Attacks

The principal players of the Second World War paid their dues in the First, and Erwin Rommel was no exception. The man who would later become "the Desert Fox" and win worldwide acclaim as one of the greatest generals of all time began his combat career as a young lieutenant in the army of Wilhelm II, indistinguishable from thousands of others who crossed the French or Belgian frontier in 1914. Four years later he was one of the most decorated soldiers in the Imperial Army, holder of the "Pour le Merite" (the highest Prussian award for bravery) and a firm believer that "positional [i.e. trench] warfare" was for fools. His credo could be summed up in the old Prussian maxim: "Never ask how strong the enemy is, only where he is -- and march to the sound of guns."Rommel published ATTACKS in 1937, when he was a lieutenant-colonel in the Reichsheer and commandant of the military academy in Weiner Neustadt. At the time he was already famous in the German army for his 1914 - 1918 exploits, but ATTACKS brought him international acclaim, at least in military circles. In Germany the book made him quite wealthy, and in a sense one can see why: compared to the turgid, half-mystical reminiscences of some of his contemporaries, ATTACKS is entirely without introspection. It is simply a recounting of the innumerable small-unit actions in which Rommel participated in during the Great War. The book's methodical, matter-of-fact style reflects the personality of its author, who was not inclined to philosophizing. The "whys" and "wherefores" of war mattered to him not at all. Unlike Ernst Juenger, who also won the Pour le Merite and wrote postwar accounts of his exploits (THE STORM OF STEEL, COPSE 125, WAR AS AN INWARD EXPERIENCE) Rommel wasn't interested in the "inward experience", just the fighting. He was a soldier's soldier.During the War, Rommel served extensively in France, Rumania and Italy, and ATTACKS recounts in great detail his many offensive exploits, where he distinguished himself not merely with his aggressive style but by his habit (repeated in World War II) of leading from the front. Utterly fearless, possessing unlimited physical stamina and seemingly immune to pain (his gunshot wounds are described merely as events, like losing the sole of a shoe; the only thing that seems to have caused him real discomfort in the whole war was getting a foot smashed by a boulder in the mountains) Rommel was the ideal junior officer under any conditions, and was rightly worshipped by his men - another trait he enjoyed in the '39 - 45 war. He was further distinguished by his nobility and chivalry, qualities which are more responsible than his military genius for making him beloved among his former enemies. Today, Rommel is the only one of the myriad generals who achieved fame in Nazi Germany who is officially honored by the present day German government.The strength of ATTACKS lies not merely in the nature of what is being described (battle and more battle) but in the fact that Rommel has no artistic pretentions: he simply records what happened without sentimentalizing or succumbing to the Germanic curse of using 1,000 words when two hundred would suffice. This, however, is also the book's great weakness: all these skirmishes, raids, marches, countermarches, midnight conferences, attacks, retirements, hand-grenade fights, machine-gun duels, artillery bombardments, and climbs up mountain slopes in the rain, snow and blazing sun begin to wear down the reader over time. If it is possible for combat to be monotonous, Rommel occasionally manages to make it so, if only by the staggering amount of it he actually experienced. If Juenger was often turgid and romantic, he was also willing to discuss the lighter side of war - the pranks, the drinking, the philosophical bull-sessions and the endless war against rats, boredom and Prussian discipline. Such humanistic moments would have been welcome in ATTACKS, but Rommel was not inclined to dwell on them. (The closest thing he displays to a sense of humor is contemptuous jokes at the expense of the French and the Italians, neither of whom seem to have impressed him with their soldierly ability.)So, if you are looking for a pure combat memior, penned by one of the greatest soldiers ever, ATTACKS is the very definition of the bill. But if you want a look "under the helmet" into the mind and soul of a great fighting man, I would suggest supplementing ATTACKS with Juenger's more layered STORM OF STEEL. After all, nothing is more Prussian than obtaining a "total view" of a military situation!

As Achilles was the greatest warrior of ancient times, so was Rommel in the 20th Century. This book covers Rommel's activities in WWI, as a green young 2nd Lieutenant in the first days of the war, and being quickly promoted over the next couple years as his skills, daring, and success were recognized. He demanded much of his men and was still critically concerned about their welfare. Instead of the usual bloody frontal attacks on defended positions, Rommel would outsmart and outmaneuver opponents, avoiding butchery and massacre. His abilities were such that he repeatedly overwhelmed opponents so quickly that they surrendered. Senior officers kept allocating more and more soldiers to him, designating them as the "Rommel Detachment." There's even touches of humor, as when he sets up a road block behind enemy lines and captures many soldiers, high ranking officers, and vehicles, commenting that "business was good." In one vignette, Rommel's personal bravery is displayed when, out of ammunition, he confronts three enemy soldiers with his bayonet. He barely survives this encounter, and comments later that "in man to man combat the victory goes to the soldier with one more round in his magazine." Rommel's artistic skills are also on display as the book includes sketches he made of terrain and maneuvers. After each action, Rommel summarizes the key lessons to be learned and remembered. Rommel was the kind of leader that, if he was recruiting people for an upcoming mission, you could hardly resist the urge to say "Yes, I'm in." This book ends before WWI is over and leaves you eager for the sequel, which he was working on when Rommel came to his Achilles-like tragic and premature end. But for the vicious self-destruction of the Nazis, Rommel would have made a great president of post-war Germany, or at least leader of their post-war Army.

A look at the Axis powers --- I've recently become interested in "the other side" of the European campaign of WWII, and books like this have been quite helpful in providing a more balanced perspective.

This memoir reminds me very much of Joshua L Chamberlain's Civil War memoirs. Some of the parallels are striking from the aggressive tactics they ordered their men to perform - and took part in- to the dogged, stubborn defenses, right down to the delays they experienced in receiving their respective highest military awards. Plutarch would have paired these two in his "Lives." Read Chamberlain's "Bayonet! Forward" and "The Passing of the Armies" and you'll see what I mean. Of course Rommel was a much more highly trained, technically oriented career officer. His story is non-stop combat action on three different fronts, very detailed (from a 1st Lieutenant's view) and this translation is very readable. Oh, and BTW, this book has nothing whatever to do with armored warfare in spite of the ridiculous fictionalization in the film "Patton." It was Heinz Guderian who studied and wrote about tank warfare and I recommend his books, too.

This book certainly lives up to the standards set by it as reading material in military colleges across the world. Rommel lays down many fundamental principles of infantry warfare, and shares his many years of combat experience with the reader. While some others have claimed that little may be gained from reading this text, there is certainly a great wealth to be gleamed from review of a man's military experiences - particularly from a career as outstanding as Rommel's.Moreover, it helps embue the young officer with the fundamental principles of leadership, difficult to teach during training: that of decisive action, courage and love of country.

Perfect .... I'll soon be in charge ;)

Private Hildebrandt was killed. Rommel vergisst nicht die Opfer, die der Krieg unter den Soldaten, für die er verantwortlich ist, fordert. Und das sind - verteilt über immerhin vier Jahre Krieg, von denen das Buch erzählt, doch eine ganze Menge. Und der Autor ist sich durchaus bewusst, dass es grausame Tode sind, die seinen Männern da passieren, Bauchschüsse und Kopfwunden, beim Klettern im Gebirge getroffen und abgestürzt, von einer Handgranate zerrissen. Er beschreibt auch die Auswirkungen von Kälte, von Ermüdung, vom Stress der ständigen Artillerieangriffe. Für den aufmerksamen Leser wird der Schrecken aus "Im Westen nichts Neues" durchaus nachvollziehbar.Aber geschrieben ist das alles natürlich nicht gerade als Kritik am Krieg. Rommel war in den 30ern, in denen das Buch veröffentlicht wurde, in der Ausbildung von Soldaten tätig. Er stellt vor allem die taktischen Operationen des Infantriekriegs dar. Militärisch gesehen ist das vielleicht heute sogar aktueller als in der Zeit vor dem zweiten Weltkrieg, als Panzer wirklich schwer in Mode kamen. Die Operationen werden bis ins letzte Detail beschrieben und mit Karten und Zeichnungen erläutert. Jedes Kapitel endet mit einer kurzen Zusammenfassung der Erfahrungen - was man aus den Ereignissen lernen kann. Wie man nun auch immer zum Autor oder zum deutschen Militär allgemein steht - es ist bisher die beste Beschreibung von Kampfeinsätzen, die ich bisher gelesen habe. Es schreibt nicht nur ein Fachmann, sondern auch noch ein Fachmann aus eigenem Erleben direkt an der Frontlinie. Da kann "embedded journalism" einfach nicht mithalten. Vieles, was Historiker über den 1. Weltkrieg schreiben, wird hier deutlich klarer berichtet, und man gewinnt vom Stellungs- und Bewegungskrieg ein völlig neues Bild. Man greift eben nicht einfach nach der Artillerievorbereitung über flaches Gelände an, sondern man nutzt das Zusammenwirken der Waffengattungen, die Überraschung des Gegners und jede verfügbare Deckung und Tarnung. Und man muss immer wieder als Verantwortlicher vor Ort schwierige Entscheidungen treffen.Und damit kommen wir zu meiner Profession, die hier eine Menge lernen kann: Das Führungsverhalten in kritischen Situationen, um das es in vielen der geschilderten Operationen geht, ist sicherlich auch auf zivile Bereiche adaptierbar. Nicht zuletzt im Bereich Managementberatung erfreuen sich Strategien und Führungskultur mit militärischen Background zunehmender Popularität. Das Problem: Nimmt man die "Management-" oder Führungskultur, die in diesem Buch propagiert wird, ernst, so gibt das leider einige unangenehme Botschaften für den typischen, aktuellen Manager.Und so gönne ich dem Buch ganz viele Leser - auch außerhalb von Militär und Kriegsgeschichte.

I’m not the kind of guy who reads books, it’s rare. But since I got this book, I’ve loved it. It is definitely a must read if you love tactics and war. No wonder why Patton and other high ranked officer liked it. You’ll see how Erwin became a legend of war. This book is one kind of its own and I promise you, you’ll love it !

Rommel was making his mind during World War I. His views and his planning are well presented and proved to be very audacious. Patton build his form of attack based on reading this.

Excellent book, but irresponsible packaging. The yellow package paper got glued on the 1/3 of the book pages. I have to use alcohol wipes to remove the glue to flip the pages. Now it is readable, but the book is partially damaged.The book content is truly good. So I will reserve 3 stars.