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End of the Beginning
"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
-- Winston Churchill, November 10, 1942 Spring 1942. Throughout the world, the Allies retreat before the inexorable march of Singapore falls to Japan; the Wehrmacht lays siege to Leningrad, captures the Crimea, and advances on Stalingrad; Greece and Yugoslavia fall to the Nazis; the American Pacific Fleet lies in ruins; and in Libya, Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps faces off against the British Eighth Army. Over the next twenty weeks, a series of battles fought in North Africa's Western Desert will become the pivot point of the Second World War. In part, The End of the Beginning is the story of those Rommel's surprise attack on the Gazala Line in May 1942, the fighting retreat of the British Eighth Army under General Sir Claude Auchinleck, and the fall of Tobruk after a siege lasting 240 days; the blockade of Malta and the Pedestal convoy that finally relieved the island; Auchinleck's brilliant last-ditch battle to hold Rommel at El Alamein, Rommel's final attacks at Alam Halfa Ridge, and then Montgomery's destruction of the Afrika Korps at the second battle of El Alamein in November. But, like the best works of popular history, The End of the Beginning is more than a simple chronicle of battles won and lost, of the decisions of statesmen and generals. Its stories are told from the perspectives of the men and women who spent these pivotal months on the very tip of the Allied spear, with raw, personal experience documented on virtually every Peter Vaux, the intelligence officer of the British 7th Armoured Division, plotting the defeat of the Afrika Korps in a desert wadi named El Alamein; American merchant marine cadet Lonnie Dales sailing in the Pedestal convoy in an attempt to relieve Malta and, after his ship is sunk, volunteering to man the antiaircraft gun on the crippled oil tanker Ohio; Flight Lieutenant Ken Lee flying ground support missions by day, exploring the fleshpots of Alexandria by night; Alex Szima from Dayton, Ohio, one of Darby's original Rangers, joining the Canadians in the failed raid on Dieppe, and probably becoming the first American to kill a German during the war; Mimi Cortis, a Maltese nurse in one of the island's supply-starved hospitals. These stories give an unmatched depth to the consequences of the disputes between Churchill and his senior commanders; the shuttle diplomacy between London, Washington, and Moscow by FDR confidant Harry Hopkins; the deep conflicts between Montgomery and his predecessors; and the extraordinary American intelligence blunder that betrayed the Eighth Army's plans to Rommel. Showcasing the latest scholarship and the authors' own original research, packed with edge-of-the-seat first-person experiences, and intercut with the pace of popular fiction, The End of the Beginning is an extraordinary assessment of one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War.
-- Winston Churchill, November 10, 1942 Spring 1942. Throughout the world, the Allies retreat before the inexorable march of Singapore falls to Japan; the Wehrmacht lays siege to Leningrad, captures the Crimea, and advances on Stalingrad; Greece and Yugoslavia fall to the Nazis; the American Pacific Fleet lies in ruins; and in Libya, Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps faces off against the British Eighth Army. Over the next twenty weeks, a series of battles fought in North Africa's Western Desert will become the pivot point of the Second World War. In part, The End of the Beginning is the story of those Rommel's surprise attack on the Gazala Line in May 1942, the fighting retreat of the British Eighth Army under General Sir Claude Auchinleck, and the fall of Tobruk after a siege lasting 240 days; the blockade of Malta and the Pedestal convoy that finally relieved the island; Auchinleck's brilliant last-ditch battle to hold Rommel at El Alamein, Rommel's final attacks at Alam Halfa Ridge, and then Montgomery's destruction of the Afrika Korps at the second battle of El Alamein in November. But, like the best works of popular history, The End of the Beginning is more than a simple chronicle of battles won and lost, of the decisions of statesmen and generals. Its stories are told from the perspectives of the men and women who spent these pivotal months on the very tip of the Allied spear, with raw, personal experience documented on virtually every Peter Vaux, the intelligence officer of the British 7th Armoured Division, plotting the defeat of the Afrika Korps in a desert wadi named El Alamein; American merchant marine cadet Lonnie Dales sailing in the Pedestal convoy in an attempt to relieve Malta and, after his ship is sunk, volunteering to man the antiaircraft gun on the crippled oil tanker Ohio; Flight Lieutenant Ken Lee flying ground support missions by day, exploring the fleshpots of Alexandria by night; Alex Szima from Dayton, Ohio, one of Darby's original Rangers, joining the Canadians in the failed raid on Dieppe, and probably becoming the first American to kill a German during the war; Mimi Cortis, a Maltese nurse in one of the island's supply-starved hospitals. These stories give an unmatched depth to the consequences of the disputes between Churchill and his senior commanders; the shuttle diplomacy between London, Washington, and Moscow by FDR confidant Harry Hopkins; the deep conflicts between Montgomery and his predecessors; and the extraordinary American intelligence blunder that betrayed the Eighth Army's plans to Rommel. Showcasing the latest scholarship and the authors' own original research, packed with edge-of-the-seat first-person experiences, and intercut with the pace of popular fiction, The End of the Beginning is an extraordinary assessment of one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War.
