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Alamein to Zem Zem
A classic war book by one of the finest poets of the Second World War. Keith Douglas was posted to Palestine in 1941 with a cavalry regiment. When fighting broke out at El Alamein in 1942, he was instructed to stay behind as a staff officer. But he wanted to fight, and so, completely disobeying orders, he drove a truck to the sight of the battle and participated as a tank commander. "Alamein to Zem Zem "is a vivid and unforgettable description of his experiences on the desert battlefield, seen through the eyes of a poet-soldier.
'Highly charged, violent descriptive prose ... conveys the humour, the pathos and the literal beauty of that dead world of tanks, sand, scrub and human corpses ... Comparable in descriptive power and intelligence to the books of Remarque, Sassoon and Blunden which spoke in similar terms of 1914-1918.' "Spectator"
'Highly charged, violent descriptive prose ... conveys the humour, the pathos and the literal beauty of that dead world of tanks, sand, scrub and human corpses ... Comparable in descriptive power and intelligence to the books of Remarque, Sassoon and Blunden which spoke in similar terms of 1914-1918.' "Spectator"
167 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 13, 2020
Surprisingly, at the Dasa Book Cafe around the middle of last December I came across this brownish paperback reprinted in 1969, wondering if I had read or known him before. After a negative recall, I browsed through some pages and skimmed its back cover; the information telling me on a World War II journal published posthumously by a young British soldier named Keith Douglas (aka. Peter, e.g. p. 137) who took part in the battle of Alamein. It was my delight to find it there, it is the category I've longed to read; the first being Robert Graves's Goodbye to All That (Penguin 1969) I read twice after my retirement.
There are of course innumerable episodes I found amazingly worth reading and reflecting due to his exceptional war campaigns in which, I think, they would be thrillingly fortunate to an understandable matter-of-life-or-death point while the war was in full action, it was real and one's life was on the brink of fate or fortune. I wondered how they spent their free time amid "the futility of war" (p. 29) in the battlefield and found some ways over there. First, they had no choice but, more or less, became readers; the author being one of them, stating, "I scarcely fired the gun of my tank, or read a map from Mersa Matruh to the Wadi Zem Zem, although I read a library of novels." (p. 112) Moreover, he confirmed, "The staff captain, who could walk, did all he could to help everyone, and managed to find us books. Mine was Dodo and I spoke very little until I had read it through twice, quite lost and contented in that luxurious, indolent Edwardian world. There could be no kinder reading to tired minds and emotions" (p. 150) Second, astonishingly and delightfully, I never expected to read on their pleasures from food competition; his narrative divulging the process, "Each tank crew cooked for themselves, and enjoyed using their originality on the limited rations. We achieved time after time dishes of professional elegance and great variety from the invariable issues of rations. Every meal was a competition between the various tank crews." (p. 110) Third, typically British, he himself fondly mentioned tea (however, coffee mentioned, p. 161) on occasions, for instance, "About six o'clock in the evening, a very old orderly, . . ., brought us a plate of cold tinned vegetables, . . ., and a mug of tea." (pp. 147-8) "My stretcher was lifted out on to a two-wheeled trolley, . . . , and I was propelled through doors, into a long, lighted room, . . . , to whom girls in khaki overalls were giving sausage rolls, cakes and hot tea. " (p. 152) "Jock was demanding food, and presently a cup of tea and some salmon sandwiches were brought us" (p. 153) etc.
Acclaimed as "possibly the best soldier-poet of the war" (back cover), the author has shown his painting skills as we can see from the cover; it showing a detail from 'Shapes of Derelicts' now in the British Museum. Moreover, there are his 11 illustrations as viewed and sketched from the war scenes; some being scribbled with notes in which the readers can see on pages 9 (MINE*), 31, 35 (Making a fire in a petrol tin), 46, 54, 114, 118, 125 (Men killed by aerial attack), 133 (Gun & crew), 138 (Arab dogs), and 166.
To continue . . .
There are of course innumerable episodes I found amazingly worth reading and reflecting due to his exceptional war campaigns in which, I think, they would be thrillingly fortunate to an understandable matter-of-life-or-death point while the war was in full action, it was real and one's life was on the brink of fate or fortune. I wondered how they spent their free time amid "the futility of war" (p. 29) in the battlefield and found some ways over there. First, they had no choice but, more or less, became readers; the author being one of them, stating, "I scarcely fired the gun of my tank, or read a map from Mersa Matruh to the Wadi Zem Zem, although I read a library of novels." (p. 112) Moreover, he confirmed, "The staff captain, who could walk, did all he could to help everyone, and managed to find us books. Mine was Dodo and I spoke very little until I had read it through twice, quite lost and contented in that luxurious, indolent Edwardian world. There could be no kinder reading to tired minds and emotions" (p. 150) Second, astonishingly and delightfully, I never expected to read on their pleasures from food competition; his narrative divulging the process, "Each tank crew cooked for themselves, and enjoyed using their originality on the limited rations. We achieved time after time dishes of professional elegance and great variety from the invariable issues of rations. Every meal was a competition between the various tank crews." (p. 110) Third, typically British, he himself fondly mentioned tea (however, coffee mentioned, p. 161) on occasions, for instance, "About six o'clock in the evening, a very old orderly, . . ., brought us a plate of cold tinned vegetables, . . ., and a mug of tea." (pp. 147-8) "My stretcher was lifted out on to a two-wheeled trolley, . . . , and I was propelled through doors, into a long, lighted room, . . . , to whom girls in khaki overalls were giving sausage rolls, cakes and hot tea. " (p. 152) "Jock was demanding food, and presently a cup of tea and some salmon sandwiches were brought us" (p. 153) etc.
Acclaimed as "possibly the best soldier-poet of the war" (back cover), the author has shown his painting skills as we can see from the cover; it showing a detail from 'Shapes of Derelicts' now in the British Museum. Moreover, there are his 11 illustrations as viewed and sketched from the war scenes; some being scribbled with notes in which the readers can see on pages 9 (MINE*), 31, 35 (Making a fire in a petrol tin), 46, 54, 114, 118, 125 (Men killed by aerial attack), 133 (Gun & crew), 138 (Arab dogs), and 166.
To continue . . .
May 3, 2023
Douglas' memoir of armored warfare in North Africa is highly acclaimed and a short read. I recommend Robert Crisp's Brazen Chariots as a better personal story of the same campaign.
June 23, 2025
"I am not writing about these battles as a soldier, nor trying to discuss them as military operations. I am thinking of them - selfishly, but as I always shall think of them - as my first experience of fighting: that is how I shall write of them...The geography of the country in which I spent those few months is already as vague to me as if I had learnt it from an atlas much longer ago. The dates have slipped away, the tactical lessons have been learnt by someone else. But what remains in my mind - a flurry of violent impressions - is vivid enough. Against a backcloth of indeterminate landscapes of moods and smells, dance the black and bright incidents."
With this gripping and moving memoir, Keith Douglas made a truly valuable contribution to the literary canon of the Second World War. Douglas drops us into his story with minimal introduction or context (other than the quote above) and ends with a trivial and tasteless comment about going out to gather loot. What happens to Keith and his unit, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, after they leave Zem Zem is left unexplained. This is a book written very much in the moment, and Douglas' observations and comments on his comrades, the enemy, his surroundings, and the war in general have an immediacy that would likely be lost in a work written more analytically or at greater distance.
His wry observations are often both memorable, amusing and affecting: "it is exciting and amazing to see thousands of men, very few of whom have much idea why they are fighting, all enduring hardships, living in an unnatural, dangerous, but not wholly terrible world, having to kill and to be killed, and yet at intervals moved by a feeling of comradeship with the men who kill them and whom they kill, because they are enduring and experiencing the same things. It is tremendously illogical - to read about it cannot convey the impression of having walked through the looking-glass which touches a man entering a battle." Douglas recognises the irony and dark humour in the war, and this suffuses his writing throughout the book, both in how he records his experiences and in his reflections on them.
Again he has the poets eye for beauty and emotional resonance, such as in this poignant passage: "Sometimes the surface of the desert where we halted for a few hours or a few days was thick with flowers which changed the ridges and hollows whose sandy colour had for weeks been relieved only by stones, the hiding places of scorpions - or the dead grey spouts of camelthorn - into undulating distances of blue-green. The sweet scent of the flowers would come up to your nostrils even in a tank turret, moving along; it could overcome all the odours of machines." It's not quite England's green and pleasant land, and the war overshadows everything, but Douglas can readily tap into his own and his readers' feelings, and not merely record the external details of his experiences. That same ability is apparent both in more pastoral passages such as the above and in his more breathless memories of being under fire.
I'm glad I read this, and anyone with an interest in the Second World War will likely enjoy it. I'll leave the last word of wisdom to Keith Douglas himself, in what is a fine proverb and rule for life:
"Books and flowers are invincible beautifiers. I have often used them to make horrible surroundings habitable."
With this gripping and moving memoir, Keith Douglas made a truly valuable contribution to the literary canon of the Second World War. Douglas drops us into his story with minimal introduction or context (other than the quote above) and ends with a trivial and tasteless comment about going out to gather loot. What happens to Keith and his unit, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, after they leave Zem Zem is left unexplained. This is a book written very much in the moment, and Douglas' observations and comments on his comrades, the enemy, his surroundings, and the war in general have an immediacy that would likely be lost in a work written more analytically or at greater distance.
His wry observations are often both memorable, amusing and affecting: "it is exciting and amazing to see thousands of men, very few of whom have much idea why they are fighting, all enduring hardships, living in an unnatural, dangerous, but not wholly terrible world, having to kill and to be killed, and yet at intervals moved by a feeling of comradeship with the men who kill them and whom they kill, because they are enduring and experiencing the same things. It is tremendously illogical - to read about it cannot convey the impression of having walked through the looking-glass which touches a man entering a battle." Douglas recognises the irony and dark humour in the war, and this suffuses his writing throughout the book, both in how he records his experiences and in his reflections on them.
Again he has the poets eye for beauty and emotional resonance, such as in this poignant passage: "Sometimes the surface of the desert where we halted for a few hours or a few days was thick with flowers which changed the ridges and hollows whose sandy colour had for weeks been relieved only by stones, the hiding places of scorpions - or the dead grey spouts of camelthorn - into undulating distances of blue-green. The sweet scent of the flowers would come up to your nostrils even in a tank turret, moving along; it could overcome all the odours of machines." It's not quite England's green and pleasant land, and the war overshadows everything, but Douglas can readily tap into his own and his readers' feelings, and not merely record the external details of his experiences. That same ability is apparent both in more pastoral passages such as the above and in his more breathless memories of being under fire.
I'm glad I read this, and anyone with an interest in the Second World War will likely enjoy it. I'll leave the last word of wisdom to Keith Douglas himself, in what is a fine proverb and rule for life:
"Books and flowers are invincible beautifiers. I have often used them to make horrible surroundings habitable."
May 30, 2021
One of the most vivid books of WW2 reportage ever written. It reads as quirky and unvarnished as ever and captures the brutality and sheer oddness of tank warfare.
November 13, 2016
No preliminary b.s. in this book. By page 3 the author has gone A.W.O.L. from his desk job and headed into the North African desert to fight in Crusader tanks. This is small book but is full of terrible fighting, down time and the constant search for food, water and loot. It shows all the confusion of combat and how horrendous some of the injuries can be.
The author survived North Africa only to be killed on his third day in Normandy.
The author survived North Africa only to be killed on his third day in Normandy.
July 20, 2018
Interesting view of the British Army at war in the desert during WW II, this memoir is all the more striking because the author was killed in combat later in the war. Unless you are familiar with the geography and campaign of North Africa you may be a little confused. Nonetheless, the narrator is honest and perceptive of himself, his companions, his enemies and the beleaguered local populace.
