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Meeting the Fox: The Allied Invasion of Africa, from Operation Torch to Kasserine Pass to Victory in Tunisia Hardcover – April 12, 2002

by Orr Kelly (Author)

8 customer reviews

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Praise for Meeting the Fox

"Orr Kelly has dramatically brought to life the desert war by masterfully weaving the view of higher headquarters with the pathos of the foxhole. Meeting the Fox takes the reader on a gripping journey from North Africa's beaches and drop zones, the practically forgotten disaster at Sidi bou Zid, to the final battles in Tunisia. Meeting the Fox is destined to rank among the best narrative histories on the American experience in North Africa."
-- Patrick O'Donnell, author of Beyond Valor and Into the Rising Sun

"An almost bullet-by-bullet, shell-by-shell account, Meeting the Fox offers riveting personal experiences from those who fought the Axis forces during the desperate campaign for North Africa."
--Gerald Astor, historian and author of A Blood-Dimmed Tide and The Greatest War, Vols. I--III

As their unproven commanders struggled to match wits with the wily Desert Fox, 100,000 poorly equipped, undertrained, and inexperienced GIs battled their way across North Africa. Hobbled by inferior weaponry and an inexperienced officer corps, these green but courageous citizen soldiers clashed head-on with the fabled German Afrika Korps and its legendary commander, Erwin Rommel. Meeting the Fox tells the unforgettable tale of the men who transformed themselves, in the heat of battle, from a poorly organized army of convenience into a relentless and unstoppable fighting force.

Meeting the Fox: The Allied Invasion of Africa, from Operation Torch to Kasserine Pass to Victory in Tunisia

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Orr Kelly has dramatically brought to life the desert war by masterfully weaving the view of higher headquarters with the pathos of the foxhole. MEETING THE FOX takes the reader on a gripping journey from North Africa's beaches and drop zones, the practically forgotten disaster at Sidi bou Zid, to the final battles in Tunisia. MEETING THE FOX is destined to rank among the best narrative histories on the American experience in North Africa."
(Patrick O'Donnell, author of Beyond Valor and Into The Rising Sun: In Their Own Words, World War II's Pacific Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat)

"An almost bullet by bullet, shell by shell account, Meeting the Fox offers riveting personal experiences from those who fought the Axis forces during the desperate campaign for North Africa."
(Gerald Astor, Historian, Author of A Blood-Dimmed Tide and The Greatest War Vols. I-III)

From the Publisher

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Product details

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 12, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0471414298
ISBN-13: 978-0471414292
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.3 x 9.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 8 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,362,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4765 in Books > History > Africa
- #12241 in Books > History > Military > World War II
- #60686 in Books > History > Americas > United States

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The U.S. Army's Baptism of Fire

ByDianne Robertson November 13, 2005

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Some in the Allied Command structure during WWII wanted to bypass the North African campaign and strike directly at Normandy as early as late 1942 / early 1943. This book shows clearly how much of a disaster that would have been.

The North African campaign was the testing ground of the Allied war machine, where the U.S. Army raised the officer corps and developed the tactics which would lead to ultimate victory on the fields and in the cities of Europe.

This book was written on a very interesting topic and is an excellent history. I sort of painstakingly only gave it four stars rather than five, because the book is mostly history and can sometimes be a little bit dry since there's no single group of soldiers or unit that it follows and that you can connect with. Of course, this is impossible for a history of an entire campaign in the largest war ever fought, so it really is five star history, just four star reading for me.

It lets you know all the strategic reasoning behind both sides moves, delves into the technological capabilities of the allies, explains the political wrangling between the U.S., England, and the French who joined the allies. As it progresses it tells the story of smaller units in the myriad string of battles that made up the campaign, expertly navigating back and forth between the tactical scene and the big picture, and between the telling of events and the analysis that gives them meaning and puts them into context. The history is chronological, comprehensive, and complete. One can imagine the fear, drama, suspense, sting of defeat, and adrenaline of going into combat for the first time against one of the most vaunted armies ever assembled on completely foreign land.

The North African campaign shows the U.S. military's somewhat painful growth process which was extremely interesting. Working with allies became sorted out, but not without major frictions such as the falling out between Patton and Air Marshall Cunningham. Tanks, artillery, infantry and air power were mixed and matched many different ways until the combination that worked was found, the price for that secret paid dearly in blood. Political, too old, or just sadly not competent officers were shaken out, and a solid, in-depth leadership core of middle and lower level officers were minted with experience.

One of the things I liked best about the book was how the author occasionally spiced it up with the sort of amazing fact is stranger than fiction moments that can only happen in war. U-boats torpedo supply ships on the invasion beaches, and guys jumping off ship get sucked back inside the hole the torpedo ripped in the side of the ship, forcing them to abandon ship twice. Soldiers trying to retreat are run over by tank treads, and simply pushed into the mud so that after the tank passes they get right back up and keep running, only a lot dirtier than before. Units surrounded on Djebels wait for nightfall and literally WALK through enemy lines, feet away from sleeping German soldiers and 88mm guns.

Recommended for anyone with an interest in military history, the U.S. Army, North African History, or how the start of great endeavors can be difficult learning experiences.

0Comment 8 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Very comfortable read

ByHistory_Buffon January 12, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I have never read anything on Operation Torch specifically before and totally enjoyed this book. It is focussed more specifically on the US forces as they dominated much of the landscape during Torch, although the British & French get adequate attention.

Excellent: Great to read about the incoming Eisenhower, Bradley & Patton. Also it was amazing at how brilliant the Afrika Corps was. They seemed to out-fight the Allies at every turn and would have beaten them with more men & materiel. What would the result have been if the Allies didn't have Ultra and Hitler had decided to invade Russia in 1942/43 AFTER dealing with Africa & the Middle East first?

Average: I would have appreciated more detail on the Allied Atlantic Crossing. So much is made of the great invasion of Normandy where troops travelled for 24 hours on ships to land on the beaches. A great majority of these Torch troops embarked on continental USA and were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean before hitting the sand before an unknown enemy. So much more could have been said about this ordeal. I think Orr gave the trip one or two paragraphs.

Mediocre: A little more credit to Churchill and his naysayers regarding the desire by the USA for an invasion of France in 1943. Whilst Churchill had his own private reasons, he could have been given a lot more credit for helping turn the US's green citizen armies into what we saw on the Cotentin Peninsula in 1944.

I recommend this book to you as an enjoyable and informative read.

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Just OK; the author is an amateur and it shows

Bybrownilon January 31, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I was impressed by the previous reviews but certainly not by this book. In the foreward, the author states that he is basically a WW2 history amateur, and was 'moved' to write the book during a visit to the US Memorial Cemetery in Algiers. It shows; the author uses a very confusing style - by focusing on individuals, he can not give you a comprehensive idea of what the hay was going on. Individual POV has a place in military history, no doubt (see especially "The Coldest Winter"), but here it just makes things anecdotal and confusing. Similarly, the author's unfounded background causes him to confuse and mis-label military equipment (such as the American M3 'Lee/Grant" Medium tank and the M3 "Stuart" Light tank)(he even mis-labels the one on the cover:) but in an inconsistent way so that one is never sure which type of tank was involved. Similarly, he asserts several times that it was the German "Heavy machine guns" that made the difference in several German/British infantry engagements, due to the German gun's larger caliber and longer range etc. BS, as the Germans possessed no heavy machine guns (other than a 'fixed' mount for the 7.92mm MG34/42) and the German and British machine guns shared almost identical calibers, ballistic characteristics, and performance. These are only two examples of some often-grotesque errors in the presentation.
There are not any 'perfect' books on this interesting period of US involvement in WW2, but if you are a serious student of history you can certainly do a LOT better than this one.

0Comment 11 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

Competent and well-written history of WW2 in Tunisia

This is a very well-writen military history of WW2 in Tunisia, from late 1942 to May 1943. Although the "Fox" in the title refer to German general Rommel, Rommel figures in only a...Read more

Published on May 13, 2007 by Dick Marti

A good military history

This is an excellent military history of the African invasion. If you are looking for a book that will tell you about the importance of the invasion and how it influenced the war...Read more

Published on December 14, 2006 by Lehigh History Student

An Excellent Summary of the African campaign

Meeting the Fox turned out to be the book I was looking for - one which would give a detailed, but not confusing, history of the Allied campaign in Africa during WW II.Read more

Published on July 19, 2005 by Joanne F. Wasson

Meeting the Fox is a quality read.

Orr Kelly did an excellent job recounting the history of Operation Torch and the battle for Tunisia.Read more

Published on January 8, 2004 by James Fasnacht

How the US Army of WWII most people know got it's start

Orr Kelly's "Meeting the Fox" - Great work! Aside from "The Rommel Papers" (E. Rommel/B.H. Liddell) this book is the only book singly dedicated to battles of the North African...Read more

Published on September 12, 2002 by Mannie Liscum

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