The War in the Desert

World War II #7

by Richard Collier

Book 7 of the Time-Life World War II series.

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

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Richard Collier, was born in London, England in 1924. He joined the Royal Air Force at eighteen after that, as a war correspondent, he traveled throughout the Far East.

He worked on numerous British and American magazines and wrote more than half a dozen books about the Second World War.

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gold standard of WW2 histories in my opinion, excellently blending text and pictorial study. Despite its age, it still holds up quite well in being accurate with the information it provides not succumbing to post war myths for either side.

[Christian D. D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly readable, engaging, and informative book on the North Africa theatre of WWII (I first read it in 1986 at the tender age of 10). Richard Collier made a worthy addition to the Time-Life Books World War II series. The segments on Monty (Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery, that is) and the colour photography segment by Eliot Elisofon (“Hellzapoppin” as Gen. Patton called him) are especially fascinating.

[D-day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the Time-Life series on WW2, this volume discusses the North African campaign

Chapters
1- Italian invasion of Egypt in Sep of 1941 and the British counterattack back into Libya until the campaign halts as Britain prepares to aid Greece (spring 1941).
2- Rommel and the Wehrmacht reinforce the Italians and push the British out of Libya with the exception of the garrison at Tobruk (Spring 1941 to Summer 1941).
3- British counter offensive in Nov 1941 pushes the Axis back but the need to send troops to SE Asia after Japan enters the war, stalls the offensive. Rommel attacks and pushes the British all the way back into Egypt and captures Tobruk. (Spring 1942 to Summer 1942)
4- The Battle of El-Alamein (Oct 1942)
5- Operation Torch: the Allied invasion of Morocco and Algeria (Nov 1942)
6- The Axis are squeezed in Tunisia from West and East but US troops are taught some unpleasant lessons (Spring 1943)
7- German and Italian troops surrender (May 1943)

[Erik Tolvstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The is a Time-Life retelling of the WW2 North African campaigns. Its greatest appeal and strength of the book is in the dozens of first-rate action photographs. The written part of the history is abridged and works the highlights of the campaigns and personnel mostly. The maps are weak.

[William Razavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers the campaigns in North Africa from the Italian entry into the war in 1940 through the allied capture of Tunis in 1943.
Very well illustrated (the color picture essay toward the end that covers the American campaign and the photo essay on wartime Cairo are especially worth seeing).
Solid narrative and worth reading along with the volume on The Mediterranean for a better sense of everything the bigger picture.

[Simon Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and enjoyable read, not hugely detailed but with sufficient insight to the various battles and tactics. Well illustrated

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a solid account of the North African campaign starting with the Italian invasion of Egypt in 1940 and ending with the German surrender in Tunisia.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another interesting book in the WWII series. I found the section and pictures of the different tanks to be cool. The color photographs taken by Eliot Elisofon were also a nice addition.

[Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a good book for learning about World War II. This book is a Non-fiction book and is 207 pages long this may not seem like a lot but each page contains lots of information, since this is an informational book it has no main characters. The setting is in the deserts of Libya and Egypt during World War II. I really enjoyed learning about the generals on both sides (German and British) for example I liked the tactic used by Erwin Rommel (The Desert Fox), his tactic being after overwhelming the enemy don’t wait for them to dig in and set up defenses, quickly rush them and take them out. My favorite part of the book was reading about The Siege of Tobruk. If you like reading about history or just need information on this topic this would be a good book for you. I like how the author wrote about the events in which they happened. This book is probably for people 12+. In case you don’t want to learn about battles fought in the desert there are many other books in the same series about other battlefields. I had fun reading this book and I always wanted to read more.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that books on military history are most informative and engaging when maps and photographs are included. Trying to grasp an accurate mental picture of an enormous battlefield and of the manuevers and movements of armies within this arena is impossible from just reading. This theater of war in North Africa in WW2 was so expansive and wide open that the armies were sometimes stretched out for hundreds of miles. One is able to truly appreciate Rommel's ingenuity by reading then referring to the maps which trace his movements.

This account reveals the overwhelming odds one man overcame using only his training and creativity.

[Toms Murnieks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never had a particular interest in the desert war of WWII as I thought of it as a tiny side campaign, but now I see that those campaigns were much broader and ambitious than I've expected. The book is well arranged and a compact step by step walk through the whole military conflict in Africa was what I needed. Photos are great. Maps make a great deal of understanding.

[Robert Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this Life Time series in the early 1980's on WWII, a volume came to the house every 2 or 3 months so I could take my reading. It was very informative and enjoyable read, I still use it for reference.

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned two things about WWII desert battles: (1) it's ALL about supply lines, and (2) in Rommel's words: "Rivers of blood were poured out over miserable strips of land which, in normal times, not even the poorest Arab would have bothered his head over."

[Jerome Otte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of the war in North Africa.

[Itzel Juarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro que me llevo a ver cómo avanzamos como sociedad y como influyen las cosas que vivimos en nuestra niñez