An Army at Dawn cover art

An Army at Dawn

The War in North Africa, 1942-1943

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An Army at Dawn

By: Rick Atkinson
Narrated by: Rick Atkinson
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About this listen

In the first volume of a remarkable trilogy, Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson provides the definitive history of the second world war in North Africa.

The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is an epic story of courage and calamity, of miscalculation and enduring triumph. An Army at Dawn begins on the eve of Operation TORCH, the daring amphibious invasion of Morocco and Algeria. After three days of hard fighting against the French, American, and British troops push deeper into North Africa.

But the confidence gained after several early victories soon wanes; casualties mount rapidly; battle plans prove ineffectual, and hope for a quick and decisive victory evaporates. The Allies discover that they are woefully unprepared to fight and win this war. North Africa becomes a proving ground: it is here that American officers learn how to lead, here that soldiers learn how to hate, here that an entire army learns what it will take to vanquish a formidable enemy.

Many great battle captains emerged in North Africa, including Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and Montgomery. Atkinson brings these commanders vividly to life. He takes us to the front lines of every major battle - from Oran to Kasserine to Tunis. In North Africa, the Allied coalition came into its own, the enemy forever lost the initiative, and the United States - for the first time - began to act like a great power.

Atkinson casts a clear eye on the dark tragedies that haunt every war. The first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, An Army at Dawn is history of the highest order - brilliantly researched, rich with new material and surprising insights, the deeply human story of a monumental battle for the future of civilization.

©2002 Rick Atkinson, All Rights Reserved (P)2002 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved, AUDIOWORKS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.
Africa Americas Military World War France Imperialism Dwight Eisenhower Morocco Submarine Air Force Interwar Period

Critic Reviews

  • Pulitzer Prize Winner, Non-Fiction, 2003

"[An] intellectually convincing and emotionally compelling narrative." (Publishers Weekly)
"A fascinating story...that is hard to stop reading, even though one knows the outcome." (Library Journal)
"An absolute masterpiece....This book is storytelling - and

What listeners say about An Army at Dawn

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Excellent work, well told

I have previously read the third in this trilogy. While not quite as good, this still very good indeed. At times Atkinson’s writing is sublime even eirenic.

A plus is that the author narrates his book. His calm, warm, understated style fits well with the story of the weary but quietly idealistic determination of the GIs he portrays.

A minor point, pronunciation: indigenous New Zealanders are ‘Mow-Rees’ not ‘May-ore-ees; Australians are ‘oZZies’ not ‘Awe-sees’, etc.

Overall, excellent.

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Abridged, about 5th the content, but still decent.

Nothing about El alamein but was quite good to listen to. with the hills in Tunisia and details it kind of reminded me of Robert Frank's book Guadacanal which is a book you cannot put down. that one is 50 years old now.
love the story about how Roosevelt was taken out of the White House in absolute top secret andno one knew.
I want to get the full version now I would have got that one had I knew, but it wasn't available 1 or 2 years ago.
I'm looking for books on El Alamein, apparently there are 300!!
one by Neil Barr tops the list in Amazon though at about 500 pages.
At least this one has detail on the battle of Kasserine pass and the western and eastern dorsal when the Germans retreated Tunisia.
As I said you can get the one that is the full version which is 25 hours long or this one is about 5 to 6 hours long.

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