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Longest Siege: Tobruk: the Battle That Saved North Africa
Beginning on 10th April 1941, and lasting for 240 days, the siege of Tobruk is a mesmerising tale of human endurance and heroism. It is an epic story of extraordinary resilience as the Libyan port's 24,000 defenders met increasingly desperate attempts by Rommel's Panzer divisions to break through the hurriedly thrown-up defences. It was a battle of bayonets and grenades against tanks, of David versus Goliath. The eventual allied victory came against overwhelming odds, plus the morale sapping knowledge that the defenders were surrounded on one side by the sea, and on the other by Hitler's men and machines (who, only the year before, had brought Western Europe to its knees). Tobruk was defended in the main by the Australian 9th Division, followed by the British 70th Infantry Division who then linked up with the advancing 8th Army. The Royal Navy also played an important role in Tobruk's defence. By December 1941 Rommel had been beaten and forced to withdraw his forces from Cyrenaica. The siege was lifted and the exhausted, gallant defenders able to march out in triumph.
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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About the author
Robert Lyman
46 books53 followersBy birth a New Zealander, I was educated in Australia and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After a 20-year career in the British Army I turned my hand to writing, my PhD being published in 2004 as 'Slim, Master of War, a military biography of arguably Britain's greatest field commander of WW2.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
I am a trustee of the Kohima Educational Trust, which seeks to provide educational opportunities for young learners in Nagaland.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
I am a trustee of the Kohima Educational Trust, which seeks to provide educational opportunities for young learners in Nagaland.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 22, 2014
The Longest Siege is my second Robert Lyman book, Japan’s Last Bid for Victory: The Invasion of India, 1944 being my first. The latter piqued my interest in this author’s works, and so I tried The Longest Siege. To say the least, I am not sorry that I did so.
The book deals with the Axis siege of Tobruk from April to December 1941. It begins with background on the Italian entry into the war in 1940 and the invasion of Egypt. The work follows with the British eviction of the Italian army from Egypt and the invasion of Libya. The British might have destroyed the Italian army in Libya if they had not withdrawn forces from the Western Desert to assist Greece, which was repelling an Italian invasion and would face a German one in April of 1941.
Enter the Germans. As early as December 1940, Hitler had dispatched elements of the Luftwaffe to assist the Italians, and Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps arrived in Libya in February 1941. In March, the Germans mounted an offensive that drove the British out of Libya and besieged Tobruk, which the primarily Australian garrison held. The Aussies beat back Axis attacks in April and May and held on until October, when British and Polish troops relieved them. The British mounted two unsuccessful offensives, Operations Brevity and Battleaxe, before Operation Crusader linked up with the Tobruk garrison. Throughout the siege, the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ferried supplies and reinforcements, evacuated wounded, and provided gunfire support.
Lyman has a very agreeable writing style. The book is a serious, scholarly work of history, but it has the feel of a page turner because of his style. He does an excellent job of describing how the defenders coped with heat, flies, rats, sandstorms, lack of food and water, aerial bombardment, and boredom. Lyman provides an order of battle for both sides, and he has researched the Allied and Axis sides of the campaign, although the bulk of his work has been done from the Allied perspective.
I have two quibbles with the book. The first is the amount of space spent on background. The Longest Siege has 292 pages of text. Of those, 118, or 40 percent, deal with the period from the Italian declaration of war to the beginning of the siege. Other authors, notably Barrie Pitt, have covered the early months of the Western Desert campaign in detail, and the background chapters could have been shorter. That said (or written), the background is well written, and I was torn between asking myself why so much of it was provided and enjoying the excess.
My second quibble was with several minor inaccuracies or typographic errors that were scattered through the book. The most prominent of these was referring to Friedrich Paulus as Friedrich von Paulus. Paulus was not a member of the German aristocracy and never had the preposition von. These errors mar an otherwise excellent book.
I wish that Goodreads allowed reviewers to rate books using half stars as well as whole ones. I would have given this book a 4.5. However, I do not see fit to give it as “low” a rating as a 4.0. Therefore, I give it a five-star rating.
The book deals with the Axis siege of Tobruk from April to December 1941. It begins with background on the Italian entry into the war in 1940 and the invasion of Egypt. The work follows with the British eviction of the Italian army from Egypt and the invasion of Libya. The British might have destroyed the Italian army in Libya if they had not withdrawn forces from the Western Desert to assist Greece, which was repelling an Italian invasion and would face a German one in April of 1941.
Enter the Germans. As early as December 1940, Hitler had dispatched elements of the Luftwaffe to assist the Italians, and Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps arrived in Libya in February 1941. In March, the Germans mounted an offensive that drove the British out of Libya and besieged Tobruk, which the primarily Australian garrison held. The Aussies beat back Axis attacks in April and May and held on until October, when British and Polish troops relieved them. The British mounted two unsuccessful offensives, Operations Brevity and Battleaxe, before Operation Crusader linked up with the Tobruk garrison. Throughout the siege, the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ferried supplies and reinforcements, evacuated wounded, and provided gunfire support.
Lyman has a very agreeable writing style. The book is a serious, scholarly work of history, but it has the feel of a page turner because of his style. He does an excellent job of describing how the defenders coped with heat, flies, rats, sandstorms, lack of food and water, aerial bombardment, and boredom. Lyman provides an order of battle for both sides, and he has researched the Allied and Axis sides of the campaign, although the bulk of his work has been done from the Allied perspective.
I have two quibbles with the book. The first is the amount of space spent on background. The Longest Siege has 292 pages of text. Of those, 118, or 40 percent, deal with the period from the Italian declaration of war to the beginning of the siege. Other authors, notably Barrie Pitt, have covered the early months of the Western Desert campaign in detail, and the background chapters could have been shorter. That said (or written), the background is well written, and I was torn between asking myself why so much of it was provided and enjoying the excess.
My second quibble was with several minor inaccuracies or typographic errors that were scattered through the book. The most prominent of these was referring to Friedrich Paulus as Friedrich von Paulus. Paulus was not a member of the German aristocracy and never had the preposition von. These errors mar an otherwise excellent book.
I wish that Goodreads allowed reviewers to rate books using half stars as well as whole ones. I would have given this book a 4.5. However, I do not see fit to give it as “low” a rating as a 4.0. Therefore, I give it a five-star rating.
July 14, 2019
A history about the siege of Tobruk, where a small number of British and Australian forces faced down the Nazis.
Good stuff. Has two sections of photographs.
Good stuff. Has two sections of photographs.
September 7, 2025
Buy.
A strong and detailed account of the siege that doesn't ever get too lost in exploring other aspects of the larger campaign. I thought Chapter 6 on the daily life of soldiers living within the Tobruk perimeter was particularly good.
A strong and detailed account of the siege that doesn't ever get too lost in exploring other aspects of the larger campaign. I thought Chapter 6 on the daily life of soldiers living within the Tobruk perimeter was particularly good.
May 4, 2025
Well-written account of how an outnumbered British Empire garrison with zero air support and with ancient tanks held off Rommel's modern panzers, Stukas and JU-88s for over half a year, and then forced the "unstoppable genius" Rommel to withdraw while writing home to his wife that he hoped to avoid British "encirclement."
Dispels the myth that Italians could not fight. Also dispels the myth of the invincibility of Rommel and the Afrika Korps. The Tobruk garrison captured scores of German prisoners and destroyed large numbers of Rommel's panzers.
It also shows how Churchill's micromanaging from London hampered competent Generals like Wavell.
The downsides are that the book is only sparsely footnoted, and that it claims that Tobruk was "the longest siege in British history," when this was actually the siege of Gibraltar during the Revolution.
Dispels the myth that Italians could not fight. Also dispels the myth of the invincibility of Rommel and the Afrika Korps. The Tobruk garrison captured scores of German prisoners and destroyed large numbers of Rommel's panzers.
It also shows how Churchill's micromanaging from London hampered competent Generals like Wavell.
The downsides are that the book is only sparsely footnoted, and that it claims that Tobruk was "the longest siege in British history," when this was actually the siege of Gibraltar during the Revolution.
August 2, 2012
Finally! A great history book. This author writes in the style of Stephen Ambrose, lots of interviews and research woven into a great pattern with humor, tragedy, heroism, and despair. I will definately be looking for other books by this author.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews