Crete: The Battle And The Resistance (History & Warfare) [Paperback]

Antony Beevor (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813320801 | ISBN-13: 978-0813320809 | Publication Date: February 22, 1994

A riveting account of the fall of Greece, the Battle of Crete, and the CretanResistance, from the beginning of World War II to its end.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Few battles in World War II can surpass Crete for high drama, both on land and sea. Beevor, formerly of the 11th Hussars, writes about that battle with a soldier's eye and a historian's insight. Crete was a campaign unique in many respects, not the least of which was its ferocity. Beevor has a flair for re-creating the historical moment, and during sections of the text even the most detached reader will pause to catch a breath. He dissects the leadership of some of the war's most intriguing personalities, both Allied and German, illuminating their achievements and follies. His book is enriched with wonderful anecdotal material, some of which will both amuse and puzzle his American counterparts, whose military traditions are often so dissimilar. Recommended for both professional and general readership.
Robert A. Cole, "New England Journal of History"
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'Antony Beevor's unerring flair for the climate and the feel of the conflict ... his insight and his grasp of these vents make them seem as though they had happened last week' -- Patrick Leigh Fermor, Daily Telegraph 'Excellent ... an arresting account of the whole war on Crete, including the ghastly experiences of the Cretans under German occupation' -- John Keegan, Sunday Telegraph 'The best book we have got on Crete' -- Michael Foot, Observer 'Beevor's account is excellent: fresh, lively and peppered with anecdotes' -- Mail on Sunday 'A new paperback edition is welcome for two reasons; reminding us that Beevor is a writer and historian of rare ability and for starkly illustrating the variables of war' -- Neville Smith, Lloyd's List 20051028 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (February 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813320801
• ISBN-13: 978-0813320809
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,105,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A regular in the 11th Hussars, Antony Beevor served in Germany and England. He has had a number of books published and his book Stalingrad was awarded the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wolfson History Prize and the Hawthornden Prize. Among the many prestigious posts he holds, he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clarity brought to a Complex Story, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Crete: The Battle and the Resistance (History and Warfare) (Hardcover)

This is a splendidly-written account of the British Campaign in Greece and Crete in 1941, and to a lesser extent, of the resistance to the Germans during the occupation. The account of the defence against the German airborne invasion is masterly, and though many units are involved, the writer has the knack of keeping them distinct in the reader's mind such that there is no difficulty in following the actions at four separate but simultaneous landing points. Stories of heroism and of initiative, and also sadly of failure of will, abound on all sides. The aspect of the knife-edge that separated success and failure is very well conveyed. Bernard Freyberg emerges as a tragic figure, a man of magnificent personal courage and a Homeric hero of an earlier war, and in the same general theatre, but sadly out of his depth in the Cretan operation. One is reminded poignantly of the merciless revelation of John Bell Hood's weakness as a commander during his invasion of Tennessee in late 1864. The only fault I found with the Resistance part of the book was that it was too short, and I would have enjoyed a more extended account of individual actions. Inspired by this, I am now keen to locate "The Cretan Runner", so favourably mentioned by the author. Given the prominent role played in the Resistance story by Patrick Leigh-Fermor, those who enjoy this book will be entranced by his two books detailing a foot journey he made as a youth from Hook of Holland to Istanbul in 1934. In Crete, he and small band of heroes, British, Commonwealth and Greek, faced terrifying consequences for any failure when they faced a ruthless and merciless foe. This book underlines how high was the price paid for freedom in the 1940's, and how dreadful were the consequences of disarmament and pacifism in the democracies in the two previous decades - a lesson we forget at our peril.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, November 29, 2009

By 

Dave Schranck "Dave" (Anaheim Ca) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Crete (Paperback)

This book is typical Beevor. If you have read "Stalingrad" or "Berlin", you'll be familiar with the author's style. It's very engaging, blending the operational aspects with human interest, allowing the reader to get a better perspective of the war.
The book is divided into three parts. The smallest part is Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece by German and Italian forces and the subsequent evacuation of Allied force to Crete. The second part is the largest, consuming 55 pct of the book and covers the invasion of Crete by the Germans and the evacuation of the Allies back to Egypt. The key engagements were at Maleme, Souda, Prison Valley, Rethymnon and Keraklion. Secondary sites are Kastelli, Galatos, Platanias and Canea. The final part is the organized resistance movement on the island after the Allied defeat.

The author begins his book by describing briefly the Balkan environment and the reasons for Hitler's invasion of Yugoslavia, Greece and finally Crete. It took less than four weeks in April to capture Greece and force the Allies off the mainland, leaving behind all of their heavy equipment. The preparations for the Crete invasion comes next. The faulty intell and poor planning and over confidence of Student play prominent roles in the difficulties the Germans experience in the campaign.
Beevor lists some of the accomplishment the XI Flieger Corps of the first two years of the war that sparked over confidence in Student.
Germans weren't the only ones making mistakes. Freyberg, a retiree who was called back when the war started, was the CO of the Allied forces on Crete, and made some mistakes of troop disposition based on faulty intell and poor judgment.

The invasion started on May 20th and for the first couple days the Allies inflicted heavy casualties on the paratroopers, giving Freyberg and Hargest a false sense of approaching victory and further bad judgment. On the 22nd Allied disasters on land and sea completely turned the advantage to the Germans and it started to unravel for the Allies and by the end of the month a full blown evacuation was nearing completion. Mr Beevor gives excellent coverage of the daily events making up this invasion.
The last part of the story which seems pretty complete, covers the organized resistance movement on the island and the ruthlessness that evolved on both sides. He also describes the fortification of the island by the Germans in anticipation of the eventual invasion by the Allies.

I liked this book very much for it gives a good accounting of the operational aspects of this campaign as well as providing many individual and small unit first hand accounts of the soldiers in the trenches. In the resistance phase a number of civilians are discussed quite well. It also gives a good accounting of the communications and planning between Freyberg, Hargest and Puttick but poor communication between the isolated garrisons on the front line. It also covers how Ultra was used. Mr Beevor was critical of the command performance on both sides but was particularly critical of Freyberg and Hargest whose sporadic poor judgment cost the lives of many soldiers.

The author provides 20 photos and 7 maps which were helpful. There is also an Appendix, and an extensive Bibliography and Notes sections as well as an Index. For anybody looking to read about the Crete Campaign, this book is ideal and is recommended for its concise and engaging manner.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting look at an often overlooked battle, June 12, 2001

By 

Craig MACKINNON (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crete: The Battle And The Resistance (History & Warfare) (Paperback)

This is the only book I've read to focus on the Battle of Crete. It was interesting and informative. For the historian, there is a lot of detail, such as disposition of units, resistance leaders' names and locations of operations, etc. For the casual reader, this detail does not bog the reader down, generally, and events are presented clearly. A certain amount of knowledge of the course of WWII is assumed, but I doubt someone unfamiliar with the course of the war would be interesting in this book anyways.

As mentioned in another review, it is a little dry at times, but this is not a large flaw. The main problem is the focus on the British and Commenwealth troops. Presumably they kept better records, but surely a few more anecdotes could have been presented regarding the plight of the common Cretan resistance fighter.

The invasion of Crete should be a fertile ground for all those "What if ...." alternate history authors. If the British had held the island, its long-range bombers (developed later in the war) would have had a base from where they could strike the Ploesti oil fields, and possible greatly affected the outcome of the war. Alternatively, a resounding German victory may have brought on an airborne invasion of England. As it turned out, the Germans won a victory, but destroyed their paratroops in the process. These issues add an interesting side-story to the drama, and Beevor introduces these ideas to put the battle in context. Oddly enough, he generally dismisses the idea that Crete's fate had a significant effect on the overall outcome of the war, but he has planted the seeds of doubt in my mind, at least.

All in all, it's an interesting book, well focussed on the battle and resistance on the isle of Crete.