Infantry Attacks [Paperback]

Erwin Rommel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 29, 2006

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel exerted an almost hypnotic influence not only over his own troops but also over the Allied soldiers of the Eighth Army in the Second World War. Even when the legend surrounding his invincibility was overturned at El Alamein, the aura surrounding Rommel himself remained unsullied. As a leader of a small unit in the First World War, he proved himself an aggressive and versatile commander, with a reputation for using the battleground terrain to his own advantage, for gathering intelligence, and for seeking out and exploiting enemy weaknesses. Rommel graphically describes his own achievements, and those of his units, in the swift-moving battles on the Western Front, in the ensuing trench warfare, in the 1917 campaign in Romania, and in the pursuit across the Tagliamento and Piave rivers. This classic account seeks out the basis of his astonishing leadership skills, providing an indispensable guide to the art of war written by one of its greatest exponents.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Library Journal, October 1, 2006

"Though most people immediately connect Rommel with the Africa campaigns of World War II, he made his initial legendary giant steps during the First World War. In this 1935 title, he recalls his greatest battles, outlines how he won them, and provides his strategies on the use of armor in the field--lessons ultimately used by Patton and other Allied tank commanders to defeat him."

Military History, August 2007

“Infantry Attacks reads like an adventure novel and became a 1930s bestseller that not only made Rommel rich, but also prompted Hitler to make him commander of his personal military bodyguard.”

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books (August 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853677078
• ISBN-13: 978-1853677076
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,388,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ...and so does Rommel!, September 17, 2007

By 

M. G Watson "Miles Watson" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Infantry Attacks (Paperback)

The principal players of the Second World War paid their dues in the First, and Erwin Rommel was no exception. The man who would later become "the Desert Fox" and win worldwide acclaim as one of the greatest generals of all time began his combat career as a young lieutenant in the army of Wilhelm II, indistinguishable from thousands of others who crossed the French or Belgian frontier in 1914. Four years later he was one of the most decorated soldiers in the Imperial Army, holder of the "Pour le Merite" (the highest Prussian award for bravery) and a firm believer that "positional [i.e. trench] warfare" was for fools. His credo could be summed up in the old Prussian maxim: "Never ask how strong the enemy is, only where he is -- and march to the sound of guns."

Rommel published INFANTRY ATTACKS in 1937, when he was a lieutenant-colonel in the Reichsheer and commandant of the military academy in Weiner Neustadt. At the time he was already famous in the German army for his 1914 - 1918 exploits, but INFANTRY ATTACKS brought him international acclaim, at least in military circles. In Germany the book made him quite wealthy, and in a sense one can see why: compared to the turgid, half-mystical reminiscences of some of his contemporaries, INFANTRY ATTACKS is entirely without introspection. It is simply a recounting of the innumerable small-unit actions in which Rommel participated in during the Great War. The book's methodical, matter-of-fact style reflects the personality of its author, who was not inclined to philosophizing. The "whys" and "wherefores" of war mattered to him not at all. Unlike Ernst Juenger, who also won the Pour le Merite and wrote postwar accounts of his exploits (THE STORM OF STEEL, COPSE 125, WAR AS AN INWARD EXPERIENCE) Rommel wasn't interested in the "inward experience", just the fighting. He was a soldier's soldier.

During the War, Rommel served extensively in France, Rumania and Italy, and INFANTRY ATTACKS recounts in great detail his many offensive exploits, where he distinguished himself not merely with his aggressive style but by his habit (repeated in World War II) of leading from the front. Utterly fearless, possessing unlimited physical stamina and seemingly immune to pain (his gunshot wounds are described merely as events, like losing the sole of a shoe; the only thing that seems to have caused him real discomfort in the whole war was getting a foot smashed by a boulder in the mountains) Rommel was the ideal junior officer under any conditions, and was rightly worshipped by his men - another trait he enjoyed in the '39 - 45 war. He was further distinguished by his nobility and chivalry, qualities which are more responsible than his military genius for making him beloved among his former enemies. Today, Rommel is the only one of the myriad generals who achieved fame in Nazi Germany who is officially honored by the present day German government.

The strength of INFANTRY ATTACKS lies not merely in the nature of what is being described (battle and more battle) but in the fact that Rommel has no artistic pretentions: he simply records what happened without sentimentalizing or succumbing to the Germanic curse of using 1,000 words when two hundred would suffice. This, however, is also the book's great weakness: all these skirmishes, raids, marches, countermarches, midnight conferences, attacks, retirements, hand-grenade fights, machine-gun duels, artillery bombardments, and climbs up mountain slopes in the rain, snow and blazing sun begin to wear down the reader over time. If it is possible for combat to be monotonous, Rommel occasionally manages to make it so, if only by the staggering amount of it he actually experienced. If Juenger was often turgid and romantic, he was also willing to discuss the lighter side of war - the pranks, the drinking, the philosophical bull-sessions and the endless war against rats, boredom and Prussian discipline. Such humanistic moments would have been welcome in this book, but Rommel was not inclined to dwell on them. (The closest thing he displays to a sense of humor is contemptuous jokes at the expense of the French and the Italians, neither of whom seem to have impressed him with their soldierly ability.)

So, if you are looking for a pure combat memior, penned by one of the greatest soldiers ever, INFANTRY ATTACKS is the very definition of the bill. But if you want a look "under the helmet" into the mind and soul of a great fighting man, I would suggest supplementing ATTACKS with Juenger's more layered STORM OF STEEL. After all, nothing is more Prussian than obtaining a "total view" of a military situation!

(Note: INFANTRY ATTACKS was published in Germany as INFANTERIE GRIEFT AN; in English this was originally translated as "ATTACKS" and under that title was published during WW 2. ATTACKS is also for sale on Amazon, but ATTACKS and INFANTRY ATTACKS are the exact same book, though they have different forwards and the translation slightly differs; so if you already have the one, there is no need to buy the other)

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The foundation of a brilliant General, April 23, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Infantry Attacks (Greenhill Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Rommel lays out his own tactiacal ideas and concepts as he creates them in combat in WWI. Rommel shows the benefits of surprise, speed and how to take massive numbers of prisoners without firing a shot. Rommel lays the foundation which will make him the most famous general of the 20th century

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rommel - the origin of 'JUST DO IT', February 1, 2000

By 

"mullet02" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Infantry Attacks (Hardcover)

I imagine a good business lecturer would translate lessons from this book into 'Rommel on Business'. However, for me, it will suffice to say that Rommel writes an exciting account of the terrible and sometimes gruesome conditions of war in World War One. His clear examples of 'leadership by example', and 'be a bold risk taker' would seem self-confidence overblown, were it not for the historical reality of his successes in the battles named. There is also an element here and there of the blind nationalism that would lead him and many of his fellow officers into the follow-on fiasco a mere 20+ years later. A 'must read' for modern military historians and Rommel fans.