March 2, 2021
In many ways this account of armoured warfare in El Alamein was not a pleasant read due to the overwhelming presence of death throughout. Some of the most tragic moments descend into a dark humour which was probably unavoidable under the circumstances:
I thought at the time that Black was making far too much fuss. But I found out afterwards he wasn't making nearly enough. He had been hit in the face, arms, hands, stomach and legs, and when I saw him later, after eight months in hospital, he was still unable to see clearly out of one eye, which was drooping, and could not work his hands properly.
Except a brief encounter with a group of German POWs (who appear to be ignorant of Nazi crimes), there is very little discussion of the enemy or Rommel's methods of war. Instead, we get a glimpse of the courage of the British troops, as well as the sheer incompetence, ignorance and blindness under which the soldiers often operated while in their tanks.
Some of the most reflective passages occur as the troops are waiting for battle, with Douglas dissecting the characters he meets or retelling the conversations had. There is plenty of the 'banality of war', including descriptions of food, wine and the novels the soldiers read in their lengthy periods of waiting.
Towards the end of the account we are told that the final campaign in Tunisia has been successful, though Douglas only experiences it indirectly, being behind the line at this point. The joy felt by Douglas and the group of French military personnel he befriends is palpable, although this is soon tarnished as the personal toll of war becomes clear. While the story is ultimately one of death (Douglas died shortly afterwards on campaign in Europe), there is little sense of regret at the necessity of war - at least this war.
I thought at the time that Black was making far too much fuss. But I found out afterwards he wasn't making nearly enough. He had been hit in the face, arms, hands, stomach and legs, and when I saw him later, after eight months in hospital, he was still unable to see clearly out of one eye, which was drooping, and could not work his hands properly.
Except a brief encounter with a group of German POWs (who appear to be ignorant of Nazi crimes), there is very little discussion of the enemy or Rommel's methods of war. Instead, we get a glimpse of the courage of the British troops, as well as the sheer incompetence, ignorance and blindness under which the soldiers often operated while in their tanks.
Some of the most reflective passages occur as the troops are waiting for battle, with Douglas dissecting the characters he meets or retelling the conversations had. There is plenty of the 'banality of war', including descriptions of food, wine and the novels the soldiers read in their lengthy periods of waiting.
Towards the end of the account we are told that the final campaign in Tunisia has been successful, though Douglas only experiences it indirectly, being behind the line at this point. The joy felt by Douglas and the group of French military personnel he befriends is palpable, although this is soon tarnished as the personal toll of war becomes clear. While the story is ultimately one of death (Douglas died shortly afterwards on campaign in Europe), there is little sense of regret at the necessity of war - at least this war.
February 27, 2024
Keith Douglas is a famous poet of the second world war. He wrote about his day to day experiences in the exceptional circumstances of commanding a tank and guiding it into battle. He reports the conversations he hears between the tanks in battle over comms. He had a boyish enthusiasm for the details of life in the army: he liked to find better uniform to wear, he liked to find food and drink, tents and blankets. He was very brave - he went to rescue the wounded and even carried a wounded man over a distance, but he was also impulsive, as when he decides to write to his commanding officer about a grievance. He enjoyed writing character sketches. He was ambivalent about people and then was surprised that his feelings were engaged more than he thought.
He had been to University whereas many of his fellow officers hadn't; he had been to Christ's Hospital and not one of the regular public schools, and that gave him a distance from them that resulted in his searching examinations of them as unfamiliar species.
This could have been a so much better book if only Penguin had got hold of it and given it the Agricola treatment that I described when I reviewed the book by Tacitus. It is crying out for someone to write a preface explaining what has happened in the desert war until this point, a map or two, what sort of regiment it is, including a picture of the tanks that K D refers to, and a glossary of all the technical terms and acronyms. I had to go to Britannica and Wikipedia to find the information I needed.
He had been to University whereas many of his fellow officers hadn't; he had been to Christ's Hospital and not one of the regular public schools, and that gave him a distance from them that resulted in his searching examinations of them as unfamiliar species.
