An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942–1943

Summary

Theliberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story ofcourage and enduring triumph, of calamity and miscalculation. In this firstvolume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern reader canunderstand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of thegreat drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year ofthe Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when theUnited States began to act like a great power.

Beginningwith the daring amphibious invasion in November 1942, An Army at Dawn followsthe American and British armies as they fight the French in Morocco andAlgeria, and then take on the Germans and Italians in Tunisia. Battle bybattle, an inexperienced and sometimes poorly led army gradually becomes asuperb fighting force. Central to the tale are the extraordinary but falliblecommanders who come to dominate the battlefield: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley,Montgomery, and Rommel.

Brilliantlyresearched, rich with new material and vivid insights, Atkinson’s narrativeprovides the definitive history of the war in North Africa.