Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel Book Reviews

Philadelphia: Casemate, 2015. Pp. 600. Illus., maps, append., notes, biblio., index. $32.95. ISBN: 1612002978.

Field Marshal is a new biography by the British author Daniel Allen Butler, better known for his maritime books. Here, Butler covers Rommel�s early life, service in World War One through to Rommel�s break with Hitler, and death. Butler discusses Rommel�s health, wounds, and family experiences, even including the illegitimate daughter whom Rommel raised with his family.

Although well written, it is at best a book for the general reader. There are errors of detail throughout which points out the need for better editing and fact checking by the publisher. Some examples: at Caporetto the Fourteenth Army (p. 67) which, had a number of Austro-Hungarian and German mountain units is given as being been composed entirely of such formations, when it also had several regular line divisions; Germany�s �Turnip Winter� (p. 82) was that of 1916-1917, not 1917-1918; and in September of 1939 the Germans did not hold the Western Front with �a mere six divisions� (p. 145).

While Butler rightly identifies Rommel�s failure to understand logistics in the challenging Western Desert, Butler apparently does not realize Rommel�s lack of General Staff training contributed to Rommel�s failure.

Butler does not appear to have worked in either German or Italian sources, and for a comprehensive biography of Rommel this makes his work of little use to the serious military historian.

Our Reviewer: The author or co-author of numerous works in naval and military history, such as The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940-1943, Rommel's North Africa Campaign: September 1940-November 1942, and The Black Prince And The Sea Devils, this is Jack Greene�s first review for StrategyPage.