Operation Mercury: The Battle for Crete, 1941 (Stackpole Military History Series) [Paperback]

John Sadler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2008

Detailed study of a brief but bloody campaign

Full of personal accounts of air, ground, and naval actions

Author has made numerous trips to Crete and knows the ground well

The fall of Crete in May 1941 was a catastrophic blow to the Allied cause. Nevertheless, the British, New Zealand, and Australian defenders forced the German invaders to pay a heavy price for victory. The daring German parachute assault, the first major example of its kind, proved a near disaster--so much so that Hitler never sanctioned another. But the Germans recovered, gained the initiative, and took the island in ten days.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

15 b/w photos, 2 maps

About the Author

John Sadler retired after thirty years in the legal profession to concentrate on writing, teaching, and guiding tours. His earlier books include Scottish Battles (978-0-86241-508-2) and Border Fury (978-1-4058-4022-4). He lives in England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (December 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811735060
• ISBN-13: 978-0811735063
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,545,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it..., June 10, 2009

By 

Jeffrey R. Waldon "jrwusmc" (Charleston, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Operation Mercury: The Battle for Crete, 1941 (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

I had been doing some light reading about the WWII German invasion of Crete prior to reading this. This book really brought the battle to life for me, as well as giving some good background as to why the battle occured. I cannot vouch for its historical accuracy, because I'm not a subject matter expert. But, it was easy to read, not overly verbose and seemed to give some excellent insight into what a fierce fight this was for both sides and a fair representation of the errors in planning and execution that occured.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what it appears to be, May 12, 2010

By 

JT McG (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operation Mercury: The Battle for Crete, 1941 (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

This is the same review I gave this book previously published by Pen and Sword in 2007.

I ordered this book based on the publisher's description (and cover artwork), expecting it to detail Operation Mercury from a balanced point of view, albeit with an emphasis on the German side of the operation and with sources from the various sides of the battle, i.e. German, British, Cretan, etc.
Unfortunately it is not at all like that, rather the author's listed sources are largely previously published English secondary sources, very little use of in-text citations and when he does it is mostly to the same few sources. Not that I was expecting every photo to be a previously unpublished photo, but the photos were disappointing also and mostly of/from the Allied soldiers perspective. The style of writing is more appropriate for a book written by a print journalist rather than a serious historical study of the battle and its participants.
I don't doubt that the author put hard work into this volume, but it is NOT as advertised by the publisher.