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Title: Attacks: ROMMEL by Erwin Rommel, Lee Allen, Bob Heittman ISBN: 0-9602736-0-3 Publisher: Athena Pr Pub. Date: June, 1979 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.45 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Treatise on Maneuver Warfare by One Who Knew How to Do It
Comment: This book covers Erwin Rommel's First World War experiences, from August 1914 to November 1917. Rommel served in interesting areas: France 1914-5, Romania 1916-7 and Italy 1917. The book was written in 1937 and is less a memoir than a manual on infantry operations. There is very little human detail. Nor is there any analysis of the big picture (Rommel was only a battalion commander by 1917). German troops are made to look invincible; the French, Italians and Romanians are depicted as second-rate. Rommel was a very aggressive mountain infantry officer and won the Pour le Merit in the Caporetto offensive. The tone is subtlety braggadocio. Rommel's style was overly aggressive and similar to Caesar's in the Balkans and Egypt: bold thrusts and pursuits with handfuls of troops which sometimes got Rommel into some very tight spots. He was almost killed or captured on several occasions. Note, the tactical lessons are too narrow to draw useful conclusions from other than: dig in whenever you stop, conduct reconnaissance while the main body rests/prepares and never stop pursuing a beaten foe. Logistics was evidently not one of Rommel's strengths and would later hurt him in Africa. Excellent sketch maps for most major actions. When I visited the Caporetto area in 1996 I brought Rommel's book and was easily able to relate the sketch maps to the terrain.
Rating: 4
Summary: Insightful study of one of history's greatest generals
Comment: While the text itself is somewhat dry and analytical, this rates as one of the great studies of military tactics and provides a facinating glimpse into the mind of one of history's great generals. Attacks! is Rommel's first person account of his experiences in WWI. As was his custom, he recorded his military exploits and summarized his findings for his own personal study and the benefit of those military students to follow. Anyone interested in gaining insight into Rommel himself or interested in what makes a great platoon/company level commander should read this book.
Rating: 5
Summary: A textbook for battalion commanders
Comment: A masterful description of small unit action in WWI. Its amazing how articulate Rommel is in describing preparations for attack, use of terrain, change of plans on the spot and other details involved in executing battalion level orders. At the end of each battle sequence is an Observations section in which the lessons to be drawn are dispassionately stated.
From this book its clear that during WW1 Rommel acquired most of the military characteristics that made him one of the best commanders of WW2. His emphasis on reconnaissance, deception, and surprise as well as his trademark "feel for the terrain" (fingersptizengefuhl) were all developed at the battalion level in this earlier conflict.
Another real plus in this book are the maps (actually Rommel's hand sketches) showing terrain and lines of attack.
Anyone who is interested in Rommel's military operations should start here. As a WW2 follow-on, I'd recommend Ronald Lewin's Rommel as Military Commander...for its detailed battle accounts and excellent maps. Fraser's and Irving's books are also good, but operate at a more general level and suffer from a lack of battle area maps.
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Title: The Rommel Papers (Da Capo Paperback) by Erwin Rommel, B. H. Liddell-Hart, Basil Henry Liddell Hart, Liddell Basil Henry Hart ISBN: 0306801574 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: April, 1988 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Rommel and His Art of War (Greenhill Military Paperbacks.) by Erwin Rommel, John Pimlott ISBN: 1853675431 Publisher: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: War As I Knew It by George S. Patton, Rick Atkinson ISBN: 0395735297 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 08 May, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Achtung - Panzer! (Cassell Military Classics) by Heinz Guderian ISBN: 0304352853 Publisher: Sterling Publishing Pub. Date: 30 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian, Kenneth Macksey, B. H. Liddell Hart, Constatine Fitzgibbon, General Heinz Guderian ISBN: 0306811014 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 24 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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