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Second World War: North Africa
General Works
 Wavell - Soldier and Statesman, Victoria Schofield. A major biography of a heavy-weight figure, Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East in 1940-41, in the Far East during the early Japanese victories, and Viceroy of India at a crucial period in the run-up to independence. Schofield paints a picture of a hard working, capable but modest commander, who often did a good job with very limited resources, but who was never really appreciated by Churchill. [read full review] |
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 Monty and Patton: Two Paths to Victory, Michael Reynolds. Twin biographies of two of the best known Allied generals of the Second World War, looking at how their early careers moulded their later commands, the difficult relationship between the two men and their individual styles of command. [read full review] |
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 Afrikakorps Soldier 1941-43, Pier Paolo Battistelli. A look at the recruitment, training, equipment and daily life of the soldiers of the Afrikakorps, with useful details on how things changed over the life of the Korps, as the nature of the desert war changed and the Axis powers went onto the defensive [read full review] |
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 Images of War Malta GC: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives, Jon Sutherland & Diane Canwell. A photographic look at Malta during the Second World War, covering the war in the air, the ground defences of the island, the Blitz, relations between the Maltese and the garrison, the convoys that brought essential supplies to the besieged island, and the victory celebrations that followed the end of the campaign in North Africa and the end of the siege [read full review] |
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 Hitler's Gulf War - The Fight for Iraq 1941, Barrie G James. A compelling account of one of the more obscure but important campaigns of the Second World War, presented from the point of view of the British, Iraqi and German participants in the Iraqi revolt that threatened to hand the Germans a commanding position in the Middle East. [read full review]
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Blitzkrieg: The Balkans and North Africa, 1941-1942, Will FowlerGerman Forces
 Panzers in the Sand: The History of Panzer-Regiment 5, Volume One 1934-41, Bernd Hartmann. A history of the first armoured unit to be formed in Germany after the First World War, tracing its history from its formation in 1933, through the campaigns in Poland and France and into North Africa, ending with the Axis powers on the back foot, having been forced to abandon the siege of Tobruk. [read full review] |
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 At Rommel's Side: The Lost Letters of Hans-Joachim Schraepler, ed. Hans-Albrecht Schraepler. A series of letters written by Rommel's adjutant in North Africa in 1941 and edited by his son and that provide an interesting new layer of information to our knowledge of the war in the desert.
[read full review] |
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British Forces
The British Army 1939 – 45 (2) Middle East & Mediterranean, Brayley, Martin J., Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2002, Men-At-Arms Series No. 368. Part two of a three part look at the British Army during the Second World War, this book provides a good summary of the fighting around the Mediterranean, including North Africa and Italy, looks at the special uniforms needed in these theatres and includes an overview of the British Artillery. [see more] |
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Aircraft and the Air War in North Africa
 Spitfire Mark V Aces, 1941-45, Dr Alfred Price. A well written and nicely balanced look at the combat career of the Spitfire Mk V and of the men who flew it. The Spitfire V fought in more theatres than the more famous Mk I/II, including over France in 1941, on Malta, in North Africa and even in northern Australia. [see more] |
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 Curtis Warhawk Aces of MTO, Carl Molesworth (Aircraft of the Aces 43).
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was the main Allied frontline fighter for nearly a year in North Africa. As the war in desert reached its climax at El Alamein and with Operation Torch, American pilots arrived to join the RAF and commonwealth pilots with their Kittyhawks. [see more] |
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 Blenheim Squadrons of World War Two, Jon Lake. This book looks at the entire RAF service career of the Bristol Blenheim, from its debut as a promising fast bomber, through the deadly disillusionment of the blitzkrieg, on to its work in the Middle East and Mediterranean, where the aircraft found a new lease of life. Lake also looks at the use of the Blenheim as an interim fighter aircraft and its use by Coastal Command. |
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 B-24 Liberator Units of the Fifteenth Air Force, Robert F. Dorr. The B-24 was most closely associated with the war in the Mediterranean. Although the Fifteenth Air Force only came into existence half way through the North African campaign, Dorr begins by looking at the role played by the B-24 before that date, before moving on to follow the Fifteenth from Africa to Italy, but the main focus is on the strategic bombing campaign waged over much of occupied Europe and southern Germany by the B-24s of the Fifteenth. |
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