind the defence at El Alamein.
These things and more are told here for the first time and we read the stories of those who experienced this frightening but also uplifting period with a mixture of awe and amazement. This is a good book and in just over 400 pages we get a good feel for what it was like for many participants to be involved in this most important period in British history. One story that I won't forget and found hard to believe was the account of a young Jewish woman that was deported to Auschwitz from Guernsey. You read this story and you ask yourself 'how could this happened?'
I am sure that most people who enjoy popular history will get a buzz out of this book. "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning". - Winston Churchill, 10th November, 1942
April 10, 2010
This is a wonderful, accessible and compelling account of the 'tipping point' of the Second World War. The authors, experience documentary makers have put to great use their ability to extract intimate honest and extremely moving testimony from the many witnesses and combatants they spoke to.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews