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Rommel: The Trail of the Fox
It is over 25 years since I wrote The Trail of the Fox, my famous Rommel biography. Like several other books, I wrote it for Tom Congdon's then publishing house Wm Morrow Inc. In London it was greedily snapped up & published by George Weidenfeld.
Congdon had previously edited the book "Jaws" for a writer called Peter Benchley who had never written a book in his life; after this Tom edited my book The War Between the Generals & then Göring after that. He became a good friend--his wife Connie was MUCH more difficult, a real southern belle, & very full of her ancestry--but he has now long retired to Nantucket & I have lost sight of him, at least he does not respond to letters or e-mails.
In writing The Trail of the Fox I used some experimental literary devices: one was the use of the present tense (& italic type) to describe the hunt for the Rommel story, & the past tense to tell the story itself. The devices seem to have worked.
The book was really a spin-off from the Hitler biography, in the sense that Frazier spun-off from Cheers, tho rather less lucratively.
There was a lot of hard research into the subject, but it was rewarding. I was always bemused, for instance, that German history doyen Professor Eberhard Jäckel, writing his much praised work Hitler und Frankreich, did not ever bother to read the original files of Army Group B (Rommel) or C-in-C West (Rundstedt, Kluge), but relied just on the published, & highly dubious, memoirs of generals like Hans Speidel.
Jäckel had no excuse. The records were in the archives in super-abundance, but the scholars have always preferred sitting in their book-lined caves to going out into the field where Real History is to be mined.
Lucie Rommel gave me permission to use her husband's 2000 odd letters to her--far more valuable than diaries, I have always felt, as letters once posted can't be retrieved & altered. But I did also find found several sections of the original & unpublished Rommel diary, scattered between The Citadel in Charleston, SC, & Germany.
In the Nat'l Archives, in Washington DC, I found several hundred pages of shorthand, which I (rightly) guessed were his N. Africa diaries; for six months I struggled to find somebody who could read that shorthand--it was Deutsche Einheitskurzschrift--& then my own secretary, Jutta Padel, picked up a page on my desk & found she could read it straight off. Therefore luck played an equally large part.
After transcribing the hundreds of pages of these unknown diaries, I placed them all on microfilm, & donated the originals to the German government's miitary archives. Since 7/1993 I have been banned from those archives.
Reliance on these original Rommel letters & diaries (& those of Vice-Admiral Gerd Rüge, who turned out to have sanitised his own secret shorthand diaries in transcribing them himself) provided the clue to the book's main arguments: that Rommel was innocent of plotting against Hitler, & that a conspiratorial web was woven around him by his chief of staff Hans Speidel, who later successfully alleged to the Gestapo that Rommel was "one of them" (the traitors) in order to save his own skin.
Speidel, by then top NATO commander in Europe, threatened to sue; the German newspapers were full of his laments, but then he withdrew his writ, for evident reasons.
The family of the traitor Alexander von Roenne (he had been hanged in 1944) were equally displeased with the book, & pressed the German publisher to make modifications, more as a matter of good taste than for any other reason. I greatly admired the way that Roenne's sons had stuck up for their traitorous father in approaching me, which was the real reason why I allowed the minor changes.
Congdon had previously edited the book "Jaws" for a writer called Peter Benchley who had never written a book in his life; after this Tom edited my book The War Between the Generals & then Göring after that. He became a good friend--his wife Connie was MUCH more difficult, a real southern belle, & very full of her ancestry--but he has now long retired to Nantucket & I have lost sight of him, at least he does not respond to letters or e-mails.
In writing The Trail of the Fox I used some experimental literary devices: one was the use of the present tense (& italic type) to describe the hunt for the Rommel story, & the past tense to tell the story itself. The devices seem to have worked.
The book was really a spin-off from the Hitler biography, in the sense that Frazier spun-off from Cheers, tho rather less lucratively.
There was a lot of hard research into the subject, but it was rewarding. I was always bemused, for instance, that German history doyen Professor Eberhard Jäckel, writing his much praised work Hitler und Frankreich, did not ever bother to read the original files of Army Group B (Rommel) or C-in-C West (Rundstedt, Kluge), but relied just on the published, & highly dubious, memoirs of generals like Hans Speidel.
Jäckel had no excuse. The records were in the archives in super-abundance, but the scholars have always preferred sitting in their book-lined caves to going out into the field where Real History is to be mined.
Lucie Rommel gave me permission to use her husband's 2000 odd letters to her--far more valuable than diaries, I have always felt, as letters once posted can't be retrieved & altered. But I did also find found several sections of the original & unpublished Rommel diary, scattered between The Citadel in Charleston, SC, & Germany.
In the Nat'l Archives, in Washington DC, I found several hundred pages of shorthand, which I (rightly) guessed were his N. Africa diaries; for six months I struggled to find somebody who could read that shorthand--it was Deutsche Einheitskurzschrift--& then my own secretary, Jutta Padel, picked up a page on my desk & found she could read it straight off. Therefore luck played an equally large part.
After transcribing the hundreds of pages of these unknown diaries, I placed them all on microfilm, & donated the originals to the German government's miitary archives. Since 7/1993 I have been banned from those archives.
Reliance on these original Rommel letters & diaries (& those of Vice-Admiral Gerd Rüge, who turned out to have sanitised his own secret shorthand diaries in transcribing them himself) provided the clue to the book's main arguments: that Rommel was innocent of plotting against Hitler, & that a conspiratorial web was woven around him by his chief of staff Hans Speidel, who later successfully alleged to the Gestapo that Rommel was "one of them" (the traitors) in order to save his own skin.
Speidel, by then top NATO commander in Europe, threatened to sue; the German newspapers were full of his laments, but then he withdrew his writ, for evident reasons.
The family of the traitor Alexander von Roenne (he had been hanged in 1944) were equally displeased with the book, & pressed the German publisher to make modifications, more as a matter of good taste than for any other reason. I greatly admired the way that Roenne's sons had stuck up for their traitorous father in approaching me, which was the real reason why I allowed the minor changes.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
38 people are currently reading
914 people want to read
About the author
David Irving
50 books423 followersDavid John Cawdell Irving is an English author who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a UK court in 2000 as a result of a failed libel case.
Irving's works include The Destruction of Dresden (1963), Hitler's War (1977), Churchill's War (1987) and Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich (1996). In his works, he argued that Adolf Hitler did not know of the extermination of Jews, or, if he did, he opposed it. Though Irving's negationist claims and views of German war crimes in World War II (and Hitler's responsibility for them) were never taken seriously by mainstream historians, he was once recognised for his knowledge of Nazi Germany and his ability to unearth new historical documents, which he held closely but stated were fully supportive of his conclusions. His 1964 book The Mare's Nest about Germany's V-weapons campaign of 1944-45 was praised for its deep research but criticised for minimising Nazi slave labour programmes.
By the late 1980s, Irving had placed himself outside the mainstream of the study of history, and had begun to turn from "'soft-core' to 'hard-core' Holocaust denial", possibly influenced by the 1988 trial of Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel. That trial, and his reading of the pseudoscientific Leuchter report, led him to openly espouse Holocaust denial, specifically denying that Jews were murdered by gassing at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Irving's reputation as a historian was further discredited in 2000, when, in the course of an unsuccessful libel case he filed against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books, High Court Judge Charles Gray determined in his ruling that Irving willfully misrepresented historical evidence to promote Holocaust denial and whitewash the Nazis, a view shared by many prominent historians. The English court found that Irving was an active Holocaust denier, antisemite and racist, who "for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence". In addition, the court found that Irving's books had distorted the history of Hitler's role in the Holocaust to depict Hitler in a favourable light.
Irving's works include The Destruction of Dresden (1963), Hitler's War (1977), Churchill's War (1987) and Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich (1996). In his works, he argued that Adolf Hitler did not know of the extermination of Jews, or, if he did, he opposed it. Though Irving's negationist claims and views of German war crimes in World War II (and Hitler's responsibility for them) were never taken seriously by mainstream historians, he was once recognised for his knowledge of Nazi Germany and his ability to unearth new historical documents, which he held closely but stated were fully supportive of his conclusions. His 1964 book The Mare's Nest about Germany's V-weapons campaign of 1944-45 was praised for its deep research but criticised for minimising Nazi slave labour programmes.
