The End of the Beginning: From the Siege of Malta to the Allied Victory at El Alamein

This book is one of the best ever written about the travails of the Allies, particularly the British, as they struggled to stop the Nazi's unchecked aggression in the early days of WWII. The authors have woven a colorful chronological tapestry of individual soldiers', airmens' and sailors' stories, entwined with the broader perspectives and struggles of Churchill and Roosevelt as they approach the strategic challenges of a global war. The text follows the various central characters as they fit into the chronology, so each ones story is told against the backdrop of the overall war as it unfolds. This gives the book an almost novel quality, captivating the reader as these personalities tell their stories. The reader is given a foxhole look at the very bloody and unusual warfare conducted in the desert, following enlisted men and junior officers as they try to outwit the genius of Field Marshal Irwin Rommel at the very pointed end of the spear. Most of the first-person testimony is seen for the first time and is riveting in its realism, making the reader feel as if they are actually witnessing the battles, skirmishes and situations confronting the combatants. As a result of historians generally paying scant attention to this period, both the strategic and tactical issues discussed make for particularly insightful and entertaining reading. The air war waged above and the convoys being sunk in attempting to re-supply Malta, and the very unique warfare in the desert are particulalry interesting. This book is easy to read and is very well researched, thus bringing the reader along on the airplanes, ships and armored vehicles as they are wielded as instruments of battle. This book is an absolute "must read" for anyone interested in the first halting successes of the Allies as they learn to meet and defeat the Axis powers.

Having enjoyed 'Finest Hour', the authors' previous book on the summer of 1940, I was curious to see whether or not they could repeat their successful character driven narrative over a much wider field than the Battle of Britain. 'End of the Beginning' covers the pivotal year of 1942 when the tide of World War Two finally began to turn against Hitler. The book covers a wide range of topics from the heroic defence of Malta and bombing raids over Germany, to the Dieppe raid to Churchill's difficult relationship with the senior British officers in the desert trying to fend off Rommel's drive on Egypt. Yet, as with 'Finest Hour', by far the most impressive thing is the fascinating mix of characters whose individual recollections form the backbone of the book. Their personal accounts of the unique rituals of tank warfare in the desert, night bombing over Germany and volunteering to reboard a stricken Malta bound tanker to name but three examples bring starkly to life the wider themes of the war in 1942. This approch brings home to me how very ordinary people rose to the challenge of war. This is most clearly shown by the accounts of various Nottinghamshire soldiers in the run up to El Alamein, the climax of the book. Their detailed accounts show that however great the generals, wars are still ultimately won by individuals who clear minefields with a bayonet or slug it out in individual tank to tank duels under the desert sun. One of the recurring themes of the book is that none of the interviewees thought that they were doing anything untoward. Judged by the standard of the times this may have been so. Sixty years on, their heroism and scarifices are even more starkly outlined. 'End of the Beginning' is a fascinating account of war at the ground level illuminating the high politics of the Anglo-American relationship. If, like me, you do not know a great deal about this period of the war, the book will prove an invaluable and entertaining read.

Once again the talented combination of Tim Clayton and Phil Craig have produced a new and exciting account of a well know period of the Second World War. Their newest book, apparently the second in a trilogy designed to mark the 60th anniversaries of Britain's three most important moments during WW2, covers the year 1942, the turning point in the Allied camp.Following on from their excellent book 'Finest Hour', we again meet up with some familiar faces from that story. Peter Vaux, now fighting with the famed Desert Rats, Edith Heap working with R.A.F. bomber crews in England and Ken Lee still flying fighters in the R.A.F. but now over the desert. The authors have used the same winning formula with their last book and we follow these people and their stories along with a few others through the events of 1942. We experience the fighting in the desert against Rommel and his men. We read how the British tanks are out classed by the German panzers and how the R.A.F. try to protect the Allies and harry the advancing German and Italian units as they advance towards Alexandria. We read about the desperate battles on the sea and in the sky to get convoys into Malta. We hear the stories of the inhabitants of that bombed out Island, hanging on desperately against the might of the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica during daily bombing missions and with the fear of invasion hanging over their heads.The story takes us back to Europe and we learn of the fate of many of the R.A.F. bomber crews fighting their own lonely war over the dark skies of occupied Europe. We read about the terrible tragedy at Dieppe and the political infighting amongst the leaders of the allied nations. Most of the story has been told before, however there are some elements that most readers will find new and interesting. I was not aware of the American intelligence blunder that gave away many Allied secrets to the Germans nor was I aware of the true mastermind behind the defence at El Alamein. These things and more are told here for the first time and we read the stories of those who experienced this frightening but also uplifting period with a mixture of awe and amazement. This is a good book and in just over 400 pages we get a good feel for what it was like for many participants to be involved in this most important period in British history. One story that I won't forget and found hard to believe was the account of a young Jewish woman that was deported to Auschwitz from Guernsey. You read this story and you ask yourself 'how could this happened?'I am sure that most people who enjoy popular history will get a buzz out of this book. "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning" - Winston Churchill, 10th November, 1942