'One loses all sense of time here. The battles for the last positions before Alexandria are hard. Was several days in the front line and lived in the car or hole in the ground. Enemy air force gave us trouble. Nonetheless I hope to succeed.' In this compelling book, Erwin Rommel - one of the most successful commanders of World War II, and certainly the most well-known - writes about his views on the philosophy of warfare, battles, leaders, and the progresss of both world wars. A complete picture of how a military genius grappled with war is presented through Rommel's accounts of his experiences as a soldier in World War I, and through translated extracts from letters, orders and the narratives of daily action in World War II that he dictated each evening. The commentary by Dr John Pimlott sets Rommel's words in context, describing the background to the general's ideas and explaining how his plans were affected and altered by external circumstances. The result is an outstanding objective insight into Rommel's military career, illustrated with photographs, many of which were taken by Rommel himself.