Erwin Rommel (Commanders in Focus)

Few military opponents have been praised inside the House of Commons as was Erwin Rommel, by no less a figure than Winston Churchill. This was at the time when the charismatic German general was running amok in North Africa, disrupting the British dominance of the region.

This volume traces the full remarkable career of the small, wiry man who was to become the legendary 'Desert Fox' and shows how a mild, retiring youngster quickly became an amazingly successful operator with light forces in the First World War, then proved the perfect spearhead of the devastating 'blitzkrieg' strategy of the Germans against the Allies in the early years of the Second World War. He was then transfered to the deserts of North Africa where he was to cause such havoc to the British army, only stopped by the arrival of 'Monty'.

This thorough assessment marks Rommel as one of the finest military men of the 20th century. It also examines his faults, and covers the sad end to his life when he chose suicide ahead of a show trial after being accused of plotting to blow up Hitler.