Three Battles at El Alamein

Pendulum Of War

A compelling history of a crucial turning point in the Second World War, which also provides a detailed picture of the British Army at a critical stage in its fight against Hitler's Germany.

Excellent...a sophisticated, compelling and immensely readable account... Thoroughly researched, controversial, convincing... military history at its best

There is no doubting the author's immense scholarship... He has a first-class understanding of strategy and tactics

Deserves to become the standard work on the desert war in 1942

Dr Niall Barr is a Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies, King's College London, based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham. Educated at the University of St Andrews, he previously taught military history at Sandhurst. He has published widely on British military history and has conducted numerous battlefield tours, including three to El Alamein. He is married with two children and lives in Oxfordshire.

In late June 1942, the dispirited and defeated British Eighth Army was pouring back towards the tiny railway halt of El Alamein in the western desert of Egypt. Tobruk had fallen and Eighth Army had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika. Yet just five months later, the famous bombardment opened the Eighth Army's own offensive which destroyed the Axis threat to Egypt. Explanations for the remarkable change of fortune have generally been sought in the abrasive personality of the new army commander Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery. But the long running controversies surrounding the commanders of Eighth Army - Generals Auchinleck and Montgomery - and that of their legendary opponent, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, have often been allowed to obscure the true nature of the Alamein campaign. Pendulum of War provides a vivid and fresh perspective on the fighting at El Alamein from the early desperate days of July to the final costly victory in November.

Niall Barr

His account of the Allies fighting in Italy in 1943 and 1944 is harrowing.

Crisp and provocative, and shoots down more than a few cherished generalisations.

Is it really possible to get down to the reality of those tumultuous years after all this time to assess what actually happened and how the Alliance worked? Niall Barr proves the answer is a resounding  ‘yes’ and he does it with style.

Deeply researched, sophisticated treatment of an apparently familiar subject.

Barr has dealt with this remarkably complex relationship with considerable skill and he outlines the historic causes of tension very effectively.

Alliance Warfare in the Second World War

In the mid-twentieth century the relationship between America and Britain had a chequered past. Theirs was a history of protection and oppression, of rebellion and ultimately war. But then the shared crisis of the Second World War brought Britain and America closer than ever before or since, and saw an unprecedented level of military cooperation. How was such a radical shift possible? 
 
 To uncover how this historically fraught relationship recovered from its inauspicious start, Niall Barr goes back to the origins of their shared military history in the American War of Independence and shows how these early days had ramifications for the later crucial alliance. 
 
 Picking up the tale with America’s entry into the Second World War, Niall Barr tells the story of these two armies as they fought in the largest war in history, from the uppermost echelons of the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt right down to battlefield level and the soldiers fighting side by side for a common cause.

Yanks and Limeys

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

Penguin Shop: 15% off with code PENGUINXMAS2025

White Nights

Little Black Classics Box Set

Penguin Modern Box Set

Frankenstein

Niall Barr

Praise for Yanks and Limeys

Well crafted and absorbing book.

His account of the Allies fighting in Italy in 1943 and 1944 is harrowing.

Crisp and provocative, and shoots down more than a few cherished generalisations.

Well crafted and absorbing book.

His account of the Allies fighting in Italy in 1943 and 1944 is harrowing.

Crisp and provocative, and shoots down more than a few cherished generalisations.

Well crafted and absorbing book.

His account of the Allies fighting in Italy in 1943 and 1944 is harrowing.

Crisp and provocative, and shoots down more than a few cherished generalisations.

Books by Niall Barr

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter