- Hardcover: 232 pages
- Publisher: Brassey's (UK) Ltd; First Edition edition (15 Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857533127
- ISBN-13: 978-1857533125
- Product Dimensions: 24 x 16.2 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 977,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"- Erwin Rommel said, 'The British artillery demonstrated....its well-known excellence.'
Product Description
So, even Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Germany's most accomplished battlefield general and scourge of the British soldier, recognised the British artillery as masters of their craft and it is apt that his words are used in the title of this absorbing military autobiography. The author, now 92, fought in all European theatres and took part in the Normandy landings; the book follows his war from enlistment to demobilisation and offers very much more than a simple account of life in various battlezones. Uniquely it includes a critical assessment of Claude Auchinleck, C-in-C Middle East and often referred to as the 'soldier's soldier' and describes the role and function of the artillery in World War Two. The result is a descriptive memoir offering a treasured insight into the workings of an artilleryman at war, including equipment, tactics, and the dramas of the battlefield.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Interesting Diary Based Account of WWII,
By
This review is from: A Well-known Excellence: British Artillery and an Artilleryman in World War Two (Hardcover)
The author was an artillery officer in a medium regiment during World War II and this book follows his progress through Africa, Italy and France. There is a useful technical section which sets out some of the detail of how guns were used during the war. There were far more field regiments than medium regiments during the war and the book casts some light on the operation of the larger 4.5" and 5.5" weapons.
It is an interesting and worthy account of the author's war, well written and worth reading. For this reason I have rated it with four stars. Having said that, the writing style is detached and somewhat lacking in "colour". It is certainly not in the same league as George Blackburn's evocative "The Guns of Victory" which tells a very similar story yet manages to convey a much more gritty account of what life was like close to the front-line.
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3.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Misses the target,
By JI Sowden - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Well-known Excellence: British Artillery and an Artilleryman in World War Two (Hardcover)
Falvey seems to fall between two stools with this book.
On the one hand he tries to write narratives describing the causes and courses of the war and in particular the campaigns he was involved in. Other writers - generally those not so closely involved in the events themselves - have done this many times before, usually in more detail and with more balance. On the other hand, Falvey tries to describe life within his unit. In this he is a bit more successful, but unfortunately he doesn't spend much time or ink developing this theme. This is a shame, since this is really what I bought this book for. I can read histories and analyses of campaigns anywhere, but personal recollections written by participants are much scarcer. The standard in this field, especially for artillery, has been set by George Blackburn with his 'Guns' trilogy, which concentrate almost in their entirety on his own - sometimes very personal - experiences, and the minutiae of how he carried out his various roles. Falvey seems reluctant to open up and describe his experiences, which is understandable, but the book is much the poorer for him not describing the life of his unit in more detail, and the hows and whys of various roles. Having said that, the book is still an interesting read, and follows the fortunes of the British Army from the days of punery in 1939, the defeats of the early years, and on to the years of plenty and victory. Falveys descriptions of his time on Crete are especially interesting, and well outside the norm for that campaign. |
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