Alamein to Zem Zem [Unknown Binding]

Keith Castellain Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1946

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.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Keith Douglas was born in 1920. At school and at Oxford he was both a prolific poet and a committed member of the Officers Training Corps. When the Second World War broke out, he enlisted immediately, and was posted to Palestine in 1941. When his tank regiment began fighting in El Alamein in 1942, Douglas was instructed to stay behind as a staff officer. But he made his own way to the battlefield, an experience which he recounted in his prose memoir Alamein to Zem Zem (first published in 1946). He later took part in the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, and was killed three days later. His Collected Poems came out in 1951. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• Publisher: Editions Poetry London (1946)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007J1DDM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars little known gem of a war memoir by a great poet, November 1, 2002

By 

Frank Henson (Stamford, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alamein to Zem Zem (Paperback)

This book used to be extremely hard to find, so it's nice to see this edition and know that it's been reprinted since i read it in '82.

Here's what makes this book so interesting: Douglas was a student of literature, British, so his perspective on being a tanker in WWII reflects an insightful sensibility. He fought in numerous campaigns in Africa (Alamein and on) before dying in Normandy shortly after being called back to active duty. Douglas is considered one of the finest war poets of WWII, but it's his descriptions of tank battles and the hot, concussive nature of it that is most memorable to me.

This is the kind of war memoir that is often overlooked but rare in it's depth and scope.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Life cut tragically short, September 28, 2010

By 

William Pilon (Roswell, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alamein to Zem Zem (Paperback)

I just finished From Alamein to Zem Zem by Keith Douglas. Douglas was a 24 year old lieutenant in the British Army who, on the eve of the battle of Alamein, deserted his staff job in Cairo to rejoin his regiment and take part in the attack. The thin little book (167 pages) covers Douglas' experiences as the commander of a troop of Crusader tanks in the battle and the pursuit of Rommel's Afrika Korps that followed.

Despite his youth, Douglas had established a reputation as something of a poet and his facility with words makes this memoir something very special. I enjoyed it immensely. Douglas is by turns matter of fact and lyrical when describing his experiences. For me at least, he provided the sense of vicariously being in the desert with him as he rode his tank into battle.
Unfortunately the book is simply too short, Douglas was wounded during the campaign and after describing his evacuation back to a hospital in Palestine in some detail, the rest of his recuperation is given only a cursory description, as is his return to his unit.

After the period covered by the memoir, Capt Douglas returned to Great Britain to train for the D-Day invasion. He landed on Gold Beach 6 June 1944 and was killed three days later by mortar fire at the age of 24.

I recommend the book very highly as one of the best personal memoirs of WWII I've read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works as literature as well as hirstory, August 6, 2004

By 

professor rat (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alamein to Zem Zem (Paperback)

Warning spoilers - This is a rare eyewitness account of fighting in a rare theatre written by a rare person; a poet. Keith Douglas is bored of recovering behind lines and disobeys orders in order to return to the front.
The highly interesting scenes that follow describe in economical spare, yet highly descriptive prose the tank battles in the various desert theatre's that seem so familar from the movies. The terrain and climate become characters as they should. Certain Brits really took to the desert in a way none of the Germans ever did. Terrific stuff and incredible details of something I thought was confined to WW1 when commonwealth troops get fed into a meatgrinder in classic tory cannon fodder fashion. This was a shock for me as an Aussie raised on the Gallipoli myth. It's poetic justice that the ' colonel Blimp' type responsible gets blown away as the desert fox becomes the hunted instead of the hunter.
It's not so neat what happens to poor keith but he does get a little cocky and you cant really blame him for thinking he's leading a charmed life. The Germans or Italians certainly mastered booby traps if not the back wadi's. They say that such a thin sliver killed Keith Douglas during the D-day landings that he looked completely unmarked. Made me wonder how close we came to not having the dynamite, ' Homage to Catalonia'.
There are several way's Hitler could have won the whole war and this was the famous ' end of the begining' of, perhaps the most fascinating one these.' A bloody close run thing.'