My Amazon Review of Gershom Gorenberg's "War of Shadows:..........."

 

Signals War in the Desert

 

Israeli journalist/historian Gershom Gorenberg has offered up a very detailed history of the north Africa theater of operations in World War II through the prism of signals intelligence. The book opens with Cairo in panic as Rommel’s vaunted Africa Corps is within 60 miles of Alexandria in June 1942. As we know the British stand at El Alamein stops the offensive in its tracks.

 

Gorenberg’s history is in depth going into the desert explorers of the 1930’s who map the shifting desert sands. Those insights would have enormous strategic value when the war begins. He is very detailed in discussing the Polish capture of the German’s highly prized enigma code machine that is ultimately transported to Britain and its code breaking headquarters at Bletchley Park. He goes into minute detail as the British ultimately crack the German codes with the insight that the machine it of itself might be unsolvable, but human input errors under the stress of battle leave enough clues to crack the German codes. To Gorenberg it was the unsung men and women of Bletchley who are the heroes of El Alamein.

 

U.S. Army captain Bonner Fellers’ role is highlighted as military liaison to the British in Cairo. Fellers was an acolyte of America Firster Charles Lindberg who becomes a full-throated supporter of the British. After the war he returns to his rightwing form. Nevertheless, while in Cairo he has full confidence of the British and is privy to their plans. He transmits those plans to Washington, but unbeknownst to him the Germans, have access to the American codes. Thus, the Brits are listening in to the Germans and the Germans are indirectly listening into the Brits. Just two days before the Battle of El Alamein, the U.S. changes its code, and for the first time Rommel is operating blind of British intentions. It leads to his defeat.

 

Gorenberg shows how steadfast Churchill was in protecting British interests in the middle east.  This was true, not only in Egypt, but in Iraq. A reader interested in that part of the war should read John Broich’s “Blood, Oil and the Axis."  (See: https://shulmaven.blogspot.com/2019/06/my-amazon-review-of-john-broichs-blood.html) Gorenberg discusses the neutrality of the Egyptian Army which kept them out of the fighting and the pro-Nazi sympathies on the then young officer Anwar Sadat. To Egyptian nationalists the British were the enemy. On the other hand, the Jews of Palestine fearing a holocaust in their homeland fought with the British against the Germans on many fronts. That battle hardening experience would pay big dividends when they faced off against an unprepared Egyptian army in 1948.

 

As I said at the outset Gorenberg offers up a very detailed history. As a result, the book slows down at times. It also would have helped if there were maps depicting the battles described in the book. Thus, I give the book four stars, instead of five.

For the full Amazon URL see: Signals War in the Desert (amazon.com)