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| Killing Rommel: A Novel | 
| Author: Steven Pressfield
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.51
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Avg. Customer Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 3307
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0385519702
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385519700
ASIN: 0385519702
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Book, ALL days Low Price !
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Product Description
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To watch videos featuring the story behind Killing Rommel, visit www.KillingRommel.com
***
Steven Pressfield’s quintet of acclaimed, bestselling novels of ancient warfare— Gates of Fire, Tides of War, Last of the Amazons, The Virtues of War, and The Afghan Campaign— have earned him a reputation as a master chronicler of military history, a supremely literate and engaging storyteller, and an author with acute insight into the minds of men in battle. In Killing Rommel Pressfield extends his talents to the modern world with a WWII tale based on the real-life exploits of the Long Range Desert Group, an elite British special forces unit that took on the German Afrika Korps and its legendary commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, "the Desert Fox."
Autumn 1942. Hitler’s legions have swept across Europe; France has fallen; Churchill and the English are isolated on their island. In North Africa, Rommel and his Panzers have routed the British Eighth Army and stand poised to overrun Egypt, Suez, and the oilfields of the Middle East. With the outcome of the war hanging in the balance, the British hatch a desperate plan—send a small, highly mobile, and heavily armed force behind German lines to strike the blow that will stop the Afrika Korps in its tracks. Narrated from the point of view of a young lieutenant, Killing Rommel brings to life the flair, agility, and daring of this extraordinary secret unit, the Long Range Desert Group. Stealthy and lethal as the scorpion that serves as their insignia, they live by their motto: Non Vi Sed Arte—Not by Strength, by Guile as they gather intelligence, set up ambushes, and execute raids. Killing Rommel chronicles the tactics, weaponry, and specialized skills needed for combat, under extreme desert conditions. And it captures the camaraderie of this “band of brothers” as they perform the acts of courage and cunning crucial to the Allies’ victory in North Africa.
As in all of his previous novels, Pressfield powerfully renders the drama and intensity of warfare, the bonds of men in close combat, and the surprising human emotions and frailties that come into play on the battlefield. A vivid and authoritative depiction of the desert war, Killing Rommel brilliantly dramatizes an aspect of World War II that hasn’t been in the limelight since Patton. Combining scrupulous historical detail and accuracy with remarkable narrative momentum, this galvanizing novel heralds Pressfield’s gift for bringing more recent history to life.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
Another historical smash from Pressfield December 2, 2008
Killing Rommel is another moving, entertaining, and educational historical novel by Stephen Pressfield, who tops my must-read list. The fiction is about Lt. Chapman who must learn about himself and the nature of war during World War II. The history is about the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), a British special forces unit that must defeat Gen. Rommel, the Desert Fox, or risk an Axis victory in North Africa.
One could say that Pressfield's novels are formulaic: Gates of Fire, The Afghan Campaign, and Killing Rommel all deal with the morality and reality of war. Only the setting and historical details change; however, I believe that these details are significant. Not only does Pressfield fictionalize history into a compelling adventure, he also incites a desire to learn more about the people and events in his books. After reading Killing Rommel, I immediately searched for more information about the Desert Fox, the LRDG, Paddy Mayne, and Popski's Private Army.
Like the other novels, Killing Rommel focuses on the bond that develops between soldiers. In Pressfield's opinion, the lesson of war is to support your mates. Never mind failing a mission; the worst thing you can do is to let down the soldier next to you. Pressfield also muses on the nature of command: How can a leader best command men when mistakes lead to pain and death? According to Pressfield, a leader is responsible to not only safeguard the men's physical well-being, but their spiritual and moral well-being as well. The novel's best scenes illustrate the honor that can be achieved during war, as combatants from both sides behave with humanity while simultaneously trying to kill each other.
Killing Rommel is a ripping good military adventure and an introduction to the people and events of North Africa during World War II. Expect a movie.
 Another Pressfield gem December 2, 2008
This author never disappoints us in historical accuracy tied to a great story. In this gem, Mr. Pressfield takes us into unconventional desert warfare. With all the detail and color a second world war histori-phile could want. With the detail comes the rattle of automatic weapons, the long searing hot days, the chilly bone-numbing nights, and the continuous struggle against the wind and sand. At the same time we learn fascinating details about General Erwin Rommel and gain a great respect for his military genius as well as his humanity. This is the historically accurate The Rat Patrol: The Complete Series we loved as kids. A quick and enjoyable read packed with action and accurate detail. And a timely portrayal of the difficulties in desert warfare. A fitting followup for more on the topic of unconventional desert warfare would be T. E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph. A perfect gift for the unconventional or desert warfare historian.
A ripping and realistic novel of combat in North Africa November 29, 2008
"Killing Rommel" is a fictionalized account of a mission by the British Long Range Desert Group to effect the death of General Erwin Rommel, the famed Desert Fox. But that is not really the point of the novel. This novel is a highly authentic story of men in combat--specifically, the men of the Long Range Desert Group, who performed extraordinarily difficult commando missions under mercilessly tough combat conditions. As such, this story is an unusually accurate and authentic account of men at war.
This novel is told from a first person perspective of a young British officer. This piece reads almost more like a personal diary than a novelization, and this approach by the author adds to the story's authentic feel, but in some cases detracts from fully developing the characters of the story. All in all, the approach works, and readers who appreciate and enjoy a realistic story of men in combat will like this novel.
This book does not glorify war, and in fact one of the overarching themes is the protagonist's growing hatred of war and its waste of promising young lives. The reader is reminded that beneath the fascist insignia of the Italian and German enemies, were fathers and husbands deriving from a common European heritage. The author's portrayal of combat, its confusion, and the fear that it engenders, adds to the message of war and its futility, despite its occasional necessity.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended. November 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
By far this is one of the best World War II novels I have read. This was the first book I have read by Pressfield and will look into reading his prior works but I mostly enjoy reading novels about the war. The characters are well defined, rich personable and real. I rate the war "action" and realism also as one of the best I have read. I loved the topic and story about the Long Range Desert Group and SAS. Simply, I do not understand why some other reviewers have not given this full 5 stars.
 Extremely disappointing - Don't bother with this one November 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Prior to reading this, I had read Pressfield's excellent Gates of Fire, as well as Virtues of War (which is good but not excellent). I am a fan of historical fiction, with a particular interest in WWII, so I eagerly anticipated Killing Rommell. Now that I've (finally) finished it, I have to say I am very disappointed.
I did not pick this up expecting another Gates of Fire. What I was expecting was a well thought out, well written piece of historical fiction with likable characters and a gripping storyline. I was also expecting a story about a plot to assassinate Rommell himself, not an outrageous expectation given the title of this book. Sadly, Killing Rommell doesn't deliver any of these.
The greatest weakness of this novel is a complete lack of character development. Put simply, there is not a single character in this book that the reader identifies with or roots for (or against). The characters are flat and poorly fleshed out, to a degree that I couldn't keep most of their names straight in my head.
The book is written from the perspective of a publisher and first time author constructing a novel from a series of his own journal entries. Sadly, it reads as if it really was written by a first time author. It reads more like a series of journal entries loosely pasted together than like a novel. The advantage of this writing style is that it includes a very high level of detail as far as daily activities. The disadvantage is, it doesn't pull everything together into one cohesive story. It completely lacks any semblance of action or suspense. In fact, I never reached the point where I actually "got in" to this book, and I could never bring myself to read more than a couple of dozen pages in any one sitting - it just never grabs you.
Without spoiling too much, I will add that the part of the story that includes a plot to kill Rommell constitutes a very small part of this "novel", with a rather disappointing end result. In fact, I think it's fair to say that Killing Rommell completely lacks anything resembling a climax.
In short - don't bother. There are far too many better works of historical fiction out there (including some by Pressfield himself) to bother with this work, which is mediocre at best.
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