Killing Rommel - Steven Pressfield

This was a book I listened to on my last trip to the Philippines. At least, I listened to most of it then. I found this book in NetLibrary. After charging my MP3 player, the licence for it was no longer valid and I was unable to finish listening to it until I visited the NetLibrary site with my MP3 plugged in and requested the licence again.

Despite those travails, I thought it worth the effort. I found the plot and the storytelling quite compelling. Although it was billed as a biography on NetLibrary, it is really a work of fiction. The central mission described in the book never happened. The main characters are fictional.

The book itself, develops like a biography would. Giving us a rather complete background of the main character, Lawrence Chapman. Describing in some detail the pivotal developmental moments in his early life and schooling before dropping us into World War II. Chap is assigned to the Long Range Desert Group shortly after he arrives in North Africa. This group did exist at the time and carried out missions beyond enemy lines.

Many of the descriptions of events are accurate even though the story itself is fiction. We are treated to an experience of what life was like for the men of the LTDG. We get exposed to the passion they had for their role in the war and a feel for the turmoil they experienced when taking time to think about their families and friends.

This was a terrific book. Not the biography I was expecting but an accurate and compelling portrayal of life during the desert campaign of WWII. I highly recommend it to any history or WWII buff.