Eighth Army: From the Western Desert to the Alps, 1939-1945

Eighth Army: From the Western Desert to the Alps, 1939-1945

by RobinNeillands (Author)

Synopsis

From June 1940 to October 1942, Eighth Army was the only Western army facing and fighting the Axis powers, Italian as well as German, on the battlefield. It was a British army, but represented the Free World. Some of the great fighting divisions of the War were part of it -- the 9th Australian, the 2nd New Zealand, 1st South African, 4th Indian, 51st Highland and 7th Armoured -- the famous Desert Rats -- joined by the Free French, the Greek Brigade, and many more from Britain and around the world. Though ultimately triumphant, the Army was not always victorious -- it had to fight obsolete equipment, indifferent command and excessive demands as well as the enemy -- not forgetting its most admired foe, Rommel, who met his match in Eighth Army's General Sir Bernard Montgomery (Monty). This book is built on the memories of Eighth Army veterans, collected from all over the world. It includes personal accounts of the battles fought at Sidi Rezegh, Alamein, in Sicily and at Cassino -- and all the way to the Gothic Line, the end of Eighth Army's 3,000-mile march to victory. It is a story that deserves to be told, about an army that deserves to be remembered.

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Quantity

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
Edition: New
Publisher: John Murray
Published: 08 Nov 2004

ISBN 10: 0719556473
ISBN 13: 9780719556470

Media Reviews
'Well respected as a military historian, Neillands tells an absorbing story ! he can take great pride in the end result of his labours' -- Liverpool Daily Post 20040109 'A splendid book' -- Western Daily Press 20040110 'Meticulously researched' -- Contemporary Review 20040110 'This is a touching book of valour and victory. And its might comes from allowing us to make our own opinions of war, reading it as the exciting account that it is. This is quite simply a book in a million' -- Bangor Chronicle 20040110 'An engrossing study of the first 30 years of strategic air forces ! Neillands has made a valuable contribution to the history of air warfare' -- Saul David, Sunday Telegraph on THE BOMBER WAR 20040110 'Rarely has oral history been put to better use' -- Blake Morrison, Independent on Sunday on THE BOMBE 20040110 'Neillands's central argument, sustained by a rich vein of oral evidence culled from hundreds of veterans of the conflict, is hard to fault' -- Richard Overy, Literary Review on THE BOMBER WAR 20040110 'In a crystal clear and reasoned way, this book counters some of the claptrap uttered about this aspect of the Second World War. It is also a compelling and very moving account of how thousands of British, Commonwealth and American aircrew sallied forth to attack Hitler's Reich' -- Major General Julian Thompson CB OBE on THE BOMBER 20040110
Author Bio
Robin Neillands is the author of several widely acclaimed books on the First and Second World Wars, including The Battle of Normandy, 1944; The Great War Generals on the Western Front and The Conquest of the Reich. His most recent, The Bomber War, Major General Julian Thompson called 'a compelling and very moving account'. Of the same book Blake Morrison wrote 'rarely has oral history been put to better use'.