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Rommel's North Africa Campaign. September 1940-November 1942. By Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani. Conshohocken, Pa.: Combined Books, 1994. Maps. Illustrations. Index. Pp. 272. $22.95.
There is a certain amount of mythology attached to Erwin Rommel's campaign in North Africa during the Second World War. Consequently, the campaign has been exploited in popular histories as well as technically oriented "guns and bugles" works of military history. In the countless volumes of widely varying quality produced on Rommel in North Africa, the flair and drama as well as the technical and tactical aspects of the major battles have been well covered. It is onto this well-trodden territory that Rommel's North Africa Campaign: September 1940-November 1942 throws itself. The authors' prime goals are "to offer a general narrative of the warfare in the Western Desert of North Africa and to analyze the decisive elements of the 1941-1942 campaign and the impact of General Rommel" (p. 9). Despite the generic nature of these objectives, there are significant problems that prevent their successful completion.
The narrative begins with a competent analysis of Italy's colonial interests in North Africa and its military preparedness in 1939. Rather quickly, however, the text degenerates into a tedious description of troop movements, tank specifications, and regimental strengths....