Kasserine Pass (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The desert battle at Kasserine Pass in February 1943 was the first real confrontation between American and German troops, and the one that pitted Eisenhower's and Patton's leadership against Rommel's.

Product Details

• Paperback: 358 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815410999
• ISBN-13: 978-0815410997
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,047,606 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #32 in

  Books > History > Africa > Tunisia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating reading, January 22, 2006

By	Dimitrios (Greece) - See all my reviews

The painful defeat of the US Army in the battle of Kasserine Pass is recounted by Blumenson with exceptional clarity and powerful prose. The author is very critical of some commanders )like Lloyd Fredendall of course) but he pays tribute to other American officers who fought with exemplary courage. The book covers more heavily the US side than the German but it remains one of the best for anyone who wants to analyze that terrible campaign. There is a useful background to the battle, with reference to the status of the old French colonies in North Africa and some material for the role of the British Army. Blumenson prefers to write history seeing the big picture but he does not ommit the view of the common soldier and his experiences. The book loses the fifth star because it does not contain enough maps (although the necessary to follow the action are included) and most of the times the various units are not described with their official designation, for example there is Lt Colonel X's battalion but not its number. There are some black and white photographs of rather mediocre quality.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An oustanding study of modern battlefield command, October 4, 2002

By	Matthew Baumgartner "matt baumgartner" (South Bend, IN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Blumenson writes an outstanding history of the battle from the point of view of commanders from platoon level to Corps level, stressing the problems facing them and the means by which they arrived at their decisions. The best acount of the US army's initiation to combat against the Germans that I have ever read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the ghost-like picture of the "professional veterans", October 23, 2007

By	C. F. W. Puhl (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rommel's carreer has always fascinated me. He seems to personify the near perfect leader, although he of course has his flaws. His own account (Rommel Papers) of the Battle of Kasserine is a fascinating story and this book by mr. Blumenson adds perfectly. It gives a good account of the activities from the staff down to the common soldier, but only for the U.S. side. No personal German accounts are used and the scope of vision is never switched to this side, except for the commanders. This gives a rather impersonal ghost-like picture of these "professional veterans". Hence the four stars instead of five. Kasserine Pass has been a wonderful read and a thrilling experience.