The Trail of the Fox [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Irving's "Trail of the Fox" is not your typical biography. It is a fast-paced, almost novelistic read that moves swiftly through the career of this legendary soldier, trying to give the reader a taste of the man rather than an exhaustive list of his doings and accomplishments. Using his close relationships with ex-Afrika Korps officers as well as Manfred and Luci Rommel and their papers and photographs, Irving achieves what he sets out to do in a fast-paced, if somewhat terse read. The image we get of Rommel as a youth is a blurry watercolor sketch that periodically comes into sharp focus: a puny and somewhat sickly lad from an uninspired civil-service family who literally willed himself into an excellent officer cadet and later during the First World War, into a superb tactician. He showed his form early as a young lieutenant of mountain troops, driving his men forward without regard for fear or fatigue, but always with concern for their well-being, and always from the front. His accomplishments -- Iron Crosses first and second class, wound badges and the famous "Blue Max" -- were matched only by his ambition. In the quest for Prussia's highest award for valor Rommel showed a frightening self-obsession that he was often to show as an older man: a hunger for award, praise, and recognition. He also showed his capacity to alienate other officers, a habit he kept up his entire career and which may have cost him his life, and some personal pettiness, using every opportunity to exact vengeance on his rivals.

The interwar years saw Rommel serve as an instructor at a military school and pen "Infantry Attacks" a best-selling and seminal book on small-unit tactics that not only brought him to the attention of Adolf Hitler, but remains in the library at West Point to this day. As CO of Hitler's Poland HQ, Rommel again captured Hitler's attention with his fearless treatment of Nazi bigwigs, and landed command of the 7th Panzer Division for the attack on France. It was here that the Rommel legend was born again, as the "Spook Division" blazed a reckless path across to the English Channel. Rommel's conduct here typified his adult personality: he was utterly fearless, physically inexhaustable, indifferent to logistical problems, and unwilling to subordinate himself to higher authority or to recognize that he was part of a greater strategic situation. He was also keenly aware of propaganda, and reveled in theatrics -- two traits which cemented his later fame. An avowed Hitler-worshipper, he was Hitler's first choice to command the small German expeditionary force to Africa.

It is this part of Irving's book which brings Rommel into the sharpest clarity, for it was in "Afrika" that the "Desert Fox" legend was born. Rallying demoralized Italian troops, and throwing his meager German forces around as if they were much larger, Rommel quickly issued a series of humiliating beatings on the hitherto triumphant British, and begun the two years of see-saw, give-and-take warfare that marked the North African campaign. Rommel's strengths -- courage, charisma, the ability to inspire others and a matchless tactical genius -- were tested by his weaknesses -- wilfull blindness to inconvenient facts, lack of strategic vision, inability to politick, and a tendency to run out into battle and saddle his staff with the important decisions. Ironically, the more successes he had, the more troops he commanded, and while Rommel was arguably the best tactician of the war he was probably not suited to bigger command than a single corps. Still, had he anything like the equipment, manpower, and fuel of his British opponents he would have won the desert war easily. At Second El Alamein, the battle which made Montgomery famous, the British outnumbered him 3-1 in men and 5-1 in tanks, which certainly puts the "greatness" of this Allied victory into perspective.

Rommel after Africa Irving shows as a burned-out, disillusioned, somewhat defeatist but still ambitious man, on the outs with Hitler and the Nazis but bound by his loyalty oath from taking an active role in the anti-Nazi movement. Considered a dangerous man because of his popularity, he was a natural target for the inquisition that followed July 20, 1944, and in the book's most tragic chapter, cooly accepts Hitler's choice of suicide or disgrace by asking his executioners for poison, because the combat-wounded field marshal "can't work a pistol properly." This absolute lack of fear in the face of death is the man's real legacy to the world.

"Trail of the Fox" is by no means a "deep" biography. Irving glosses over large parts of Rommel's early life in his haste to tell the later story, and in his quest to keep the book fast-paced and readable he also speeds through aspects of Rommels' life that probably deserved more attention. But it is an enjoyable and very fair look at one of the greatest soldiers in human history.

Hands down, one of the best WW2 biographies out there. Backed with solid extensive research, and a gripping narrative, this book is a must read for those who are curious about this massive historical figure.

Irving wrote a wonderful, easy to read masterpiece. The research done by Irving is in depth. He not only describes Rommel as a general but what he was like in his personnel like also. This book should be recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about the Desert Fox.