This fascinating biographical history reveals how the future German general established his reputation at the WWI Battle of Caporetto. Erwin Rommel was to become the most famous and influential German general of World War Two. But in 1917, no one outside of a small clique in the German Army had heard of him. His ascent to prominence began with his exploits on the Italian Front of World War I. In 1917, the Allied armies launched a series of offensives against the Austro-Hungarian forces along the Isonzo River. The final battle was a catastrophic defeat for the Allies, thanks in part to the infiltration tactics of Lieutenant Rommel. His battalion outflanked the Italian forces and executed a devastating attack from behind enemy lines. Based on official histories and archival documents, as well as Rommel’s own account, Rommel & Caporetto offers new insight into the skills and tactics he would later employ in France and in North Africa.

The Austro - German attack at Caporetto in 1917 produced a full scale breakthrough which forced the Italian armies to retreat from near the Austrian frontier to within twenty miles of Venice. Young Lieutenant Rommel had the good fortune to be part of one of the German units which led the attack on the Italian positions. The masterly German plan carried out by some of the best German and Austrian troops immediately established a war of movement which offered fine opportunities to ambitious young officers. No one made greater use of these opportunities than Erwin Rommel.Rommel's own account of the action has been translated into English but, until now, there has been no satisfactory work in English covering the wider aspects of the Battle of Caporetto which are an essential background for an understanding of his dramatic exploits. This book, by the authors of the acclaimed The British Army in Italy 1917 - 1918, is based largely on official histories and documents, and the records of Rommel and his commanding officer in Italy.In addition to being a thorough and authoritative description of the overall battle, Rommel and Caporetto gives a fascinating insight into the qualities that this superb soldier was to display to such devastating effect against the Allies during the Second World War.

This illustrated WWI history sheds light on a major campaign fought along the significant yet often neglected Italian Front. From 1915 to 1917 the armies of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were locked in a series of battles along the River Isonzo, a sixty-mile front from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. The campaigns were fought in unforgiving terrain, with casualty counts that exceeded those of the Great War’s more famous battles. The twelfth and final battle, Caporetto, was a major victory for the Central Powers as they broke through the Italian Front. Historian John Macdonald chronicles the Isonzo battles with vivid descriptions of the battlefields and of the atrocious conditions in which the soldiers fought. The text is supported by a selection of original photographs that record the terrible reality of the conflict. The intervention of British, French and German troops is covered, as are the parts played by famous individuals, including Erwin Rommel, Benito Mussolini, Pietro Badoglio and Luigi Cadorna, the notorious Italian commander in chief. Caporetto and the Isonzo Campaign examines an aspect of the First World War that was pivotal in the history of Italy, Austria and the Balkans.

How should history judge the life and career of Erwin Rommel, the most famous German general of the Second World War, seventy years after his death on 14 October 1944? In his own time and in the years immediately after the war his reputation as a great and chivalrous commander grew to the point where it took on almost legendary proportions, and the legend is still with us today. His apparent support for the plot to remove Hitler from power in 1944 and the manner of his death, committing suicide in order to protect his family from Nazi retribution, further enhanced his image as an honourable, professional soldier.??But does he deserve this legendary status? Can his exploits as a soldier and commander and his conduct of the war be separated from the aggressive aims of Hitler and the Nazis whom he and the German army served???These are among the key questions Ian Beckett and his team of expert contributors seek to answer in this stimulating and timely study of Rommel and his legacy. They look critically at every stage of Rommel's brilliant career, from the early fame he achieved as a daring young officer fighting on the Italian front in the First World War, through his exploits as a panzer leader during the German invasion of France in 1940, and his generalship in the Western Desert when he commanded the German and Italian forces fighting the British. These achievements – and the publicity that went with them – gave him an extraordinary, perhaps overinflated reputation within Germany and among the opposing Allies.??As featured in Cornwall Today.

From May 1915 to October 1917 the armies of Italy and the Austro - Hungarian empire were locked into a series of twelve battlesalong the River Isonzo, a sixty - mile front from the Alps to the Adriatic. The campaign was fought in the most appalling terrain forcombat, with horrendous casualties on both sides, often exceeding those of the more famous battles of the Great War. The twelfth and final battle, Caporetto, resulted in a devastating defeat for Italy and led to one of the greatest breakthroughs achieved during the entire conflict. Yet this massive struggle is too often neglected in histories of the war which focus on the fighting on the Western and Eastern Fronts. John Macdonald, in this accessible and highly illustrated account, aims to set the record straight. His description of theIsonzo battles, of the battlefields and of the atrocious conditions in which the soldiers lived and fought is supported by a graphicselection of original photographs that record the terrible reality of the conflict.The impact of the intervention of British, French and German troops is covered, as are the parts played by famous individuals - among them Rommel, Mussolini, Badoglio and Cadorna, the notorious Italian commander in chief. But it is the front - line experience of the common soldiers on both sides that is most powerfully portrayed.Caporetto and the Isonzo Campaign gives a fascinating insight into a conflict that was a pivotal moment in the history of Italy, Austria and the Balkans.

“An accessible, well-honed study of two fascinating characters” who famously fought each other in numerous battles during WWII, from Egypt to D-Day (Kirkus). Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel faced one another in a series of extraordinary battles that established each man as one of the greatest generals in history. Born four years apart, their lives were remarkably similar. Each came from provincial roots, nearly died in WWI, yet emerged from that great conflict with glowing records. Through their many duels, including their legendary conflicts in North Africa and later at the Normandy D-Day invasion, Peter Caddick-Adams tracks and compares their military talents and personalities. Monty and Rommel explores how each general was raised to power by their war leaders, Churchill and Hitler, and how the innovative military strategy and thought of both permeate down to today's armies.

Account of the Austro-German offensive in northeast Italy in 1917, which routed the Italians but ended in a Central Powers' defeat.