Pendulum of War: The Three Battles of El Alamein

by Niall Barr

"In late June 1942, the dispirited and defeated British Eighth Army was pouring back toward the tiny railway halt of El Alamein in the western desert of Egypt. Tobruk had fallen and Eighth Army had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika. Yet just five months later, the famous opening bombardment signaled the start of Eighth Army's own offensive, which destroyed the Axis threat to Egypt." "Explanations for the remarkable change in the fortunes of Britain's desert army have generally been sought in the abrasive personality of the new army commander Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery. But the long running controversies surrounding the commanders of Eighth Army - Generals Auchinleck and Montgomery - and that of their legendary opponent, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, have often been allowed to obscure the true nature of the Alamein campaign." This is also the story of how an army learned from its mistakes. For too long the change in personalities at the top has blurred the real continuity of experience that saw the Eighth Army transform itself from a tactically inept collection of units into a battle-winning army. Pendulum of War explores the Eighth Army's learning curve, and shows how lessons from bitter experience were used to develop improved tactical methods that eventually mastered the veterans of Rommel's Afrika Korps.

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

531 pages, Hardcover

First published July 27, 2004

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone knows the story of the WWII Battle El Alamein- Rommel Chases the Clueless 8th Army to the "gates of Egypt" - Churchill tosses the hapless Auchinleck as Commander and brings in Montgomery- who takes a few months and then crushes the Afrika Korps with a dramatic Armoured Offensive- the War is turned. Niall Barr, the author, shows us that this was a gross oversimplification, and takes us through the process of the "8th Army Turnaround" from June 1941 to the triumph of the November battle- in very complete and precise steps. Right off the bat- he shows us the the early Maneuvres under Auchinleck constitute a battle all their own- as opposed to Monty's Alam Halfa and El Alamein battles. He also show how Auchinleck's work was important and did contribute to the final victory- taking us inside the minds of all the major players on both sides of the battles.

I really loved this book and thought it did one of the best jobs of explaining logistical, Military Cultural, and technological advances that came together- and would be features of Allied warfare from then on- as the US would take the best British Ideas and enhanced them further. The creation of the REME for repairing military equipment faster and with more tactical influence happened in this period. The basic techniques/protocols for minefield clearing that all western countries use to this day was born in the Western Desert. And the Anglo-American Artillery coordination to defeat all other arms was renewed from its post WWI dormancy to be carried to its highest form so far in the war. Barr shows you the Commonwealth Armies getting their doctrine and best practices together- along with the more famous Arrival of the modern Sherman/Grant tanks, the 57mm AT gun that could actually knock out German Panzers, and the Desert Air Force's attainment of Air Superiority. With enough maps and graphs to actually explain all the operations- this is really compelling stuff.

There are a lot of adult themes, most about office politics, but little graphic descriptions, this is a book for the Junior reader over 12, but they will be richly rewarded. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast- I cannot pimp this book enough. LOTS of Diorama/Scenario ideas for the gamer/modeller- and a tonne of excellent background information for the enthusiast. Barr takes you into the tactical/doctrinal issues on both sides- the Germans dragging the immobile Italians with them and never really able to achieve real grand tactical mass they wanted- the Brits struggling to apply their own doctrines with inferior communications capability. I found my self totally engaged as the Allied concept of Combined Arms came together over 5 months in the Desert. A strong recommendation.

[Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book I can suggest to those interested in the war in North Africa. The author, Niall Barr, has gathered research showing the lessons the Eighth Army learned and eventually used to defeat Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very detailed, bordering on too detailed, account of the battles of El Alamein. Like most military histories of tactical actions, this one suffers from poor maps. For starters, they are all assembled at the front of the book, leading to many cases of flipping back and forth searching for the correct map. Additionally, they are just hard to decipher. Granted, the details of desert warfare at the time were focused on subtle-to-nonexistent geographical details that mapping at all would prove difficult, let alone mapping well.

Despite the focus on so many minute details of every day of the action, there’s still plenty to absorb here, with lively, engaging and opinionated views of the many personalities and decisions made during the campaign. Recommended for those with a real interest in the specifics, but probably too deep an excursion into the weeds for more casual military historians.

[Tacitus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a lot of military histories like this, mostly on WWII. I have also read many on the fighting in North Africa, but fewer on the later period of the desert fighting, in 1942.

Barr's book covers this period well, but without that spark of deep insight that would carry this to the realm of high art, and therefore equal praise.

Barr certainly is able to perform the historian's bread and butter of deep archival research. It is somewhat ironic, but also a reminder of the role that the entire Commonwealth played in this "British" victory, that many of the key sources, notably the German ones, are located in archives in Australia and New Zealand. In any case, Barr's work is commendable for going that far to make sure this work is thorough, even painstakingly so. His prose, too, is clear and easy to read.

What it's fundamentally lacking is some sort of clear thesis to tie it all together. What we get instead is a series of battle descriptions, well told no doubt, that have the occasional insight sprinkled throughout but lack any deeper or long-lasting meaning.

Having said that, Barr does offer some insights on how Eighth Army developed and evolved. Some of the key points here is that the army had to learn combined arms fighting on the go; the armor units were especially defective in this regard. This lead to some of the earlier tactical and operational defeats. In any event, the training paid off, and the other key point is that Montgomery inherited an army that was reaching its peak; his role in refining it is less clear, and the implication is that he arrived at the right time to reap the results.

Barr is sometimes critical of Montgomery and Rommel. Barr is able to (lightly, and without much passion one way or the other) find fault in some of Montgomery's self-aggrandizing post-war tales. Rommel never made the right conclusions from those supply ships sunk so frequently in the Med. Instead of blaming the Italians, he would have been wiser to have worked within his operational limitations.

The highlight of the book, which it took me some time to get to, covers the climactic battle in the eastern theater, the third and final battle at El Alamein. By providing a detailed, day-by-day description of individual unit actions, Barr did give me a better picture of this battle than I had before.

In brief, it was even more of a grinding battle that I thought it was. With its night attacks and barrages, the battle unfolded like something on the Somme. There was less of a decisive breakthrough as I had previously thought, and more of final push as the German and Italians gave way. Indeed, this end was made easier by the fact that the Axis forces were in the process of retreating on the final day of major fighting.

One critical difference between this battle and prior ones for Eighth Army was that the tanks were able to repel several counterattacks by the Afrika Korps. The infantry, with artillery support, would seize important positions, and the tanks would follow up, so that by dawn they were ready to defeat the Axis forces. An important takeaway in these details is that while 8th Army changed its fighting style (and won), the Axis did not (and lost). The (mainly German) counterattacks became expected and almost stereotypical; while German tactical prowess has often been touted, it's hard to see here. What was at one time (I suppose) stunningly brilliant became boring and repetitive; a certain recipe for military defeat, especially against the evolving predatory organism that was Eighth Army.

Thus, for a military history that is able to reconstruct these battles, Barr's work is well-researched and well-told. Typical of the genre, though, the book offers a mostly prosaic battle narrative. It also contains a few insights for a patient reader.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in the desert war in North Africa and the clashes between the British Eighth Army and the Panzerarmee Afrika (Afrika Korps) this is a must read.

At first the Commonwealth forces succeeded in pushing the Italians back with heavy losses, but once Rommel entered the scene, things turned around. Or rather, the pendulum swung the other way. Despite the myth that has surrounded Rommel for years, he made mistakes too and overstretched his forces and supply lines, and so the pendulum swung the other way again.

And obviously there is another myth connected to the desert war. Montgomery... In general the opinion was that once he entered the scene, Rommel was in for trouble. Well, not so, because Monty benefitted from the experience gained while the army was under the command of his predecessors. They slowly, and with a high cost, turned the army into a better structured and more efficient fighting force that was better able to handle the Axis opponent. Monty did have a positive effect on the soldier's morale, but he had to learn too and most certainly made some mistakes early on.

This desert war also served as a proofing ground for things like artillery fire and mine clearing operations. Operations in Italy and Europe made use of this later in the war. Cooperation between ground forces and the air force also so a steady development that lead to real combined arms operations.

A really good book that covers a lot of ground and does so in a clear and engaging way. It shows how important this theater of war was for things that were still to come.

[Stephen Paish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was General Bernard Montgomery solely responsible for the change in British fortunes in North Africa in the fall of 1942? Niall Barr wrote this book to find out. Barr assesses Eighth Army operations as a whole rather than divide the period into an Auchinleck/Montgomery timeline. His analysis reveals that theatre level logistics played a large role in enabling the Eighth Army to take the offensive while disabling the Panzerarmee's freedom of movement. As well, the lesson learned by subordinate formations during Gazala and First Alamein are highlighted and it is clear that the Eighth Army was in the process of learning when Montgomery took command. However, the Army needed a leader and Montgomery provided the missing piece. Montgomery's command style and views on warfare are discussed but are balanced with highlighting his mistakes, notably his lack of understanding on how to exploit success.

If you want to learn more about the Eighth Army at Alamein and are looking for a well balanced analysis this is the book for you. Highly recommended.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niall Barr’s comprehensive account of the battles at El Alamein tells the story of how the Eighth Army learned hard lessons during the disastrous fighting of July 1942 and went on to defeat the Panzerarmee of Erwin Rommel.

Pendulum of War was a very thorough and scholarly work. I liked that Barr was prepared to call out inaccuracies and embellishments from previous accounts, which gave the book an air of realism. However, there was so much detail that it became hard to see the wood for the trees. It was fastidiously historical at the expense of both the story and the analysis of the campaign. Telling apart similar-sounding divisions, place names and separate actions grew difficult towards the end of the book, making it hard to draw conclusions from events.

A good book overall, probably one of the best on Alamein for detail.

[Andrew Garrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. Extremely well researched, thorough and balanced analysis, and just generally pleasant to read. Barr is a phenomenal author and an excellent historian. Only point is that he made it a point early in the book to state he wasn't going to focus on the commanders but on the army, and then most of the book is about the commanders. Despite this contradiction, it is a really good book with lots of valuable insights for any student of military history or practitioner of the trade.

[Andy]

erudite and thoroughly researched account of the battle of el alamein. I had tried to read this as a teenager but didnt finish. For some reason I remembered it a few weeks ago and gave it another go. It's a battle less remarked upon in the usa, probably due to the fact that it was solely a UK German affair. In fact the author states it was the last major engagement involving the UK army without American allies. It's a little more scholarly and dry than your average ww2 bestseller.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good description of the war with a lot to say about the lessons learned by Eighth Army and not learned by Panzerarmee Afrika. The Kindle edition has annoyingly put the maps at the beginning rather than distributing them through the book, which can at times make it difficult to keep track of what is happening.

[Wayland Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The African campaign is frequently neglected when people think or talk about World War II. The smaller group that does talk about it usually talks about Rommel vs. Montgomery like it was a personal duel between the two commanders. There's a lot more to the story than that, and this covers it well.

This is a history of the Eighth Army and their campaign against the German and Italian forces in Northern Africa. There are a terrifying amount of errors, miscommunications, and arguments among the British Army. The more details come out, the more I'm surprised that the Allies won. although this was a British victory.

Long before Montgomery showed up, The Eighth was commanded by Auchinleck, who is largely ignored by historians. He was a good tactician, but a bad leader, and that got him in trouble with the higher ups.

The generals on both sides of the war were hampered by occasional unreasonable decrees from Hitler and Churchill, respectively. It was eye opening to me to learn how ignorant of the realities of the actual war Churchill was at times.

This is a very detailed, well-researched book. It's not for beginners. There are a lot of military terms in this book, and references to other parts of military history. It can be dry at times, but it's interesting if you have an appreciation for military history.

Recommended to those with an interest in World War II, of the military in general.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alamein in 1942. Good, often great detail of tactics like minefield sweeping.