Product Description

Keith Douglas, killed in action in Normandy in 1944, was one of the finest poets of World War II. Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein in the north African desert, this book is a description of Douglas' experiences on the desert battlefield.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #726904 in Books
• Published on: 1993-02-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 156 pages

Customer Reviews

Proof that real-life is better than fiction
This first-hand account of the battle of El Alamein by a tank commander who was also a well-regarded poet is well worth reading. While it is rather more gung-ho, the closest parallel I can think of is some of Wilfred Owen's poetry from the Western Front of the previous round of Unpleasantness. I was particularly struck by something that is very common in real military memoirs but almost entirely absent from fictional ones: that soldiers - even officers - rarely know what's going on, are frequently confused, spend far more time waiting around than they do fighting, and that their biggest enemy is often the environment as opposed to the other side's soldiers. Some of the confusion seeps through to the pages. In a very short book, it is sometimes hard to keep track of who is who in Douglas's squadron, but whereas in a work of fiction that would be terribly important, in this true account it really doesn't matter - the overall impression is what counts. In short, this is one of the few books that I can whole-heartedly recommend to absolutely everyone, no matter whether your normal diet is great literature or formulaic pot-boiler thrillers. Buy it. Now.