It's an episode in a documentary series that's consistent in its tone and format, and it's not bad.
The episodes are divided into titled sections: Introduction, Genesis of a Campaign, War in the Desert, The Commanders, The Weapons, and so on.
The narrator maintains an even and dispassionate tone. Every character and unit is given its due. Sometimes -- and I don't know whether this was intentional -- there is some subdued humor. General George S. Patton's language is described as "industrial." Okay.
Not all the details are accurate. Patton is said to have slapped two soldiers suffering from combat fatigue, but at least one of them suffered from a physical disease. That's minor stuff though.
The repetition is a little distracting. Hearing about Rommel's jaundice once is enough, for instance. More important, a couple of facts have been left out of the narrative. One thing is logistics. The distances covered in north Africa were great and both sides needed to be supplied constantly. No supplies were locally available. A pattern developed in which a quick advance needed to be halted because the vehicles were about to run out of petrol and other essentials. The German difficulties were greater because they had fewer ports where supplies could be landed and because the British had cracked the Italian naval code and knew when and where supplies were to be shipped from Italy. The ships were sunk by air and submarine attacks. In the end, Rommel's supplies were cut to almost zero. Functioning tanks had to be abandoned and their fuel drained for use in the others.
There are no talking heads, no personal reminiscences. It's all newsreel footage, some of it not very commonly seen. The maps are fine and presented often enough for us to understand the dynamics of the battlefield, but they're superimposed on still photographs so prominent that it's confusing.
Special features on the DVD include "Ask the Experts", the modestly challenging "Test Your Knowledge," and "Interactive Menus." It's good that this series is available, especially in the United States, where the public's grasp of battles in place like North Africa and the Mediterranean is weak. For many of us, all we know about the campaign is our rout in the Kasserine Pass, and what we may have learned from watching the movie "Patton." Nice job, overall.
The episodes are divided into titled sections: Introduction, Genesis of a Campaign, War in the Desert, The Commanders, The Weapons, and so on.
The narrator maintains an even and dispassionate tone. Every character and unit is given its due. Sometimes -- and I don't know whether this was intentional -- there is some subdued humor. General George S. Patton's language is described as "industrial." Okay.
Not all the details are accurate. Patton is said to have slapped two soldiers suffering from combat fatigue, but at least one of them suffered from a physical disease. That's minor stuff though.
The repetition is a little distracting. Hearing about Rommel's jaundice once is enough, for instance. More important, a couple of facts have been left out of the narrative. One thing is logistics. The distances covered in north Africa were great and both sides needed to be supplied constantly. No supplies were locally available. A pattern developed in which a quick advance needed to be halted because the vehicles were about to run out of petrol and other essentials. The German difficulties were greater because they had fewer ports where supplies could be landed and because the British had cracked the Italian naval code and knew when and where supplies were to be shipped from Italy. The ships were sunk by air and submarine attacks. In the end, Rommel's supplies were cut to almost zero. Functioning tanks had to be abandoned and their fuel drained for use in the others.
There are no talking heads, no personal reminiscences. It's all newsreel footage, some of it not very commonly seen. The maps are fine and presented often enough for us to understand the dynamics of the battlefield, but they're superimposed on still photographs so prominent that it's confusing.
Special features on the DVD include "Ask the Experts", the modestly challenging "Test Your Knowledge," and "Interactive Menus." It's good that this series is available, especially in the United States, where the public's grasp of battles in place like North Africa and the Mediterranean is weak. For many of us, all we know about the campaign is our rout in the Kasserine Pass, and what we may have learned from watching the movie "Patton." Nice job, overall.
