An Army at Dawn

Last night I finished An Army at Dawn, by Rick Atkinson, the first in a planned trilogy called "The Liberation Trilogy," the story of the Allied victory over the Axis in the West.

I enjoyed this book a great deal, mainly because it was about something I had very little knowledge of--the war in North Africa. I've got a pretty good knowledge of World War II, or at least I thought I did, but here's some things I learned: the first salvo against the Axis in the West came in the invasion of North Africa, called Operation TORCH. Initially the Allies, particularly the British, wanted to invade in western Europe (which they would do on June 6, 1944), but the American brass finally persuaded Churchill (and Roosevelt) that it was too soon to face the Germans there, and instead they should try to invade from the South, starting with Africa. Also, the first troops that this Operation met in battle? The French, the Vichy French, who were under the thumb of the Germans.

Books about war sometimes leave me perplexed, as it's difficult for me to understand battle strategy through prose. There are maps here, but it's still a bit confusing. But Atkinson more than makes up for that by his vivid descriptions of the commanders and the terrain. We get a lot of insight into the personalities of men like Eisenhower, Montgomery, Rommel, and most especially George S. Patton, who thought it was a good idea to get a few of his own officers killed in battle, as it would be good for the morale of the enlisted men. There were endless squabbles between the U.S. and British commanders, and some horrible mistakes were made, but there was also incredible courage. The French don't come out very well in this book.

Atkinson's made theme is that this was the birth and infancy of what would become the juggernaut that was the U.S. armed forces. At first, they were green and untested, and sneered at by the British. But after the expulsion of the Germans from North Africa, the U.S. was ready to tackle them in Europe, battle-tested and hungry for blood. I look forward to the next book in the trilogy, which will be about the war in Italy.