Get Rommel (Cassell Military Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Michael Asher (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cassell Military Paperbacks | Publication Date: April 14, 2005

In summer 1941 Erwin Rommel was Hitler's favourite general: he had driven the British out of Libya and stood poised to invade Egypt. He seemed unbeatable. So the British decided to have him killed. The British opened their counter-attack with a series of special forces raids, the first ever operation by the newly formed SAS. Rommel was one of the targets. Michael Asher reveals how poor planning and incompetence in high places led to disaster in the desert-- and how fantastic bravery and brilliant improvisation enabled a handful of men to escape. Classic real life adventure, written by best-selling desert expert and novelist Michael Asher.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Asher served in the Parachute Regiment and SAS. A fluent Arab speaker, he has lived for years among the Bedouin peoples. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, his published books include SHOOT TO KILL (1990), THESIGER: A BIOGRAPHY (1994) and an acclaimed biography of Lawrence of Arabia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Cassell Military Paperbacks (April 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304366943
• ISBN-13: 978-0304366941
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,370,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rommel Raid - an early Commando Op gone wrong..., June 13, 2008

By 

Kiwi (Mississauga, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Get Rommel (Cassell Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This title reveals how an early Commando operation in the Mediterranean ended in disaster in the desert. In summer 1941 Erwin Rommel was Hitler's favourite general: he had driven the British out of Libya and stood poised to invade Egypt. He seemed unbeatable. So the British decided to have him killed. The British opened their counter-attack with a series of special forces raids, both a Cammando raid on what was thought to be Rommel's headquarters and the first ever operation by the newly formed SAS. Rommel was one of the targets. Michael Asher reveals how poor planning and incompetence in high places led to disaster in the desert-- and how fantastic bravery and brilliant improvisation enabled a handful of men to escape.

The reputation of Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, as Hitler's greatest General, struck awe into his Allied opponents in the Desert War. In order to establish the credentials of the newly-created Special Air Service as an effective unit, the SAS commander, David Stirling, proposed a daring raid to capture or kill the legendary German soldier. Approved by Stirling's peacetime shopoting companion General Neil Ritchie, Chief of Staff to Sir Claude Auchinleck, the British CinC, the high-risk raid went ahead. In telling the exciting but tragic story of its ultimate failure, Michael Asher, himself a former SAS member and now a desert explorer, does not spare the reputation of his old regiment's founder. He paints Stirling as a social climber whose reckless schemes cost good men's lives. A genuinely untold story of the war.

See also the biography of Geoffrey Keyes for the story of one of the leaders of the Rommel Raid.