An authoritative and factual account of the Eighth Army during the period of Montgomery's command -- August 1942 -- through December 1943 -- and very definitely Montgomery's book, for the record. Almost one could read it and wonder if any other army gave more than passing attention to the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily and Italy as the Eighth Army advanced from victory to victory. The Desert Air Force and the Merchant Marine (British) and occasional mention of a New Zealand Division, a South African Division, an Indian Division -- these come in for their due. But it's the Eighth Army's story -- and Montgomery's story, militarily speaking, a meticulous record of plans, considerations, strategy, tactics, et al. Virtually nothing in personal or human terms; not even the dramatic values that characterized his Normandy to the Baltic. Important for the record, for armchair strategists, for military historians. But not of interest for the general reader.