"Liberation Trilogy" books

animal mother · (This post was last modified: 02-12-2009, 06:09 AM by animal mother.)

I am intersted in the books from the "Liberation Trilogy" by Rick Atkinson. Are they any good? What is the style of the books: narrative with personal stories or more about campaigns, battles etc.? Most important, is it worth the money? I would like to hear Your opinions.Thanks in advance.

Cheers
Michael

eugene · 02-12-2009, 06:50 AM,

Hi,

I really liked the first book, an Army at Dawn. I would say it was more about narrative and personalities. All of the famous figures are there, Rommel, Patton, Bradley, Eisenhower, Monty and the rest.

The first book also covered a less familiar part of the war in Tunisia, (less famliar I think because the Americans do not do well in that part of the war.)

I have not been able to bring myself to read the second volume because it looks to be really long. Well worth the price I would say if you buy it in paperback.

I am not an expert on the history involved, so I can't testify as to accuracy.

Jeff

alaric99x · (This post was last modified: 02-12-2009, 07:25 AM by alaric99x.)

I'm just finishing the second one, yeah, great value if you get them in paperback.

Atkinson is a truly talented writer, he discusses political and strategic descisions and actions and combines his narrative with personal accounts from all ranks. He describes the the North African, Sicilian and Italian campaigns with abundant clarity, including air and naval operations and logistical activities.

"An Army at Dawn" was very good, "The Day of Battle" was better, I'm waiting for the next one now. I don't think you can go wrong with this series.

02-12-2009, 09:26 AM,

Yeah I have read an Army at Dawn and it was a really good book... will have to get the second one now as its getting good reviews too!!

animal mother · 02-12-2009, 05:08 PM,

Hi all!

Thank You very much for the input.

Cheers
Michael

FM WarB · 02-22-2009, 02:21 AM,

I have read the first two and they are excellent narratives of the campaigns. Personalities, from famous generals to "dogfaces" make the history come alive. Maps are OK and there are no OOBs.

Ken F. (FGM) · 03-15-2009, 01:45 AM,

Hi All,

I enjoyed both books, and look forward to the third installment.

For what it's worth,
Ken

Captain General · 03-26-2009, 08:25 PM,

Read both of them and thought they were good. Looking forward to the third installment.

DonMFox · 03-29-2009, 10:29 AM,

I felt an Army at Dawn maintained an excellent balance of large and small scale narrative; the "big picture" personalities were woven in with the finer details of the African campaign very effectively. When the second volume moved on to Italy, Atkinson applied much the same technique...but the largerr scope of the campaign in Sicily and Italy made that a more difficult task. Still, his style of writing is very good, and it was an enjoyable read. I am VERY eager to see how he handles the final installment, given just how much more expansive the scope will be. It'l lbe very interesting to see where he picks his battles...so to speak.