Book Review of
Images of War
The Three Battles of El Alamein
Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives
Author: Jon Diamond
Pen & Sword Military
ISBN: 9781399072052
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $34.95
ISBN: 9781399072052
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $34.95
HISTORY:
The 80th anniversary of the historic final Battle of El Alamein is the ideal time to study the events leading up to General Bernard Montgomery’s famous victory over Field Marshal Rommel’s Panzerarmee Afrika in Autumn 1942.
Four months earlier, after the loss of Tubrok, Rommel’s forces were in the ascendancy. Prime Minister Winston Churchill removed General Auchinleck from command of the Eigth Army in early August and appointed Bernard Montgomery in his place. After the successful defense of Alam el Halfa Ridge in late August and early September ended Rommel’s inexorable advance, Montgomery set in place plans for the set-piece offensive campaign at El Alamein, which took place between 23 October and 4 November 1942.
The stakes could not have been higher. Had Rommel broken through the Allied defences in Summer 1942, or Montgomery’s forces not overwhelmed the German and Italian armies at El Alamein, Egypt and the Suez Canal would have fallen to the Nazis. Instead, the victory of El Alamein proved to be the turning point of the war against Hitler and led to the victory in N orth Africa.
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books is located in the UK.
The book is in soft-cover of 232 pages (3 blank pages), in 7 ½” x 9 ½” page format.
It contains (including the cover) 289 black and white wartime photos.
At the top of the cover art there is a photo of 5 British infantry-men taking cover from explosions beside a knocked-out German tank.
Below this there are 4 small black and white photos.
Reading left to right, the first one shows a British M3 Stuart tank moving along and throwing up a cloud of sand.
The second photo is of a British Baltimore bomber on an airfield, being loaded up with bombs by ground-crewmen.
The third photo shows a French Foreign Legionaire taking a drink from a canteen.
The fourth (and last) photo shows captured German soldiers being marched under guard of a British soldier.
The back cover shows 2 more black and white photos.
The first one is of a British Vickers Mk. VIA-13 light tank, with one crewman standing atop it and another crewman beside it. Both looking through binoculars.
The second photo is of a British 6 pounder anti-tank cannon crew.
The book begins with the CONTENTS page:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
ABBREVIATIONS
Chapter 1: Desert Combat in Egypt & Cyrenica 1940-1942, with a map of the Mediteranean Theatre of Operations.
Chapter 2: Terrain & Weapons
Chapter 3: Commanders & Combatants
Chapter 4: The First Battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942)
Chapter 5: The Battle of Alam el Halfa (30 August-5 September 1942)
Chapter 6: The Second (Main) Battle of El Alamein, with a map, (23 October-4 November 1942).
EPILOGUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pictures include: Winston Churchill, Hitler, Rommel, Mussolini. Generals and infantrymen of all combatant countries involved in the fighting, their tanks, vehicles, aircraft, weapons etc.
There is no color in the book.
There is a post-card inserted in the book, to use to send to Casemate for more information about Pen & Sword Books.
This book will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The 80th anniversary of the historic final Battle of El Alamein is the ideal time to study the events leading up to General Bernard Montgomery’s famous victory over Field Marshal Rommel’s Panzerarmee Afrika in Autumn 1942.
Four months earlier, after the loss of Tubrok, Rommel’s forces were in the ascendancy. Prime Minister Winston Churchill removed General Auchinleck from command of the Eigth Army in early August and appointed Bernard Montgomery in his place. After the successful defense of Alam el Halfa Ridge in late August and early September ended Rommel’s inexorable advance, Montgomery set in place plans for the set-piece offensive campaign at El Alamein, which took place between 23 October and 4 November 1942.
The stakes could not have been higher. Had Rommel broken through the Allied defences in Summer 1942, or Montgomery’s forces not overwhelmed the German and Italian armies at El Alamein, Egypt and the Suez Canal would have fallen to the Nazis. Instead, the victory of El Alamein proved to be the turning point of the war against Hitler and led to the victory in N orth Africa.
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books is located in the UK.
The book is in soft-cover of 232 pages (3 blank pages), in 7 ½” x 9 ½” page format.
It contains (including the cover) 289 black and white wartime photos.
At the top of the cover art there is a photo of 5 British infantry-men taking cover from explosions beside a knocked-out German tank.
Below this there are 4 small black and white photos.
Reading left to right, the first one shows a British M3 Stuart tank moving along and throwing up a cloud of sand.
The second photo is of a British Baltimore bomber on an airfield, being loaded up with bombs by ground-crewmen.
The third photo shows a French Foreign Legionaire taking a drink from a canteen.
The fourth (and last) photo shows captured German soldiers being marched under guard of a British soldier.
The back cover shows 2 more black and white photos.
The first one is of a British Vickers Mk. VIA-13 light tank, with one crewman standing atop it and another crewman beside it. Both looking through binoculars.
The second photo is of a British 6 pounder anti-tank cannon crew.
The book begins with the CONTENTS page:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
ABBREVIATIONS
Chapter 1: Desert Combat in Egypt & Cyrenica 1940-1942, with a map of the Mediteranean Theatre of Operations.
Chapter 2: Terrain & Weapons
Chapter 3: Commanders & Combatants
Chapter 4: The First Battle of El Alamein (1-27 July 1942)
Chapter 5: The Battle of Alam el Halfa (30 August-5 September 1942)
Chapter 6: The Second (Main) Battle of El Alamein, with a map, (23 October-4 November 1942).
EPILOGUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pictures include: Winston Churchill, Hitler, Rommel, Mussolini. Generals and infantrymen of all combatant countries involved in the fighting, their tanks, vehicles, aircraft, weapons etc.
There is no color in the book.
There is a post-card inserted in the book, to use to send to Casemate for more information about Pen & Sword Books.
This book will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.