Product Description

Operation Mercury, the German airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941, was the first strategic use of airborne forces in history. The assault began on 20 May, with landings near the island's key airports, and reinforcements the next day allowed the German forces to capture one end of the runway at Maleme. By 24 May the Germans were being reinforced by air on a huge scale and on 1 June Crete surrendered. This book describes how desperately close the battle had been, and explains how German losses so shocked the Fuhrer that he never again authorised a major airborne operation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #190154 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
Peter D. Antill has a background in international politics and defence studies, with a BA in International Relations from Staffordshire University and an MSc in Strategic Studies from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Having worked as a Research Assistant in the Department of Defence Management and Security Analysis at Cranfield from 1998 to 2002, Peter is now pursuing a career as a writer. Howard Gerrard has been a freelance designer and illustrator for over 20 years. He has worked for a number of publishers and is an associate member of the Guild of Aviation Artists. He has previously illustrated a number of titles in the Campaign series, including volumes 77: 'Tarawa 1943', 81: 'Iwo Jima 1945', 92: 'St Nazaire 1942' and 96: 'Okinawa 1945'. He lives and works in Kent.

Customer Reviews

not bad, but a little bit boring, with average colour plates
Well, it is not a bad book, but I had some problems to read it all and I admit that I skipped some bits here and there. This is not something I usually do, especially in Osprey Campaign books which are short (96 pages) par principle. But this time I really had to. And when I tried to read it again a couple of moths later, well, I got the same result.
So what is the problem? I would say that the writing is somehow "uninspired" - even boring by moments. The description of the battle is a little bit confused, and the maps are average - it is not always easy to follow the events. The colour plates are not bad, but the style is not so much about details - I would say it is rather more "impressionist" by moments. Not my favourite, but this is a question of taste. Pity also that the plates didn't show some quite unique weapons used by the Fallschirmjager - like the recoiless rifles or heavy 28 mm antitank rifles with conical tube.
All in all, it is not so bad, but still this book could be better - especially considering the unique character of the battle described.

crete 1941 (campaign series)
tries best to cover an important military innovation
no one of the best in this series