European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Book review Rommel Book an unlikely mix of fact fiction by Dave Walczak staff writer to no o Siphon Myllis from history is .1 perpetual Battle Between what happened and what people believe,1 happened. Try explaining  the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on Breeds Hill or that Stonewall Jackson earned his nickname from Tler Ision rather than respect and you la probably  argument rather than acknowledgement. History especially the military variety has always existed Al myth s mercy. Battles Are fought by soldiers bul justified by politicians and interpreted by folks Back Home. The significance of Jericho or Rutland or Gettysburg can t be carved in Stone Only in memory embellished twisted or enhanced by time s Long March. The generals who led armies into Battles have always held a certain fascination to generations who arrived Long Afler Yorktown Bull run or Verdun. For latecomers the questions of who was and what author Lawrence Wells has Rommel the desert Fox in Mississippi before world War ii. If overpower the textbook what  i Awrence Wells understands these concepts All Loo Well. In writing Romnot & the Avo he disdains the history text in favor of unabashed fiction. But the outcome after 415 pages neither enhances historical understanding nor Sheds Light on one of the most unique German generals of world War ii. His work however deserves More than a Quick dismissal. His attempt to link american civil War tactics to those of world War ii holds some Validity. His portrayal of Rommel As a sort of Renaissance Man schooled in German militarism yet open to other cultures deserves closer inspection. It s Only when Wells enters into the murky Arena of War s morality that he overlays his hand losing the Reader in the process. Wells punks the desert Fox into Mississippi before world War ii. It is there that Rommel traces the 1864 footsteps of Nathan Bedford Torres in the later s Brilliant Maneu vers at the Battle Brice s Crossroads. Determined to learn More about Forrest the iconoclast Rommel takes a nighttime tour of Shiloh where accompanied by William Faulkner he learns of tactics and Independence lessons Rommel later applies to North Africa in 1941-42. Wells guide to understanding the link Between what Rommel Learned in Dixie to what he accomplished in North Africa is Maxwell Speigner. Wells fictional hero tracks Rommel from the Early 1910s to his death in 1944. It is through Speigner s eyes and mind that the Reader starts Down a path that after a promising Start languishes in confusion. Wells uses Speigner As an alter ego a fictional apologist for Forrest and the confederacy. To Speigner Forrest is no slave trader or onlooker As rebel troops Butcher Black Union soldiers Al fort Pillow. I be s a unique Leader of men willing to share their personal concerns As he overt omes overwhelming Odds. 7 he Confederate cavalry Leader of get there first Mth the most men Fame is i strayed in Long Malve rations filled with colloquialisms. That no other author has found f Orrest so loquacious can he Exi used since Wells elevates lit lion Over fact. Kornmel is framed in similar terms reflecting Wells historical research. The Field marshal s arguments with his italian allies doubts about Hitler s military decisions and contempt fur the usual Headquarters trappings have been documented elsewhere. But Wells conversational approach adds poignancy to such events. Not satisfied to let Rommel meet his Fate at Al Alamein Wells launches into a Lames Bond version of events in North Africa. Unrequited loves kidnappings and intelligence operations overwhelm he historical prospective to no apparent end. Like a Lime machine gone berserk. Wells attempts to justify his course through a morality discussion that leads nowhere. His linking Rommel to the nazi regime s War crimes is a feeble attempt to justify an awkward discussion. His inclusion of women into the Book sidetracks his purpose. Wells Southern background forms the Crux and the dilemma of Rommel & tin Relief. In trying to highlight the military Genius of one of the South s finest generals to chooses2lllh-Century counterpart who fascinated the allies even while he fought them. Although Able to Overlook f Orrest s and the confederacy s moral underpinnings. Wells can t bring himself to Rio the same for Rommel Wells has company. His Rommel s death and us i ire  could easily raise him to the stature of a tragic hero. Yet in a strange Way he fails in this Resue i. Fie seems Fust a link of self certain. The True tragic hero needs More self doubt a great Deal More humility. There is too in insurmountable obstacle. All our judgments of germans of the time Are conditioned by the answer to one question what in the end. Was their attitude Lona Kint right to the last Rommel  ambivalent. Ward Rutherford in his biography of the desert i of Camp to this conclusion based not on a c  of Rommel to i Orrest. But of Rommel to society. Wells nukes no similar pronouns eminent. Dealing Uilah the moral issues of the oth Eri tory without first grappling with those of the i Jill prove Loo a great a task. I history even aided by in lit. Is not so easily explained. 8 f tripes Ragi line january 8, 1987