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First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 9, 2016
A followup to their previous bestseller "Finest Hour", Tim Clayton and Phil Craig have written a comprehensive and deeply affecting book in "End of the Beginning" which spans the period May to November 1942. A couple of the people both authors had interviewed for "Finest Hour" -- e.g. Edith Heap who has gone on in her role as a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) to serve with RAF Bomber Command in 1942, and Peter Vaux, who has gone on to fight in North Africa as an intelligence officer in an armored unit of the Eighth Army --- return here and share with the reader their war experiences during this crucial period in the War. Indeed, it is the personal stories of the veterans Clayton and Craig interviewed for "End of the Beginning" - British, American, and Maltese - along with the inclusion from supplementary sources of a number of the primary historical figures on the Allied side (e.g. FDR; Harry Hopkins - FDR's Special Envoy and close friend; Winston Churchill; General Alan Brooke - Chief of the British Imperial General Staff; and 3 of the leading commanders of the Eighth Army) which give this book a poignancy and immediacy that makes the war so vividly real to the reader.
The book's focus is on the period of the Second World War in which the Axis Powers held the upper hand in both North Africa and the Eastern Front. In May 1942, Erwin Rommel, the commander of the vaunted Afrika Korps, unleashed an offensive in Libya with German and Italian forces against the British, which brought Hitler within hailing distance of Cairo, Alexandria, and the Suez Canal over the next 2 months. At the same time, with Axis forces advancing deep into Southern Russia towards Iran (whose oil fields, along with those of Iraq, were vital to the Allied war effort), it seemed possible that Rommel could overrun British and Commonwealth forces in the Middle East (invading and capturing the key Mediterranean island of Malta in the process) and link up with his compatriots in Russia - and ultimately with Japanese forces advancing from Burma to the borders of India.
Britain was faced with a crisis not altogether different from what it had confronted in the summer of 1940. Churchill desperately needed a decisive military victory against the Germans if his coalition government were to remain in power. "End of the Beginning" shows how the fortunes of the war were eventually tipped in favor of the Allies by November 1942, following the Eighth Army's key victory against Rommel at El Alamein and the lifting of the Siege of Malta. Truly, this is an epic book well worth reading.
The book's focus is on the period of the Second World War in which the Axis Powers held the upper hand in both North Africa and the Eastern Front. In May 1942, Erwin Rommel, the commander of the vaunted Afrika Korps, unleashed an offensive in Libya with German and Italian forces against the British, which brought Hitler within hailing distance of Cairo, Alexandria, and the Suez Canal over the next 2 months. At the same time, with Axis forces advancing deep into Southern Russia towards Iran (whose oil fields, along with those of Iraq, were vital to the Allied war effort), it seemed possible that Rommel could overrun British and Commonwealth forces in the Middle East (invading and capturing the key Mediterranean island of Malta in the process) and link up with his compatriots in Russia - and ultimately with Japanese forces advancing from Burma to the borders of India.
Britain was faced with a crisis not altogether different from what it had confronted in the summer of 1940. Churchill desperately needed a decisive military victory against the Germans if his coalition government were to remain in power. "End of the Beginning" shows how the fortunes of the war were eventually tipped in favor of the Allies by November 1942, following the Eighth Army's key victory against Rommel at El Alamein and the lifting of the Siege of Malta. Truly, this is an epic book well worth reading.
October 20, 2012
Once again the talented combination of Tim Clayton and Phil Craig have produced a new and exciting account of a well know period of the Second World War. Their newest book, apparently the second in a trilogy designed to mark the 60th anniversaries of Britain's three most important moments during WW2, covers the year 1942, the turning point in the Allied camp.
Following on from their excellent book Finest Hour, we again meet up with some familiar faces from that story. Peter Vaux, now fighting with the famed Desert Rats, Edith Heap working with R.A.F. bomber crews in England and Ken Lee still flying fighters in the R.A.F. but now over the desert. The authors have used the same winning formula with their last book and we follow these people and their stories along with a few others through the events of 1942.
We experience the fighting in the desert against Rommel and his men. We read how the British tanks are out classed by the German panzers and how the R.A.F. try to protect the Allies and harry the advancing German and Italian units as they advance towards Alexandria. We read about the desperate battles on the sea and in the sky to get convoys into Malta. We hear the stories of the inhabitants of that bombed out Island, hanging on desperately against the might of the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica during daily bombing missions and with the fear of invasion hanging over their heads.
The story takes us back to Europe and we learn of the fate of many of the R.A.F. bomber crews fighting their own lonely war over the dark skies of occupied Europe. We read about the terrible tragedy at Dieppe and the political infighting amongst the leaders of the allied nations. Most of the story has been told before, however there are some elements that most readers will find new and interesting. I was not aware of the American intelligence blunder that gave away many Allied secrets to the Germans nor was I aware of the true mastermind behind the defence at El Alamein.
These things and more are told here for the first time and we read the stories of those who experienced this frightening but also uplifting period with a mixture of awe and amazement. This is a good book and in just over 400 pages we get a good feel for what it was like for many participants to be involved in this most important period in British history. One story that I won't forget and found hard to believe was the account of a young Jewish woman that was deported to Auschwitz from Guernsey. You read this story and you ask yourself 'how could this happened?'
I am sure that most people who enjoy popular history will get a buzz out of this book. "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning". - Winston Churchill, 10th November, 1942
Following on from their excellent book Finest Hour, we again meet up with some familiar faces from that story. Peter Vaux, now fighting with the famed Desert Rats, Edith Heap working with R.A.F. bomber crews in England and Ken Lee still flying fighters in the R.A.F. but now over the desert. The authors have used the same winning formula with their last book and we follow these people and their stories along with a few others through the events of 1942.
We experience the fighting in the desert against Rommel and his men. We read how the British tanks are out classed by the German panzers and how the R.A.F. try to protect the Allies and harry the advancing German and Italian units as they advance towards Alexandria. We read about the desperate battles on the sea and in the sky to get convoys into Malta. We hear the stories of the inhabitants of that bombed out Island, hanging on desperately against the might of the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica during daily bombing missions and with the fear of invasion hanging over their heads.
The story takes us back to Europe and we learn of the fate of many of the R.A.F. bomber crews fighting their own lonely war over the dark skies of occupied Europe. We read about the terrible tragedy at Dieppe and the political infighting amongst the leaders of the allied nations. Most of the story has been told before, however there are some elements that most readers will find new and interesting. I was not aware of the American intelligence blunder that gave away many Allied secrets to the Germans nor was I aware of the true mastermind behind the defence at El Alamein.
These things and more are told here for the first time and we read the stories of those who experienced this frightening but also uplifting period with a mixture of awe and amazement. This is a good book and in just over 400 pages we get a good feel for what it was like for many participants to be involved in this most important period in British history. One story that I won't forget and found hard to believe was the account of a young Jewish woman that was deported to Auschwitz from Guernsey. You read this story and you ask yourself 'how could this happened?'
I am sure that most people who enjoy popular history will get a buzz out of this book. "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning". - Winston Churchill, 10th November, 1942
April 10, 2010
This is a wonderful, accessible and compelling account of the 'tipping point' of the Second World War. The authors, experience documentary makers have put to great use their ability to extract intimate honest and extremely moving testimony from the many witnesses and combatants they spoke to.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews