The Desert Fox in Normandy: Rommel's Defense of Fortress Europe

by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.

Appointed by Hitler to defend Nazi-held France against an imminent Allied invasion, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel saw how poor German defenses were when he arrived in Normandy in 1943. Rommel's growing awareness of the Allies' battle plans and his organization of the defense forces come into sharp focus in The Desert Fox in Normandy by World War II expert Samuel Mitcham, Jr. Mitcham uses little-known primary sources to tell the story of D-Day from the German perspective. His analysis reveals that Rommel led a brilliant campaign, despite his absence when the Allies landed. His insight and ability resulted in a powerful resistance against the invasion.

Genres: World War II, Military History

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written with many facts I'd not found in other WW2 histories.

For instance: near war end the Luftwaffa had several hundred thousand men who were aircraft mechanics etc, but so few planes they had no work. So many were put in infantry groups,
BUT, not under the control of the Army. They stayed under Goering's control and only he could release them.
Such a good example of the wilderness of kingdoms that Hitler created/ allowed, and was incredibly stupid.

I'd been led to believe in other books that Rommel took his life with a pistol shot to the head shortly after the assassination failed.

Not so, he lived for about 4 more months and was given poison instead.

And much more.

The book covers a lot more than just the Normandy invasion.

I'll be looking for more of this authors work in the days ahead.

[Paul Lindstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, full of facts, but some quite obvious errors spoils the reading a bit. Admiral Canaris is repeatedly called Canasis. Worse – he claim that Canaris didn't secretly worked to overthrow the Nazi regime when there is overwhelming evidence of that he did. A strange position by the author. But he let you know a lot about Rommel that you might not have known before.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very few misspellings of names, probably the mistake of the editor/publisher. Very good footnotes giving brief biographies of the other commanders mentioned throughout. Not enough maps. Very helpful appendices including Rommel's schedule of March 23 - June 4, 1944.