This highly acclaimed history of the Britian campaign in Africa during World War II draws together every aspect of one of the war's most strategic and dramatic theaters. Fought across three thousands miles of desolate terrain, the Desert War was a land compaign that meant more to the British people than any other between 1939 and 1945. Its climax, the Battle of El Alamein, marked the turning point in the Allies' struggle against the Axis. The first volume of The Crucible of War sets the stage for this pivotal battle, providing new revelations and key viepoints all but neglected by other accounts focusing exclusively on alamein. Western Desert 1941 covers General Wavell's and General Auchinleck's commands, a period that began triumphantly with the rout of the Italian army in Egypt and Tripolitania and ended in disaster with the devastating entry of Rommel's Afrika Korps into the fray.