A Noble Crusade: The History Of Eighth Army, 1941-45

One of the most famous units in all of military history is the British Eighth Army-the men who defeated the German Afrika Korps-and whose full story appears for the first time in this exceptional book. Their initial combats in World War II were during Operation Crusader in North Africa, after which they adopted the crusader's cross as their symbol. They faced Rommel, the dreaded "Desert Fox," in swirling battles of fire and maneuver until forced back into Egypt, fighting the Afrika Korps to a standstill along the "El Alemain Line." But not for long! Under the leadership of General Bernard Montgomery, the men of Eighth Army were soon on the march, earning one of the first decisive Allied victories of the war. After forcing the wily Rommel to withdraw from Africa, the Eighth went on to participate in the invasion of Sicily, and then in the long and bloody Italian campaign. Through it all, the men of the Eighth, drawn from every corner of the British Empire, stood tall, and when the war was over, their 32 Victoria Crosses, half of them posthumous, were ample testimony to the gallantry and daring they had shown in every phase of the war.Richard Doherty is a Londonderry-based military historian, writer and broadcaster whose father served in the Eighth Army in North Africa. A Noble Crusade is his eighth book.The full story of Britain's desert army from beginning to end has never before been told. Color cover features the 38th Irish Brigade at Monte Cassino