• Rommel

  • Leadership Lessons from the Desert Fox
  • By: Charles Messenger
  • Narrated by: Tom Weiner
  • Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (346 ratings)

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Rommel  By  cover art

Rommel

By: Charles Messenger
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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Publisher's summary

Modeled on the acclaimed Great Generals Series, which features the strategy and legacy of famous American generals, World Generals broadens the scope to include the world’s finest military leaders. Each volume includes a foreword by General Wesley K. Clark and is coedited with an afterword by a different foreign general.

This exciting series opens with “the Desert Fox”, the most famous German field marshal in World War II, Erwin Rommel. A hero of the people of the Third Reich and widely respected by his opponents, Rommel proved himself highly adept at blitzkrieg warfare. He consistently outwitted his adversaries in both France and North Africa through his ability to sense the weak spot in his enemy’s deployment and by the pace at which he conducted his operations. Rommel was seriously wounded in France just three days before the aborted attempt on Hitler’s life. Rommel subsequently came under suspicion of being involved in the plot and, under pressure, committed suicide. Rommel displayed an outstanding ability to seize the initiative and retain it, and here, Charles Messenger draws on the skills behind this ability for the benefit of modern-day leaders.

Charles Messenger served for 20 years as an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment before becoming a full-time military historian and defense analyst. He is the author of nearly 40 books, including The Blitzkrieg Story. He lives in London.

©2009 Charles Messenger (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Charles Messenger tells the story of Germany’s most famous field marshal with a verve and brio reminiscent of his subject. Anyone seeking a concise account of Rommel’s remarkable life and career need look no further.” (Roger Moorhouse, author of Killing Hitler)

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not particularly new, insightful, or good.

No new ground is opened here. The insights are few and far between. The narrator has a good voice, and nice pacing, but somehow pedantic. I couldn’t finish it. Rare for me.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good but not great.

Perhaps it was the subject matter & lack of records that survived but it seems to be incredibly superficial. For free it was good but I’m glad I didn’t use a credit for it.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Rommel Life Story

was hoping this would be more on his leadership skills and lessons learned but it's more about his life
it was well read and written

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Very Generalized

I enjoyed the backstory but some of the stories conflict with other books I've read.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant content & narration

What might have been a dry read on my own became electric & riveting through the brilliant narration. I listened to this book in it's entirty from the foreward by General Clark to the afterward. Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

If you are only interested in how Rommel thought tactically, you may enjoy it. No insight into him as a human being. His death was no more than a paragraph. Narrator has a good voice, but it seemed like he was reading one long sentence

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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This book did the Desert Fox justice.

A very good breakdown of Rommel’s history as well has his tactics employed. It’s a very objective description of the conflicts he found himself in and the overarching circumstance he had to deal with.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Good

This book gave me a much greater understanding of Rommel and the campaigns he fought in throughout his career.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

More summary than analysis

My first Rommel book. I love history but I’m no historian. I would say this is a very good summary of his exploits but shorter on insight or analysis of his leadership strategy than I expected. Sentence structure is a bit short so it listens a bit like machine gun fire. Maybe that’s appropriate. Still overall good experience

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

Yes, Rommel certainly displayed some admirable leadership traits, but his shortfalls deserved more attention and emphasis. The cost of working himself nearly to physical and mental exhaustion, putting at risk the men and units he led needed, needed more examination. Similarly, his repeatedly putting himself in harms way put everything he was working toward at risk. His obedience to Hitler until late in the war also casts a shadow upon all his military achievements. While this book notes some of his flaws, it’s largely an unwarranted panegyric.

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