The more of Osprey's Campaign series that I read, the more that I like them. The books provide an excellent look at the ebb and flow of battle as well as a good look at the personalities involved and how they interact with each other and the forces under their command. Nowhere is there a greater difference in leadership between the commanding generals of two sides in a conflict than is shown in this book on Rommel's greatest desert victory at Gazala.

Rommel was a commander who required absolute obeyence of his orders, yet was beloved by his troops and respected by most of his subordinate commanders. On the down side of Rommel was that he was constantly on the battlefield and out of touch of his HQ when perhaps he should have remained in the back to be able to oversee the entire battle and provide guidance.

 On the other side of things, most of the top British commanders were considerably more ingrained with pre-war tactics and were hesitant to commit without orders from on high. There was also a considerable amount of in-fighting among them that filtered down to the lower echelons of command. This provided a lack of confidence in the troops and the results showed it. The British also moved a lot of units around, placing them under one chain of command one day and another a few days later. This also affected the morale and spirit of the British.

One has to read this with an admiration for Rommel's planning and audacity. Throughout the battles of June 1942, Rommel was generally in the minority when it comes to numbers of troops, tanks and supporting units. However, through wise and sometimes audacious use of these assets, the German Army was able to push the British back several hundred miles to well within Egyptian borders and on the threshold of the Nile Delta at Alamein.

The author covers the usual sections of a book in Osprey's Campaign series. It has a build up to the battle, a look at opposing commanders and their armies. Then it covers both the Allied and German plans at the time before going into the battle itself. This part consumes much of the book and provides significant detail of each day of the fighting. This is all followed by the results of the battle and how it affected future actions, which in the desert war, often resulted in major change.

 All of this is further enhanced by a superb selection of period photographs as well as the use of traditional and 3D bird's eye maps. In all, it adds another outstanding volume to the Campaign series and is a book that I am sure you will enjoy.

July 2008

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