I'm 1/3 of the way through this book and have enjoyed it greatly. Atkinson is a very good writer and his style flows well and is very descriptive. At every turn he quotes soldiers from both sides to back up his writing. Usually using quotes which contain a lot of humor. One great line is that the US troops, many of whom had never left their home town before, were told about Arabs, "If you see two men holding hands, don't worry, they aren't queer.".
Another interesting part of this book is that Atkinson doesn't pull any punches when he critiques the leaders of the Anglo-American army. From Eisenhower spending too much time worrying about politics rather than attacking Tunis to Patton's disregard for supplies, he is balanced on everyone. It is amazing when you read exactly how unprepared the US Army was to undertake something as large as the Torch landings. And frightening when you realize that the Americans "In the spirit of Sherman" wanted to land directly in France and take it to the Germans.
I am greatly looking forward to finishing this book. This is to be the first in a trilogy for Atkinson called the Liberation Trilogy. I can't wait for the rest.
