July 1943

The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is a story of courage and enduring triumph, of calamity and miscalculation. In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern learner can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power.

Defeat in North Africa and the disastrous loss of Sixth Army at Stalingrad were undoubtedly huge blows to the Wehrmacht, but the most critical battle of 1943 was fought at Kursk. In the spring of 1943, the Russian front bulged into the German lines between Kharkov and Orel. …

Defeat in North Africa and the disastrous loss of Sixth Army at Stalingrad were undoubtedly huge blows to the Wehrmacht, but the most critical battle of 1943 was fought at Kursk. In the spring of 1943, the Russian front bulged into the German lines between Kharkov and Orel. …