The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II

by John Bierman, Colin Smith

In this superb history, two seasoned journalists unfold the decisive campaigns of the desert war that began with the Italian invasion of Egypt in September 1940 and ended with the mass surrender of Axis forces in Tunis in May 1943.

Writing with great verve and style, John Bierman and Colin Smith create a stunning panorama peopled by some of the most glamorous, dangerous and mysterious figures in the war. At the center of this sweeping narrative stand two heroes, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the notorious "Desert Fox," and the British Lieutenant General Bernard "Monty" Montgomery, whose showdown at the little Egyptian railway stop of El Alamein is one of the great moments in military history. Bierman and Smith have interviewed scores of survivors and tracked down hitherto overlooked primary sources to craft a historic narrative that reads like a novel. Here too is the remarkable true story of the shadowy Hungarian adventurer Laszlo Almasy, the prototype for the romantic English patient of Michael Ondaatje's novel.

Triumphant tactical warfare, an exotic backdrop, wrenching personal conflicts both inside and between the armies-The Battle of Alamein has it all. This is military history at its absolute best.

Genres: History, Military History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, Africa

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2002

About the author

John David Bierman, journalist and author.

John Bierman was one of the last of a generation of buccaneering reporters and writers who pursued successful careers across the media. Newspaper reporter, editor, radio correspondent, television "fireman", documentary maker and, finally, acclaimed historian, Bierman excelled at each, in a working life that reached back to the days of plate cameras and reporters in trilbies.

His big stories as a BBC TV reporter included a 13-minute, mainly ad-libbed, report from Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972 (which won a Cannes TV Festival award), the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. His final incarnation as a historian was pursued in the Mediterranean calm of a Cypriot farmhouse - he liked to describe himself as a "palm-tree man". The military historian Sir John Keegan wrote of Alamein: War Without Hate (2002), which Bierman co-authored with fellow journalist Colin Smith: "Few historians write as fluently as they do; few journalists achieve their standards of accuracy and inclusiveness."

Bierman was born within the sound of Bow Bells in London. His father, an antiques dealer, beat a hasty exit, and his mother, who ran a dress shop, paid attention to her son only when in funds. Largely raised by his grandparents, and evacuated from London during the second world war, he had, therefore, a peripatetic childhood that ideally prepared him for life as a globetrotting reporter. His love of the English language was acquired young. Despite attending 16 schools, he had a sound basic education, and could recite long passages of poetry.

In 1960, Bierman was headhunted by the Aga Khan to found and edit The Nation, in Nairobi. Those four years were among his happiest professionally. A colleague recalls: "John was a great editor - driving, dynamic, young, assured, foul-mouthed, contemptuous of settlers, frightened of nobody, a marvellous design man and an elegant writer." He next moved to the Caribbean as a managing editor.

He returned to England in the mid-1960s just as the BBC was recruiting experienced print journalists to stiffen its staff of largely university graduates - "all rather posh men", according to Mike Sullivan, another of the hard-bitten tribe who joined when Bierman did.

Bierman's breakthrough book was Righteous Gentile: The Story of Raoul Wallenberg (1981), which brought to international attention the then largely neglected story of the Swedish diplomat who rescued Hungarian Jews from the Nazis. Bierman's words are inscribed on Wallenberg's statue in central London: "The 20th century spawned two of history's vilest tyrannies. Raoul Wallenberg outwitted the first but was swallowed up by the second. His triumph over Nazi genocide reminds us that the courageous and committed individual can prevail against even the cruellest state machine. The fate of the six million Jews he was unable to rescue reminds us of the evil to which racist ideas can drive whole nations. Finally, his imprisonment reminds us not only of Soviet brutality but also of the ignorance and indifference which led the free world to abandon him. We must never forget these lessons."

One of Bierman's books - The Heart's Grown Brutal, a thriller set in Northern Ireland - was written under the pseudonym David_Brewster; he was still on the BBC staff and not supposed to moonlight. In all, he published eight books (two written with Smith), continuing to work after a kidney (donated by his son Jonathan) transplant in 2002. Despite a later heart bypass, arthritis and damaged nerves in his neck which made writing torture, he stayed at his keyboard. He told an interviewer: "Working, in the sense of writing books, I shall do until I drop because it is my life."

(source: The Guardian)

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Churchill said of the desert war....."it was not the end or even the beginning of the end but it was the end of the beginning". This quote is telling as this theater of war stopped the most voraciously effective war machine, the Afrika Korps, in its tracks and turned it back.

Although the title states that this book is about the Battle of Alamein, it is instead the story of the overall North African campaign and the names associated with it....Tobruk (the second largest British capitulation of WWII after Singapore), the Desert Rats, El Agheila, the Desert Fox, Monty, et al.

