Lost Battle: Crete 1941 Hardback - 1993

The Free Press, 1993. Hardback. Collectible: Like New. 1st Edition / 1st Printing (Free Press - 1993) LIKE NEW in like new mylat protected dust jacket. No marks in text. Remainder mark on ottom edge. Binding is tight and square. Gently read if at all. xii, 350 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 25 cm. . . . . . . . FROM THE DUST JACKET FRONT FLAP: The German invasion of Crete in 1941 and the ensuing struggle between German and British forces was one of the most dramatic and exciting battles of the Second World War. Now, using previously top-secret sources, historian Callum MacDonald has written a gripping narrative of the bloody battle that was one of World War II's darkest moments. When the invasion began, with hundreds of Nazis descending from the clouds upon entrenched British troops, it seemed Germany had the upper hand. It was the first time in history that paratroopers fell from the sky, ushering in a terrifying new form of warfare. MacDonald recreates the horror experienced by the British at the prospect of this innovation, and describes as well the process by which the German developed it, and the sense of promise their side held for it. . . . An expert storyteller, MacDonald vividly weaves together history and the human drama of individuals on each side of the battle, from the relentless and stubborn German commander Kurt Student, to the British World War I hero Brigadier General Freyberg. He shows how misjudgments on both sides led simultaneously to British disaster and to a hollow victory for the Nazis. Despite their devastating losses, the Nazis nevertheless defeated the British forces on the island. Although their intelligence was strong, the British were militarily unprepared. Callum MacDonald tells this compelling story as a lesson in the perils of unpreparedness and the unpredictable outcomes of even the best strategies.