POPSKI'S PRIVATE ARMY

A strange foot-note to World War II is this story of a British army officer and his largely native forces who operated, with devastating effect upon the Desert Fox Rommel, behind the enemy lines in North Africa. This is the greatly detailed account of P.P.A. -- how it was recruited, how liaison and friendship was built up with the natives who writhed under brutal Italian colonial rule. There are many thrilling accounts of the destruction of ammunition supply dumps, sudden forays and little pitched battles deep in the Sahara sands, but in general it is somewhat lacking in the derring-do that the public has become accustomed to in stories of this type.