There are plenty of maps to follow the troop movements although it soon became obvious that in the beginning there was a lack of communication between HQ and the front line commanders which led to some major mistakes and needless loss of lives and equipment. Once Field Marshall Montgomery took charge, the fortunes of war changed and Rommel knew that he could not overcome the Allies in Africa. Hitler disagreed and ordered a fight to the last man, an order that Rommel ignored.

As I read through some of the other reviews of this book, several readers mentioned the biases of the author. I must be obtuse since I did not see this as problem and felt that the battles were presented fairly and factually. I would recommend this book to those readers who are not familiar with the North Africa campaign.

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Bierman and Colin Smith's joint venture, Alamein: War Without Hate follows hot on the heels of a number of other very good titles covering the Battle of El Alamein (Stephen Bungay's 'Alamein' and Clayton & Craig's 'End of the Beginning' to name just two). This title covers the history behind the desert campaign, the lead up to famous confrontation at Alamein and the results of that pivotal battle (at least in the eyes of the British Commonwealth).

In just over 400 pages of tense and illuminating narrative we learn more than just the 'what, why & how' of the battle. As readers we get the chance to have a glimpse into the lives of the soldiers who fought in this campaign. We read about soldiers from all parts of the Commonwealth and their German and Italian enemies and we get an idea why this campaign was known as the "war without hate".

The story was presented in a lively and interesting manner and although I have read quite a few books on this battle the story was fresh and retained my interest throughout. I found that at times the authors presented accounts with humor and sometimes a little sarcasm but at all times with fairness to soldiers on both sides of 'no-mans land'. There may not be much that is new here but this book does offer a refreshing and easy to read account of one of World War Two's more famous battles.

I also found that at times whilst reading this book I really got caught up in the lives of some of the participants and I was sadden by many of the outcomes. This is the story about the ordinary infantrymen, tankie, gunner, pilot, sailor and civilian, on both sides of the conflict. I really enjoyed the stories from these men and women and it was pleasing to see that the poor old Italian soldier get a fair place in this account. The author's style of writing was captivating and drew me into the narrative with ease, and I enjoyed many of the little snippets of information they provided on a range of subjects and characters.

Below is a section taken from the final chapter of the book 'Requiem':

"Two Englishwomen, sisters well into their sixties, are making a belated pilgrimage to the grave of their father, Lieutenant-Colonel John Evatt, officer commanding the 21st Anti-tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, a professional soldier who was killed on the fourth day of the battle. His daughters, Judith and Jancis, were four and six years old respectively at the time; a third daughter, fleetingly conceived during Colonel Evatt's embarkation leave, was yet unborn.

The Colonel's widow never remarried. The daughter she was carrying when her husband was killed died earlier this year of cancer. At their father's grave, the surviving sisters use a borrowed hotel spoon to dig an inch of two down into the loose sand. Then, into a shallow depression beneath the headstone they tip the contents of a small casket they have brought from England - the mingled ashes of their mother and their sister. These they cover over, to blend in with the desert soil that covers their father. No tears; the daughter of the bygone Empire do not weep."

This is a good story, well presented and well written. I am sure that many readers who enjoy WWII history will enjoy this book immensely.

[Checkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

World War II was massive. After all it was a world-wide war and was comprised of many campaigns and operations. The North African Campaign has always been the one that interested me the most. I work diligently to stay away from any silly romantic ideas about the desert campaign. It was a war and the violence was very real. Many were killed and maimed, but it's still one of the parts of that war that I find myself returning to over and over again.

I've read many books during my life about World War II. It's a staggeringly well-documented war and there is a massive amount of literature that has been produced since it ended in 1945. As a result, there really isn't all that much out there that can be classified as "new". Yes, there is the occasional archive that is opened up (the biggest would have to have been after the Soviet Union ceased to exist in the early Nineties), but overall, it's more about the writing and opinions than the breaking of new ground.

For example, as I write this review it is currently in vogue to denigrate the United States contribution to the allied war effort. There are books, articles and essays dedicated to showing how inept the United States (and by default the Allies) actually were and that they really just bludgeoned the Axis powers to defeat, but never out fought the Axis nations (as if the Nazis would have surrendered when faced with a brilliant stratagem). Additionally, I have also observed that it is now popular to compare body-counts as proof of which nation fought "harder" than another nation. Again, none of the data is new, but it's all about how it's being presented. This long-winded introduction (which is my clever way of putting a new spin on an old topic) brings me to The Battle of Alamein .

