Kasserine: The Battlefield Slaughter of American Troops by Rommel's Afrika Korps [Hardcover]

Charles Whiting (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1992

The full story of the massacre of youthful innocents, sacrificed by military incompetents.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Scarborough House (March 25, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812829549
• ISBN-13: 978-0812829549
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Same Old Song, April 17, 2000

By 

Mark Hochberg (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kasserine: The Battlefield Slaughter of American Troops by Rommel's Afrika Korps (Hardcover)

Charles Whiting has a very low opinion of the High Command of the U.S. Army. In all of his books that I've read, he tells variations of the same story: the incompetence of senior American officers leading to the sacrifice of G.I.s. The Battle of Kasserine Pass in early 1943 should give Whiting the perfect opportunity for developing his theme: this first major encounter between U.S. forces and Rommel's Afrika Korps was badly botched by the Americans. But I finished the book not much wiser than I started about what exactly went wrong. Whiting seemed to be attributing the defeat to the alcoholism of the general commanding the American II Corps. A far more nuanced and balanced analysis of the battle is provided by Martin Blumenson in his book. The Blumenson volume is out of print, but, if you want to understand the complexities of the defeat at Kasserine, find it.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Did the American Army do anything correct here?, July 4, 2003

By 

Wes Kammerer (Louisville, Ky United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kasserine: The Battlefield Slaughter of American Troops by Rommel's Afrika Korps (Hardcover)

Charles Whiting is an established author, with many fine books to his credit. His accounting of the Battle of Kasserine Pass leaves much to be desired though.

The book starts off describing the American Army coming to Britian and the tension that existed between the two armies. In writting; "The British thought the Yanks hopeless", he contrasted the spit and polish of the Brits with the Dough Boys. Mr. Whiting goes on to say that the U.S. soldiers were overweight, ill-trained and ill-disciplined. He makes comments like this about these men throughout the book. While it cannot be argued that at that time our troops lacked many qualities, his consistently negative remarks makes you question why we are not now speaking German. The British soldiers are shown to be the opposite of this, in fact the heros of the story.

Mr.Whiting also tells of the personal female aid to General Eisenhower, (Kay Sumersby), and gives many details of their relationship. There is implication of a sexual encounter between the two. While this may make interesting reading, it is not of the content that I would prefer in a book of this title.

The book goes on to speak of the Torch landings, and of the difficult time that was had with the nuetrality of the French in North Africa. There is good detail here; to a topic that is easily overlooked.

Mr. Whiting then speaks of the confusion and ineptitude of the American command staff, giving ample criticism to General Frendendall. This is well founded. Frendendall's horrible leadership can bear the brunt of the blame for the fiasco. But Mr.Whiting focuses too much on rheteric - "..Youthful innocence sacrificed at the altar of the God of war by incompetent, complacent old men, who lived on to die in bed." - and not to the tactical and strategic blunders that lead to the downfall in this battle.

The entire content is devoted to bashing Americans that were in the battle, and not to the challenges they faced. 'The Army was soundly routed, with many units just giving up', could be said of this battle. It could also be said of the inexperienced Eigth Army of Britain as it was chased across the North African frontier by Rommel, just a year earlier. A "green" army will have these setbacks. This is not noted here, but was reflected in Field Marshal Montgomery's memoirs of this battle.

While there are some notes regarding the German's superiority in equipment - the Mark 4 and Tiger tanks in paticular,- he did not elaborate on any other possible outcomes if confronted with an experienced enemy, with tactical air superiority, and being led by Rommel from the front. The conclusion of this battle was pre-ordained by the circumstances present at the time, not just the cowardice of the American troops involved in the battle.

There could be no better place for this to happen. The Americans needed to get a 'Bloody Nose'. It instilled changes in the way Americans fought the war, trained for the war, and led the war. The loss of a pass in Africa does not hold the same importance as it would have, say, if it had been on Normandy Beach. Of course I mean no disrespect to the brave that died there; I just think that Mr. Whiting has overdramatized the defeat that we endured.

Overall, the book reads well, and the research is well documented. There are ample pictures to see the equipment involved as well as to get a feel for the terrain in North Africa.

Kasserine, The Anatomy of Slaughter, is not a 'dry' book, as some historical accounts may be, but is fluid and well written. The conclusions drawn for the debacle are what is wrong.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Did the American Army do anything correct here?, July 4, 2003

By 

Wes Kammerer (Louisville, Ky United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kasserine: The Battlefield Slaughter of American Troops by Rommel's Afrika Korps (Hardcover)

Charles Whiting is an established author, with many fine books to his credit. His accounting of the Battle of Kasserine Pass leaves much to be desired though.

The book starts off describing the American Army coming to Britian and the tension that existed between the two armies. In writting; "The British thought the Yanks hopeless", he contrasted the spit and polish of the Brits with the Dough Boys. Mr. Whiting goes on to say that the U.S. soldiers were overweight, ill-trained and ill-disciplined. He makes comments like this about these men throughout the book. While it cannot be argued that at that time our troops lacked many qualities, his consistently negative remarks makes you question why we are not now speaking German. The British soldiers are shown to be the opposite of this, in fact the heros of the story.

Mr.Whiting also tells of the personal female aid to General Eisenhower, (Kay Sumersby), and gives many details of their relationship. There is implication of a sexual encounter between the two. While this may make interesting reading, it is not of the content that I would prefer in a book of this title.

The book goes on to speak of the Torch landings, and of the difficult time that was had with the nuetrality of the French in North Africa. There is good detail here; to a topic that is easily overlooked.

Mr. Whiting then speaks of the confusion and ineptitude of the American command staff, giving ample criticism to General Frendendall. This is well founded. Frendendall's horrible leadership can bear the brunt of the blame for the fiasco. But Mr.Whiting focuses too much on rheteric - "..Youthful innocence sacrificed at the altar of the God of war by incompetent, complacent old men, who lived on to die in bed." - and not to the tactical and strategic blunders that lead to the downfall in this battle.

The entire content is devoted to bashing Americans that were in the battle, and not to the challenges they faced. 'The Army was soundly routed, with many units just giving up', could be said of this battle. It could also be said of the inexperienced Eigth Army of Britain as it was chased across the North African frontier by Rommel, just a year earlier. A "green" army will have these setbacks. This is not noted here, but was reflected in Field Marshal Montgomery's memoirs of this battle.

While there are some notes regarding the German's superiority in equipment - the Mark 4 and Tiger tanks in paticular,- he did not elaborate on any other possible outcomes if confronted with an experienced enemy, with tactical air superiority, and being led by Rommel from the front. The conclusion of this battle was pre-ordained by the circumstances present at the time, not just the cowardice of the American troops involved in the battle.

There could be no better place for this to happen. The Americans needed to get a 'Bloody Nose'. It instilled changes in the way Americans fought the war, trained for the war, and led the war. The loss of a pass in Africa does not hold the same importance as it would have, say, if it had been on Normandy Beach. Of course I mean no disrespect to the brave that died there; I just think that Mr. Whiting has overdramatized the defeat that we endured.

Overall, the book reads well, and the research is well documented. There are ample pictures to see the equipment involved as well as to get a feel for the terrain in North Africa.

Kasserine, The Anatomy of Slaughter, is not a 'dry' book, as some historical accounts may be, but is fluid and well written. The conclusions drawn for the debacle are what is wrong.