by Orr Kelly (Author)

Praise for Meeting the Fox

Front Jacket

Meeting the Fox

Before Normandy, before Anzio, a fledgling Allied army of inexperienced officers and undertrained, ill-equipped troops launched a perilous amphibious invasion of unprecedented size and scope. Their mission: to fight their way across 1,200 miles of mountain and desert and wrest control of North Africa from the battle-hardened veterans of the Nazis' vaunted Afrika Korps, commanded by legendary Field Marshal Erwin Rommel-- the Desert Fox.

Meeting the Fox tells the dramatic, but now almost forgotten, story of the first Americans to confront Hitler's war machine in battle. It takes you from the huge armada that landed more than 100,000 troops along the African coast, through bitter defeats in the dry hills of Tunisia, and on to a stunning victory after six months of savage fighting on land, on the sea, and in the air.

Peppered with riveting firsthand accounts from front-line GIs, this fast-paced chronicle reveals how a hastily assembled army of citizen soldiers transformed itself into a devastatingly effective fighting force on the deadly proving ground of Tunisia. It tells how peacetime battlefield tactics were cast aside in the light of wartime reality, analyzes the successes and blunders of a talented but previously untested officer corps, and examines the often prickly relationships among American, British, and French commanders.

From lightning-fast commando raids to chaotic tank battles, from fierce aerial combat to massive infantry assaults, this masterfully told tale brings to life the pivotal campaign that proved Hitler could be beaten and that paved the way for the Normandy landings and victory on the battlefields of Europe. Bristling with rapid-fire action, gripping suspense, and behind-the-scenes intrigue, Meeting the Fox creates an unforgettable portrait of the determination, sacrifice, and heroism that led to the first great Allied victory of World War II.

Back Jacket

Praise for Meeting the Fox

"Orr Kelly has dramatically brought to life the desert war by masterfully weaving the view of higher headquarters with the pathos of the foxhole. Meeting the Fox takes the reader on a gripping journey from North Africa's beaches and drop zones, the practically forgotten disaster at Sidi bou Zid, to the final battles in Tunisia. Meeting the Fox is destined to rank among the best narrative histories on the American experience in North Africa."
-- Patrick O'Donnell, author of Beyond Valor and Into the Rising Sun

"An almost bullet-by-bullet, shell-by-shell account, Meeting the Fox offers riveting personal experiences from those who fought the Axis forces during the desperate campaign for North Africa."
--Gerald Astor, historian and author of A Blood-Dimmed Tide and The Greatest War, Vols. I--III

As their unproven commanders struggled to match wits with the wily Desert Fox, 100,000 poorly equipped, undertrained, and inexperienced GIs battled their way across North Africa. Hobbled by inferior weaponry and an inexperienced officer corps, these green but courageous citizen soldiers clashed head-on with the fabled German Afrika Korps and its legendary commander, Erwin Rommel. Meeting the Fox tells the unforgettable tale of the men who transformed themselves, in the heat of battle, from a poorly organized army of convenience into a relentless and unstoppable fighting force.

Author Biography

ORR KELLY is the author of many books on the military, including Brave Men, Dark Waters: The Untold Story of the Navy SEALs, a definitive portrait of the Navy SEALs. He has also written two novels in the SEALs Eagle Force series, Desert Thunder and Eagle Strike.

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