This book breaks no new ground, and I never got the impression that was what the writers were trying to do. Rather they are looking at the North African Campaign from a human-interest perspective. Of course, attention is paid to the military aspects for this is a military history, but the story is strong on atmosphere and loaded with anecdotal accounts. Instead of sitting in a classroom, or being on a staff ride, I felt that I was participating in a very well-done battlefield tour for both the informed and the layman. Which was followed by an excellent dinner at a three-star hotel. The tone of the book also reminded me of a BBC documentary, and I happen to like much of what the BBC produces.

John Bierman and Colin Smith are not pushing some radical new thesis with this book. Their book examines a pivotal event (The Second Battle of El Alamein) and the North African Campaign in general. They are very decent to all the participants. One side is not held up above the other (see: Max Hastings) as an example of war fighter par excellence. The authors show that both sides had their strengths and weaknesses without making any type of moral judgment in the process.

This is a historical treatise that both the expert and casual reader can get into. It is loaded with numerous photos and many excellent maps to assist those who are not familiar with the participants and geography. This is a major selling point with me. If I'm going to spend my money on an expensive book, I expect a little something extra. The Battle of Alamein does just that. My mother (not a World War II buff) read it first and recommended it to me. I read it and agreed with her assessment. It's worth your time to read it.

[Robert Brightwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. The name suggests that this is a history of the Battle of El Alamein (1st and 2nd battles maybe), and that is what I was expecting and hoping to find. This is not that book. This is a book of the entire North African campaign from 1940 through the final defeat of the Axis in 1943. The authors spend a lot of time on early battles from Rommel's arrival to the 1st battle of El Alamein. In fact, this is more than half the book. There is also extensive coverage of Malta, the formation of the LRDG, and adventures in getting Axis spies into Egypt. All interesting topics, but they deserved more coverage on their own and did not really need to be in a book that is supposed to be abought one battle. The actual battle coverage in only a couple of chapters and we get nearly equal amounts of coverage of the post battle retreat and the Tunisian campaign. On the whole this is not a good history of the Battle of El Alamein and it is also not a good history of the North African campaign. It did lean some new facts so I gave it three stars.

[Eric Suter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Battle of Alamein is a workmanlike retelling not only of the pivotal second Battle of El Alamein, in which Montgomery finally punched through to inaugurate the Afrika Corps' headlong retreat across Northern Africa, but of the complete North African campaign from the rout of the Italians through the fall of Tunis. The various operations and engagements are described with a decent degree of detail and the authors (Bierman and Smith) highlight numerous instances of bravery and intriguing coincidence from among the ranks of both combatants.

The aspect of this book that most interested me was the care the authors took to keep straight and elucidate the roles played by the many and varied Commonwealth and other units that fought beneath British leadership, including the New Zealanders, Aussies, Irish, Indian, Nepalese Ghurkas, Free French, and Senegalese. I also learned from the author's efforts to convey something of the higgeldy-piggeldy nature of the British units themselves. In some respects, the North African campaign seems more fittingly characterized as an Imperial war distinct from the larger war in Europe. In others, of course, the war in North Africa must be considered as of a piece with its European counterpart, most especially as it affected the struggle for Malta, Mediterranean air superiority, and the position of Italy as a combatant.

In the end, I give the book three stars. The information it provides is interesting, its points of emphasis well-chosen, and its depictions of the personalities involved well drawn and often entertaining. It suffers, however, from an approach that is somewhat more plodding than the material, strictly speaking, demands. Judged against Atkinson's "The Day of Battle," the work is found wanting in a literary sense. The same, however, can be said of many truly worthwhile histories, a category in which The Battle of Alamein certainly belongs. I did enjoy and certainly recommend the book, but I would not place it on a list of the five, or even ten, most compelling histories of World War II. An armchair WWII historian should certainly read it. But only after having first read several other, in my opinion more engaging works.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

The authors were never really able to get past their own personal bias, and it stains an otherwise well written book. They make good use of the first person accounts of survivors, and obviously did their research. A good historian ought to try to write history as if they were there, at least in terms of their bias. These gentlemen wrote about WW2 with the typical indignation towards the military that permeates today's media.
I'd avoid this book if I had it to do over again.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book for someone who has interest in the desert war. By no means a great selection, but a good choice for someone just beginning to study the campaign. Also nice for those interested in a broad overview of the North African battles and wanting more detail than a few pages in most WWII texts.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff, great read. Compare combat ethics and morality vs. 'Enemy at the Gates', Eastern Front stuff.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is a bit misleading. This is not a monograph on the Second Battle of El Alamein, but rather a broad account of the entire war in North Africa. If you are looking for something functional on a wide scope and aren't looking for new insights, you could do worse than this book.

[Peter Cooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough 9/10