Long Range Desert Group: Behind Enemy Lines in North Africa

by W.B. Kennedy Shaw, David Lloyd Owen (Foreword)

During the two-and-a-half years' fighting in the Western Desert of North Africa, which began with the Italian declaration of war in June 1940 and ended in 1943, the Long Range Desert Group became the acknowledged master of the vast desert. This small, highly mobile force was engaged in daring exploits and reconnaissance far behind the enemy's lines. Emerging suddenly from the depths of the desert, the LRDG would raid important airfields or attack Axis lines of communication along the Mediterranean coast, and then vanish back into the desert, to reappear hundreds of miles away. With its brilliant description of the harsh beauty of the desert, and its exiting chronicle of the LRDG activities, this book is as fascinating today as it was when was first published in 1945, after being vetted by the War Office.'Moving, exciting and authentic'The Observer'The British genius for exploration, hard living and insolently bold guerrilla warfare has never been better demonstrated than by the Long Range Desert Group [Kennedy Shaw's book is] a remarkable record, told simply, unpretentiously and with engaging humour One cannot remember a better war book.'The Manchester Guardian

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

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2000

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

so Britsh and understated. in some ways I found this account of the LRDG the epitome of cool. From the same generation that gives us bond, james bond.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of my deep-dive selections into the North African campaign - the first major Allied offensive of WWII. I discovered the topic by coincidence, and gladly followed the exploits of the LRDG patrols across the North African desert.

Written by one of the senior officers of the LRDG, this book is perhaps the best first-person account into the strategies that helped the Allied armies gain a foothold and eventually push the Axis armies, led by the famous "Desert Fox", Field Marshal Rommel, and his Afrika Corps off the continent.