By the late 1980s, Irving had placed himself outside the mainstream of the study of history, and had begun to turn from "'soft-core' to 'hard-core' Holocaust denial", possibly influenced by the 1988 trial of Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel. That trial, and his reading of the pseudoscientific Leuchter report, led him to openly espouse Holocaust denial, specifically denying that Jews were murdered by gassing at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Irving's reputation as a historian was further discredited in 2000, when, in the course of an unsuccessful libel case he filed against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books, High Court Judge Charles Gray determined in his ruling that Irving willfully misrepresented historical evidence to promote Holocaust denial and whitewash the Nazis, a view shared by many prominent historians. The English court found that Irving was an active Holocaust denier, antisemite and racist, who "for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence". In addition, the court found that Irving's books had distorted the history of Hitler's role in the Holocaust to depict Hitler in a favourable light.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
January 18, 2016
کتاب جالبی بود ... شاید جذابیت تاریخی اون باعث شده از خوندن کتاب تا صفحه آخر دلزده و خسته نشید
اگر بخوام رومل رو در 4 کلمه خلاصه کنم... باید بگم: رهبر-شجاع-باهوش-محبوب
اگر بخوام رومل رو در 4 کلمه خلاصه کنم... باید بگم: رهبر-شجاع-باهوش-محبوب
May 1, 2018
Regardless of how controversial Irving may be, he is a very good writer. The writing in this book is top-notch. I doubt anyone else could write a book on Rommel that is both this interesting and informative.
The book covers Rommel's private life as well as his military career and gives great coverage into his views on Hitler and Nazism. It covers his quirks, character flaws and failings. Although the book focuses on him in World War II, it also covers his exploits during the First World War as well. This is a first rate treatment on Rommel.
The book covers Rommel's private life as well as his military career and gives great coverage into his views on Hitler and Nazism. It covers his quirks, character flaws and failings. Although the book focuses on him in World War II, it also covers his exploits during the First World War as well. This is a first rate treatment on Rommel.
October 15, 2014
One of my father's WWII books. Rommel was the only German officer he admired and respected. Reading this book was an eye opener for me. I wish my dad were still alive to ask if this book changed his opinion of Rommel.
This book was a very detailed and meticulously-researched account of Rommel's entire career. Considering the detail, Irving did a remarkable job of bringing both Rommel and the war to life.
Was Rommel a genius on the battlefield? By the end of the book I wasn't quite sure what to think. Parts of his character as a man and an officer I admired. Parts I did not. I began wondering if much of Rommel's early success was simply due to the German spy inside British intelligence, Rommel's impulsive and risky maneuvers that confused Allied officers, his innate arrogance, and sheer luck. Rommel made bold and intuitive moves in the early days of his career, often ignoring orders from superiors. That he succeeded, that he was not killed in battle, left one marveling at Rommel's charmed life, riding in front of the troops into the heat of battle while miraculously avoiding gunfire and shelling. He was an officer that never asked more of others than what he himself gave. His men adored him. Publicity back home made Rommel larger than life, both to the German people and to the rest of the world.
Later in the African war, as shipment boat after shipment boat of supplies from Italy was sunk by the Allies, when Montgomery out-maneuvered the Desert Fox in African battles, one wondered why the Germans never figured out their Enigma code had been cracked. Experience and defeat in Africa made Rommel relied more on strategy and intelligence as the war progressed, which both helped and hindered later battles. It hardly helped the German cause when the very German officers Rommel most trusted were, in fact, secretly working against Hitler at Normandy, providing incorrect intelligence of enemy buildup, keeping troops out of battle, and delaying information from Berlin or the front that Rommel depended upon for defense of the Normandy coastline.
Part of Rommel's legend was that, in the end, he plotted to kill Hitler. Hitler did order Rommel's death, but I found the real story of Rommel's relationship to Hitler more fascinating. Again, I wish my dad were alive to ask how this book affected his personal admiration of Rommel.
This book was a very detailed and meticulously-researched account of Rommel's entire career. Considering the detail, Irving did a remarkable job of bringing both Rommel and the war to life.
Was Rommel a genius on the battlefield? By the end of the book I wasn't quite sure what to think. Parts of his character as a man and an officer I admired. Parts I did not. I began wondering if much of Rommel's early success was simply due to the German spy inside British intelligence, Rommel's impulsive and risky maneuvers that confused Allied officers, his innate arrogance, and sheer luck. Rommel made bold and intuitive moves in the early days of his career, often ignoring orders from superiors. That he succeeded, that he was not killed in battle, left one marveling at Rommel's charmed life, riding in front of the troops into the heat of battle while miraculously avoiding gunfire and shelling. He was an officer that never asked more of others than what he himself gave. His men adored him. Publicity back home made Rommel larger than life, both to the German people and to the rest of the world.
Later in the African war, as shipment boat after shipment boat of supplies from Italy was sunk by the Allies, when Montgomery out-maneuvered the Desert Fox in African battles, one wondered why the Germans never figured out their Enigma code had been cracked. Experience and defeat in Africa made Rommel relied more on strategy and intelligence as the war progressed, which both helped and hindered later battles. It hardly helped the German cause when the very German officers Rommel most trusted were, in fact, secretly working against Hitler at Normandy, providing incorrect intelligence of enemy buildup, keeping troops out of battle, and delaying information from Berlin or the front that Rommel depended upon for defense of the Normandy coastline.
Part of Rommel's legend was that, in the end, he plotted to kill Hitler. Hitler did order Rommel's death, but I found the real story of Rommel's relationship to Hitler more fascinating. Again, I wish my dad were alive to ask how this book affected his personal admiration of Rommel.
September 28, 2021
No matter what people think of Mr.David Irving, but when the history of the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler is a subject of discussion, there's no one parallel to David Irving.
In The Trail of the Fox- The Search for the true field marshal Rommel, David Irving has brilliantly researched and shown the lesser-known side of the Desert fox- Erwin Rommel. The mystery over his alleged part in the 20 July 1944 assassination plot is finally debunked. Erwin Rommel, an excellent soldier, if not a field marshal who served his fatherland all his life with a great sense of honor and patriotism had to die for something he had no knowledge of. in the hour of the need, how clumsily the general staff and plotters, in their illusion of acting against Hitler, actually acted against Germany and made Hitler lose the war.
In The Trail of the Fox- The Search for the true field marshal Rommel, David Irving has brilliantly researched and shown the lesser-known side of the Desert fox- Erwin Rommel. The mystery over his alleged part in the 20 July 1944 assassination plot is finally debunked. Erwin Rommel, an excellent soldier, if not a field marshal who served his fatherland all his life with a great sense of honor and patriotism had to die for something he had no knowledge of. in the hour of the need, how clumsily the general staff and plotters, in their illusion of acting against Hitler, actually acted against Germany and made Hitler lose the war.
May 7, 2022
I read this book when I was a college student during the early 1980s. It's an absolutely first-rate biography of one of the most remarkable battlefield generals in history, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel aka The Desert Fox.
June 17, 2016
A mountain of work. It changed my outlook on Rommel forever, and I am always glad when someone comes along (albeit in 1977!) and disrupts the conventional wisdom.
Rommel was not the universal, one hundred percent of the time hero. The book delves into that, shattering the view that Rommel was neutral about the Nazi party, and showing how petty Rommel could be. Other lessons include how revenge is not just executed on the local gangster level but went all the way up to Martin Bormann and his long, hateful memory.
Was it Hitler's fault that Rommel overextended while the seeds of defeat were being planted in Russia, or should Rommel have just followed orders and not gone too far east? Did Rommel truly have no idea that other theaters mattered? There's a good case made for him being just a tactician and not a strategist. The author also left me with the thought that if the Reich itself had not overextended in Italian misadventures, Rommel would have shown that winning is the ultimate strategy regardless.
Even so, the outcomes of many of these battles were not the foregone conclusions I had thought.
He had the remarkable ability to endear himself to the soldiers he put at incredible risk while annoying his immediate superiors and inferiors. Rommel inadvertently Enigmaed himself into further destruction and made himself the fall guy for the assassination attempts. The book successfully captures the ironies of the man, his career, his legacy as well as the rot that was all through the Reich and the Axis.
The volume of research and personal interviews was incredible. I was glad to read it - and glad to have some of my historical knowledge overturned.
Rommel was not the universal, one hundred percent of the time hero. The book delves into that, shattering the view that Rommel was neutral about the Nazi party, and showing how petty Rommel could be. Other lessons include how revenge is not just executed on the local gangster level but went all the way up to Martin Bormann and his long, hateful memory.
Was it Hitler's fault that Rommel overextended while the seeds of defeat were being planted in Russia, or should Rommel have just followed orders and not gone too far east? Did Rommel truly have no idea that other theaters mattered? There's a good case made for him being just a tactician and not a strategist. The author also left me with the thought that if the Reich itself had not overextended in Italian misadventures, Rommel would have shown that winning is the ultimate strategy regardless.
Even so, the outcomes of many of these battles were not the foregone conclusions I had thought.
He had the remarkable ability to endear himself to the soldiers he put at incredible risk while annoying his immediate superiors and inferiors. Rommel inadvertently Enigmaed himself into further destruction and made himself the fall guy for the assassination attempts. The book successfully captures the ironies of the man, his career, his legacy as well as the rot that was all through the Reich and the Axis.
The volume of research and personal interviews was incredible. I was glad to read it - and glad to have some of my historical knowledge overturned.
July 23, 2021
I found this to be one of the best researched history books that I've read in a long time. By using personal diaries, war diaries, communication records, personal photos, interviews with key people in Rommel's life, and other such sources, Irving weaves a complex picture of Rommel in a simple-to-read, chronological style. We read about Rommel's early years and move along in his career until his death in 1944. Rommel is shown to have his genius moments that lead to his initial fame, but is also shown to have his pig-headed moments (such as the ignoring of intelligence reports in Africa) that lead to losses. Overall, the picture given is of a man who was a tactical genius, but was never much one to think of the grand strategy. In addition, Rommel was portrayed as a man who cared for the well being of his troops much more than the German High Command did, with this focus on preserving the lives of his men leading to many conflicts with Berlin where Rommel tried to retreat and pull his men from battles they had no chance of winning, only to be branded as defeatist. Overall, a thoroughly entertaining book.
August 10, 2020
Vivid, thorough and fascnating. This is by far the best biography of Rommel, and one of the best accounts of the war in Africa. This is David Irving at his best!
This month I read the book for a second time, and in comparison to other books on the subject, (especially Rommel's performance in the desert and in Normandy). It remains excellent!
This month I read the book for a second time, and in comparison to other books on the subject, (especially Rommel's performance in the desert and in Normandy). It remains excellent!
Want to read
December 18, 2008Published as a freely-downloadable ebook in 2005; thanks, Focal Point Publishing!
May 27, 2014
I downloaded this book some time ago when it was offered for free. This text has great value because of the first hand accounts that it draws from. When I reviewed "American Sniper," I pointed out that gathering information while it was still fresh was historically paramount. This book meets that litmus test, and sheds light on the global theater of war. This will be a valuable resource for many generations.
September 7, 2016
As per Irving, Rommel had following traits,
1. Cocky, ambitious and a gentleman.
2. Of average physique.
3. Practitioner of solitude.
4. Very impressed by Hitler's ideologies.
6. Subject for Nazi propaganda.
7. Enjoyed Nazi fraternity but never acclaimed their perspective.
8. Given his consensus to July 20 conspirators, for post Hitler-death support but no direct support.
9. His death was utilized as a propaganda by both axis and allies.
10. Not a long stayer, as per Hitler's observation; which seems to be true from his campaigns.
11. His approach created lots of enemies among fellow officers.
12. Registered his cleverness in Africa, by moving and attacking very fast. Follower of uncompromising war ethics.
13. Perfectly aware of his fault and eminent death after failed 20 July plot.
14. Could have avoided his death, the same way Hans Speidel has saved his ass.
15. Used in good sense of humor by Churchill. Many British took interest in him e.g. Desmond Young for his, unique character.
16. Had an ambition to align British/American along-with and fight Soviets.
17. Had intentions to talk to Montgomery after July 20 plot success.
18. Had been confided by conspirators to lead the Germany after July 20 plot success.
19. During the last stage of war, more concerned about himself rather about the men, fighting under him.
20. Propaganda of Germany, similar was General Patton, as a propaganda of America.
21. His death made, Field Marshal Montgomery as the most enduring/surviving Field Marshal in WW2.
22. His death was not an easy decision for Third Reich; so Hitler choose a silent death for his once beloved Field Marshal.
1. Cocky, ambitious and a gentleman.
2. Of average physique.
3. Practitioner of solitude.
4. Very impressed by Hitler's ideologies.
6. Subject for Nazi propaganda.
7. Enjoyed Nazi fraternity but never acclaimed their perspective.
8. Given his consensus to July 20 conspirators, for post Hitler-death support but no direct support.
9. His death was utilized as a propaganda by both axis and allies.
10. Not a long stayer, as per Hitler's observation; which seems to be true from his campaigns.
11. His approach created lots of enemies among fellow officers.
12. Registered his cleverness in Africa, by moving and attacking very fast. Follower of uncompromising war ethics.
13. Perfectly aware of his fault and eminent death after failed 20 July plot.
14. Could have avoided his death, the same way Hans Speidel has saved his ass.
15. Used in good sense of humor by Churchill. Many British took interest in him e.g. Desmond Young for his, unique character.
16. Had an ambition to align British/American along-with and fight Soviets.
17. Had intentions to talk to Montgomery after July 20 plot success.
18. Had been confided by conspirators to lead the Germany after July 20 plot success.
19. During the last stage of war, more concerned about himself rather about the men, fighting under him.
20. Propaganda of Germany, similar was General Patton, as a propaganda of America.
21. His death made, Field Marshal Montgomery as the most enduring/surviving Field Marshal in WW2.
22. His death was not an easy decision for Third Reich; so Hitler choose a silent death for his once beloved Field Marshal.
March 12, 2017
I read this without knowing anything about the author. What a piece of garbage he is!
A bit dull at times, but overall an interesting book. Rommel seems a bit of a dummy at times. It's not always clear how he was so successful with the troops. The asides (in italics) where Irving describes some of his research efforts are interesting. If you know something about the campaigns in France 1940, Africa and/or Normandy, it's an interesting supplement. If you can stomach knowing this idiot is a Holocaust denier...
A bit dull at times, but overall an interesting book. Rommel seems a bit of a dummy at times. It's not always clear how he was so successful with the troops. The asides (in italics) where Irving describes some of his research efforts are interesting. If you know something about the campaigns in France 1940, Africa and/or Normandy, it's an interesting supplement. If you can stomach knowing this idiot is a Holocaust denier...
June 16, 2017
This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys reading about WW2. How can anyone honestly contravene Irvings research? The extent this author goes to ascertain information is awe-inspiring. If anyone decidedly to retrace his research, Irving provides the who, what & where. And using his wit to view documents never seen before by any historian(personal letters to his wife Lucie). All I want to know, is what really happened and Irving not just provides this to the reader but also touches on the man.
May 20, 2022
The Trail of the Fox by David Irving is a well written book that covers Erwin Rommel's military career, as well as his private life, through to his death in 1944. David Irving's extensive research and interviews with sources providing first hand accounts make this a biography that is really interesting and very informative. Highly recommended!
May 11, 2023
Whatever you think of Irving this is a must read for anyone wanting to know more about Hitler’s favourite general. Brilliantly researched this book shows Rommel the man as much as the myth. As brilliant as he was as a military commander his character weaknesses are laid bare. A well balanced biography.
July 18, 2019
Something more than just a biography. By reading this book , somebody feels tranfered in the battlefields of north Africa and the everyday life of Rommel, even the very personal one from his letters and diaries. Great book.
January 29, 2020
An interesting take on a rather enigmatic focal point of history. The author hints that Rommel was a sycophant, then too independent for his own good. Worth reading, but not necessarily ground-breaking.
February 25, 2009
I didn't think it was the best book about Rommel, who is a fascinating character, but it's pretty good and an enjoyable read.
February 17, 2017
My first military history book. After this, it was good bye to fiction for a long, long time.
July 10, 2017
The most powerful man in the fight in North Africa I couldn't put it down.
April 22, 2023
DNF, pg. 61. I had to stop reading after Irving borderline glorified war crimes. Unsurprising, given his historical revisionism and political views, but still disappointing for a much-lauded book.
May 5, 2024
This is an older book, lent to me by my B-i-L. I didn't expect to do more than skim the first chapter and put it in my return pile. But, instead I read it and was absolutely engaged. This is effectively a military history of Erwin Rommel, the legendary German field marshal, aka "The Desert Fox".
The author has done a great deal of careful research, trying to sift out fact from myth and he's got a fair amount of written lies to contend with, as many others had reasons to paint Rommel in one light or another or to cover their own mis-deeds. I think the book does a good job of giving a balanced view. Rommel had his skills and strengths, but also serious weaknesses and short-comings. He had a taste for glory but didn't seem to understand - until rather late - the full nature of the leadership above him. Or chose to ignore it - there's evidence of both.
I really appreciate that the author does some short paragraphs, mid-chapter, where he discusses contentious or conflicting data - letting us see the conflict for the historian trying to sort out who is really responsible for certain failures or successes. The first time he broke the 4th wall like this, I wasn't sure I liked that approach, but he didn't overuse it and I appreciated it.
The Rommel that emerges is a faithful soldier to the Reich, a general who was loved by his men, but not necessarily his peers or the general staff. He held the favor of Hitler for a long time and his ultimate downfall was due in large part to others, though his failure to give much concern to how his peers and superiors thought of him did him great harm as well.
This book is a powerful reminder of just how vital safe signals and good intelligence are for war. The role that the Enigma code breaking plays in Rommel's defeats is so much larger than I understood before this book.
The author is focused on Rommel, so if you want insights as to what it was like to be a soldier in the Afrika Corps, this book is likely insufficient. Likewise, you will not get a wide overview of the war in north Africa, Italy or Normandy. You will come to see why Patton thought so highly of Rommel and why the Desert Fox left a larger than life story.
The author has done a great deal of careful research, trying to sift out fact from myth and he's got a fair amount of written lies to contend with, as many others had reasons to paint Rommel in one light or another or to cover their own mis-deeds. I think the book does a good job of giving a balanced view. Rommel had his skills and strengths, but also serious weaknesses and short-comings. He had a taste for glory but didn't seem to understand - until rather late - the full nature of the leadership above him. Or chose to ignore it - there's evidence of both.
I really appreciate that the author does some short paragraphs, mid-chapter, where he discusses contentious or conflicting data - letting us see the conflict for the historian trying to sort out who is really responsible for certain failures or successes. The first time he broke the 4th wall like this, I wasn't sure I liked that approach, but he didn't overuse it and I appreciated it.
The Rommel that emerges is a faithful soldier to the Reich, a general who was loved by his men, but not necessarily his peers or the general staff. He held the favor of Hitler for a long time and his ultimate downfall was due in large part to others, though his failure to give much concern to how his peers and superiors thought of him did him great harm as well.
This book is a powerful reminder of just how vital safe signals and good intelligence are for war. The role that the Enigma code breaking plays in Rommel's defeats is so much larger than I understood before this book.
The author is focused on Rommel, so if you want insights as to what it was like to be a soldier in the Afrika Corps, this book is likely insufficient. Likewise, you will not get a wide overview of the war in north Africa, Italy or Normandy. You will come to see why Patton thought so highly of Rommel and why the Desert Fox left a larger than life story.
December 8, 2025
David Irving, usually decried as an 'holocaust denier', but actually more of a minimizer, assigning as he does most concentration camp deaths to disease, hunger and overwork rather than gassing, is a bit of a mysterious character. I've watched a number of his lectures and interviews and read the book about the libel case in the U.K. and seen the movie based upon it, but this is the first of his books I've knowingly read. It appears very well-researched and I found it quite readable. Rommel comes across believably as an exceptional person and military figure, admirable in many regards, criticizable in others. A popular figure, especially with his troops, but also with many of his opponents, Rommel believed in fighting a 'clean' war. A notable example is that when white South African prisoners demanded to be held separate from their black comrades, Rommel refused. And, indeed, he appears never to have participated in the Nazi regime's racist policies and even to have expressed shock and revulsion upon hearing stories of his government's war crimes and extermination practices. And here, as regards author Irving, one discerns a facet of the mystery. Irving, too, decries these practices.
I'd read about Rommel before, but nothing so detailed and so thorough in the treatment of his entire life. I approached this book with the hope of finding out more about his final days, about what, if anything, he knew of the assassination plots against Hitler. According to Irving, Rommel did become increasingly disenchanted by Hitler and was, after Normandy, convinced of the war's unwinability, calling for negotiations with the Western Allies, hoping for some sort of alliance against the Soviets. But as regards the plot, he was innocent, his guilt only established by the false confessions of some of the plotters.
I'd read about Rommel before, but nothing so detailed and so thorough in the treatment of his entire life. I approached this book with the hope of finding out more about his final days, about what, if anything, he knew of the assassination plots against Hitler. According to Irving, Rommel did become increasingly disenchanted by Hitler and was, after Normandy, convinced of the war's unwinability, calling for negotiations with the Western Allies, hoping for some sort of alliance against the Soviets. But as regards the plot, he was innocent, his guilt only established by the false confessions of some of the plotters.
April 19, 2019
An inclusive insightful look into Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox. David Irving's depiction is of a man who was egotistical, a man who thrived on approval (he was a real medal chaser), and had an unnatural sense of predicting where the enemy was going to attack him from. Rommel was a brilliant tactician who was so respected and admired by his enemies that some British commanders even hung his picture in their quarters. And being the solider gentleman he was, he reciprocated his admiration for the allied commanders. He seemed to be an eternal thorn in the side to British commander, Bernard Montgomery, but one can't help but think with the modicum of chivalry that existed back then, the two chaps, were one to capture the other wouldn't offer a cold beer and a respectful chat.
This book does well in portraying Rommel's adoration for his Fuhrer that eventually turns to uncertainty and finally the grim reality that Adolf Hitler became unfit. Rommel was the German peoples' hero, and he was chosen to replace Hitler. Irving points out Rommel's involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler was not an involvement at all; he merely agreed to helm the reigns of a country fighting a futile war. Like the desert, Rommel was both romantic and fierce, the book's tagline states. Maybe there really is truth in advertising.
This book does well in portraying Rommel's adoration for his Fuhrer that eventually turns to uncertainty and finally the grim reality that Adolf Hitler became unfit. Rommel was the German peoples' hero, and he was chosen to replace Hitler. Irving points out Rommel's involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler was not an involvement at all; he merely agreed to helm the reigns of a country fighting a futile war. Like the desert, Rommel was both romantic and fierce, the book's tagline states. Maybe there really is truth in advertising.
April 15, 2024
Although the author is better known for his more controversial views, as a writer and as a historian about World War II history, there are seldom that come close to being his level of detail.
The main takeaways that can be made about this book is that Erwin Rommel was a gentleman and a brilliant tactician, who also tended to be somewhat short-sighted outside of his own theatre of operation. I found it interesting to known that the Afrika Korp had a constant struggle for supplies to maintain the momentum they had over the Allies, which eventually led to their downfall as they were stretched too thinly, and also that Rommel was almost used as a "noble adversary" by Allied propaganda.
All in all, this was a really good biography of The Desert Fox and one I'd really recommend to anyone interested in World War II history.
The main takeaways that can be made about this book is that Erwin Rommel was a gentleman and a brilliant tactician, who also tended to be somewhat short-sighted outside of his own theatre of operation. I found it interesting to known that the Afrika Korp had a constant struggle for supplies to maintain the momentum they had over the Allies, which eventually led to their downfall as they were stretched too thinly, and also that Rommel was almost used as a "noble adversary" by Allied propaganda.
All in all, this was a really good biography of The Desert Fox and one I'd really recommend to anyone interested in World War II history.
February 27, 2024
This is a pretty comprehensive history of Field Marshall Rommel. Considering the research that went into in a post war period where the author was reading individual diaries and notes, it is well put together. Some things, in retrospect seem a little off -- but that is largely due to the amount of papers/documents and oral interviews that came to light after this book was published. Well worth a read if you want to follow the Trail of the Fox.
December 10, 2025
I'm a history buff and had always been intrigued by Rommel, so I devoured this book when it came out in the late 1970s. Like so many German 'patriots' he was impressed by Hitler, and yet willfully blind to Nazi race obsession. He married a Polish woman, and only when some of her relatives became victims did he slowly wake up--too late. We too find ourselves confronted by such moral dilemmas in this, and every era.
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March 30, 2021 Not sure how to rate this book now. When I read it back maybe 30 years ago I thought it was one of the best books I had ever read. David Irving however is a known apologist for Nazi Germany. Going as far as being a Holocaust denier. I didn't know any of this when I read the book. He is a gifted writer but not sure how to justify a high rating for this book.
February 2, 2021
Εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο για την ζωή μιας στρατιωτικής ιδιοφυΐας, στρατιωτικός και όχι εγκληματίας όσο μπορεί να επιτραπεί σε κάποιον που επαγγελματικά αφαιρεί ανθρώπινες ζωές που στο τέλος κατηγορήθηκε ως συνένοχος στην απόπειρα δολοφονίας του Χίτλερ.
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