Cassell, 2001, $19.95, ISBN 0-304-35951-3, 362 pages, trade paperback

This reprint, the second volume in a trilogy, carries the Desert War from the promotion of Auchinleck in mid 1941 to his replacement with Montgomery in mid 1942. In between, Pitt provides a wealth of detail about war North African Style.

Operation Crusader, which started in November 1941, takes up the bulk of the volume, and Pitt weaves a fascinating tale of sharp attacks, counterattacks, incompetence, luck, and pluck as the British 8th Army clashes with the DAK. He delivers insight into the operational spectrum while nicely supporting the flow of battle with tactical anecdotes.

It is again decidedly pro-British in tone, although tinged with almost reverence for Rommel and deep scorn for the Italian army (except for the artillery, which seems to be effective).

As the 8th Army pushes the DAK out of Cyrenaica, so it becomes ripe for Rommel's counterstroke, which shoves the 8th back to Gazala and Tobruk. Subsequent battles, nicely illustrated with smaller tactical maps, see the 8th broken, Tobruk captured, and the DAK driving for the Nile. Several successful battles later, Rommel begins yet another offensive in a place called El Alamein.

The first battle of El Alamein proved to be Auchinlek's last. The 8th finally stops the DAK -- a very worn-out, under-strength, supply line-stretched DAK to be sure. Pitt describes this last desperate effort with thrilling prose, and a real feel for the difficulties of desert war.

This second volume is as good as the first and makes me eager to start the third.

More Crucible of War

Volume I: Wavell's Command
Volume II: Auchinleck's Command
Volume III: Montgomery and Alamein