This could have been a so much better book if only Penguin had got hold of it and given it the Agricola treatment that I described when I reviewed the book by Tacitus. It is crying out for someone to write a preface explaining what has happened in the desert war until this point, a map or two, what sort of regiment it is, including a picture of the tanks that K D refers to, and a glossary of all the technical terms and acronyms. I had to go to Britannica and Wikipedia to find the information I needed.
December 31, 2023
Literate, insightful & evocative.
A lifelong student of military history, at 70 I recognize a significant weakness in knowledge regarding the north Africa, Mediterranean/Italian campaigns.
This wonderful piece by Keith Douglas - who would lose his life in Normandy, fighting with the same regiment - offers a very personal, unvarnished account of tank warfare in North Africa. Covers his experiences in the second El Alamein to the regiments place at Wadi Zem Zem.
No punches pulled, no romance - clear & powerful prose to remind the 21st century readers what was sacrificed & endured in the effort to defeat fascism.
A lifelong student of military history, at 70 I recognize a significant weakness in knowledge regarding the north Africa, Mediterranean/Italian campaigns.
This wonderful piece by Keith Douglas - who would lose his life in Normandy, fighting with the same regiment - offers a very personal, unvarnished account of tank warfare in North Africa. Covers his experiences in the second El Alamein to the regiments place at Wadi Zem Zem.
No punches pulled, no romance - clear & powerful prose to remind the 21st century readers what was sacrificed & endured in the effort to defeat fascism.
November 11, 2021
An excellent book. What distinguishes it from the very many desert war memoirs is the details of daily life. This is because the book was built-up from very detailed diary entries, so that the excitement of looting some decent coffee, for example, or the author's irritation at getting his prized uniform damaged beyond repair by the regimental doctor (to save his life!) are recorded in a detail rarely seen in more sweeping memoirs. This makes it a fascinating read in which one comes closer to understanding the actual life of a desert rat than in any other book I've read...
September 19, 2020
A good commentary of a British soldier's experience, mostly behind the scenes, in the battles in WW II in North Africa. We always read a lot about soldiers' experiences in defeating our enemies but not a lot about what goes on behind the scenes before and after a battle. True story...some times funny, sometimes very sad, all the time thankful for the bravery of our soldiers.
June 15, 2022
While it style is not for everyone, Douglas' narrative is an engrossing portrait of personalities and daily routines interspersed with amazing anecdotes. The poet shows in the prose.
His climatic battle is one of the best I have ever read.
Recommended for fans of the North African theater, armored warfare, and well written personal reminiscences.
His climatic battle is one of the best I have ever read.
Recommended for fans of the North African theater, armored warfare, and well written personal reminiscences.
July 30, 2022
Has a terrible poetic authenticity
A marvellous read , full of humour and humanity. It has the ring of truth full of characters well described. He does not hide from the sheer awfulness of war but the anecdotes and lively description of his situation raise this memoir above the ordinary. Can recommend.
A marvellous read , full of humour and humanity. It has the ring of truth full of characters well described. He does not hide from the sheer awfulness of war but the anecdotes and lively description of his situation raise this memoir above the ordinary. Can recommend.
June 18, 2024
There may be accounts of armoured warfare in the desert that are more detailed, strictly chronological or more military, but this slim volume gives a good impression of life as a young officer, in the heat of battle and in the much more frequent 'quiet' spells where food, loot and reading matter are major preoccupations. Death, though, is never far away.
December 23, 2024
Excellent review of daily operations
This is an excellent review of what it was like as an individual during the North Africa campaign. The terror, hardships and humor are told in a delightful personal viewpoint that puts the reader right in the column.
The maps and pictures in the appendix are some of the best I have seen and add a big picture to the story.
This is an excellent review of what it was like as an individual during the North Africa campaign. The terror, hardships and humor are told in a delightful personal viewpoint that puts the reader right in the column.
The maps and pictures in the appendix are some of the best I have seen and add a big picture to the story.
September 16, 2021
Outstanding
This is a very real account of a Tank officer’s experience of El Alamein and after. Not a strategic account of the battle, but really takes you there as he experienced the battle. Also very well written. Outstanding!
This is a very real account of a Tank officer’s experience of El Alamein and after. Not a strategic account of the battle, but really takes you there as he experienced the battle. Also very well written. Outstanding!
October 31, 2021
One of the best books concerning the campaign in north Africa.
The author puts the reader in the tank with him, experiencing, at a large remove, the privations of a tank commander and showing that war is an awful thing.
The author puts the reader in the tank with him, experiencing, at a large remove, the privations of a tank commander and showing that war is an awful thing.
January 29, 2022
How did they get through
An interesting read about the desert war how these men survived being in a metal box in that heat I don't know. Interesting about the battle and that our tanks held there own until the tiger.
An interesting read about the desert war how these men survived being in a metal box in that heat I don't know. Interesting about the battle and that our tanks held there own until the tiger.
November 6, 2022
a Memoir to remember
This is a quick moving first person narrative of British tanks in North Africa. Lots of detail about the tanks themselves and men and officers by this young officer. I could not put it down.
This is a quick moving first person narrative of British tanks in North Africa. Lots of detail about the tanks themselves and men and officers by this young officer. I could not put it down.
May 7, 2023
Life in a tank
An enthralling account of the brutality of tank warfare with an understanding of the discomfort of sand and flies together with debilitating environmental of sores and injuries
An enthralling account of the brutality of tank warfare with an understanding of the discomfort of sand and flies together with debilitating environmental of sores and injuries
August 9, 2022
Keith Douglas' has some absolutely wonderful turns of phrases.
January 15, 2023
Masterly classic
Brilliantly written account of a very literate soldier in North Africa. El Alamein and afterwards. Humorous and tragic. Couldn’t put it down.
Brilliantly written account of a very literate soldier in North Africa. El Alamein and afterwards. Humorous and tragic. Couldn’t put it down.
Read
January 27, 2023Really good account. Quite descriptive of the failings of yet the successes of the military machine. (British that is).
February 28, 2023
8th Army experience
An interesting account of the experiences of the poet Keith Douglas as a crusader tank troop commander in North Africa.
An interesting account of the experiences of the poet Keith Douglas as a crusader tank troop commander in North Africa.
March 25, 2023
Excellent read
An interesting record of a British officer's experience in the desert during WW II.
A very enjoyable book full of the day to day life of a tank unit in combat.
An interesting record of a British officer's experience in the desert during WW II.
A very enjoyable book full of the day to day life of a tank unit in combat.
March 15, 2024
A fabulous and gruelling war memoir. Beautifully written.
October 24, 2024
Absorbing, detailed and colourful memoir of war in the desert, both in combat and inaction. Fast moving and fluidly written.
April 4, 2021
I love his poetry and so, it was fascinating, to read about his experiences in War. I watched Owen Shears' play on this and thought it was brilliant. A wonderful writer and sadly tragic death.
July 31, 2021
Great book
Keith’s Douglas’ brilliant account of his part in the desert war balances insights into the technicalities of fighting tanks with descriptions of the personalities he encounters on the way. Particularly fascinating is his analysis of the tensions between the pre-war, ex-cavalry officers and increasingly professional tank officers for very different backgrounds. It’s hard not to conclude that the domination of regimental command structures by ‘donkey wallopers’ made victory in the desert more difficult.
Keith’s Douglas’ brilliant account of his part in the desert war balances insights into the technicalities of fighting tanks with descriptions of the personalities he encounters on the way. Particularly fascinating is his analysis of the tensions between the pre-war, ex-cavalry officers and increasingly professional tank officers for very different backgrounds. It’s hard not to conclude that the domination of regimental command structures by ‘donkey wallopers’ made victory in the desert more difficult.
December 29, 2020
Straight from the heart - fast moving, terrifying, truthful - such waste and futility and regret
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews