While it’s true that history tends to be written by the victors, this is not always the case with biography, and it was fascinating to read a book about Rommel written by one of his wartime enemies only a short time after the war was over. Erwin Rommel really was a great general, and a superb military leader, and being able to read a book written by a contemporary about him was very cool. And even a bit thrilling, at times.

I actually didn’t know that much about Rommel before reading this book, because the Second World War isn’t really my area of focus; I’m much more interested in late 20th/early 21st century civil wars and insurgencies. Like most people (I hope) I know that the Second World War happened, I know who was involved, and I know about most of the major events and figures of the war, but I’m not familiar with them in detail.

Rommel was a formidable character, and reading Young’s account of his exploits, intertwined with the events of the war from a British perspective, really brought Rommel and his accomplishments to light. I have a soft spot, as we know, for reading books about wars written by the people who fought them, since I believe that they would have the most relevant thoughts on the subject, but I think it’s a bit unusual to find books about wartime enemies. Churchill didn’t write a biography of Hitler. Clark didn’t profile Milosevic. You get the picture.

Young didn’t sugarcoat either side of the war, pointing out faults and problems with both sides, and for that, I give him credit. I thought the book was a pretty balanced and accurate assessment of the events of the war, which must have been a challenging thing to do with the events of the war looming so large in everyone’s memory.

Demographics:

Rommel: The Desert Fox, by Desmond Young. Published 1950, 250 pages. Biography.