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An Army at Dawn

The War in North Africa (1942-1943)

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An Army at Dawn

By: Rick Atkinson
Narrated by: Rick Atkinson
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About this listen

 In the first volume of a remarkable trilogy, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson provides the definitive history of the war in North Africa.
The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is an epic story of courage and calamity, of miscalculation and enduring triumph. An Army at Dawn begins on the eve of Operation TORCH, the daring amphibious invasion of Morocco and Algeria. After three days of hard fighting against the French, American and British troops push deeper into North Africa.
But the confidence gained after several early victories soon wanes; casualties mount rapidly; battle plans prove ineffectual, and hope for a quick and decisive victory evaporates. The Allies discover that they are woefully unprepared to fight and win this war. North Africa becomes a proving ground: it is here that American officers learn how to lead, here that soldiers learn how to hate, here that an entire army learns what it will take to vanquish a formidable enemy. Many great battle captains emerged in North Africa, including Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and Montgomery. Atkinson brings these commanders vividly to life. He takes us to the front lines of every major battle -- from Oran to Kasserine to Tunis. In North Africa, the Allied coalition came into its own, the enemy forever lost the initiative, and the United States -- for the first time -- began to act like a great power.
Atkinson casts a clear eye on the dark tragedies that haunt every war. The first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, An Army At Dawn is history of the highest order -- brilliantly researched, rich with new material and surprising insights, the deeply human story of a monumental battle for the future of civilization.©2002 Rick Atkinson, All Rights Reserved; (P)2002 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved, AUDIOWORKS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc. Africa Military World War Imperialism Dwight Eisenhower Morocco Submarine Middle Ages Air Force Interwar Period

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Most relevant
This book is not for all military history buffs. The reading can be dense at time, not boring, just full of facts and details. It is very well written and is the result of a vast amount of well thought out and organized research. Although it has some, I wish it were laiden with more personal accounts and quotes which gives you more a feeling of being told a story rather than reading history.

Heavy duty history

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Well written, well researched book. Draws you in and makes it very easy to understand the events. Nice to have an account from the allied point of view.
Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the second world war or indeed military history.

A must read.

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The book in itself is extremely interesting, with lots of facts and research, but that's the problem. at times, it's hard to follow and you have to go back many times to figure out what is happening. I would say that the narrator, although with a calm and slow paced voice, didn't really help. I found that if someone a bit more "excited" with what they were reading would have helped me follow more and keep up with what was going. A great book, but not one for audible in my opinion.

Not great as an audiobook

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