I really enjoyed this books abs it was a fast read for me. Writing was good and the story flowed well. It seems to me the author included accurate facts in this fictionalized story surrounding true events.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC copy of the book. The opinions expressed above are my own.

A well researched and fascinating world war ii story that you can't believe is true but it is, a perfect read for the history buff

This book reminded me of the old World War II epic films like Guns of Navarone, Raid on Rommel, and Torbruk! It was very cinematic and suspenseful, while retaining historical accuracy and realism. Despite there being many characters to keep track of, all of them were very well written and developed and I felt very invested in their lives and well-being. Before this book, I had never heard of Samuel Marquis, but now I am rushing to buy the rest of his books!

Lions of the Desert by Samuel Marquis

From all accounts, this story in the 1941-1942 conflict in North Africa- the “War Without Hate,” is of a real war, written after certain highly classified documents were released for the “real” story to be told. Conversations, of course, are fictional.

There is a multitude of war strategy, weapons and events which will be glorious to war aficionados. This same detailed information may make others’ eyes glaze over.

What this reviewer feels will appeal to all, however, are the many daring and brave raids led by David Stirling, a Scotsman, who created and led the Special Air Service (SAS). David and his men single handedly created havoc with German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s plan with his Afrika Korps to secure Northern Libya and Egypt for the Russians.

Spies abound in a fun and interesting who-is-and-who-isn’t along with some fun with Hekmut Fahmy, everyone’s favorite Egyptian dancer and entertainer. Hekmut is presented as a Mata Hari type character, and her loyalties are never quite clear.

There is much to be learned in this book, including the weakness of Hitler himself as a military man, the sense of fair play possessed by Rommel, aka The Desert Fox, and how one man can effect change in a war with a new, fresh idea.

"Lions of the Desert" eBook was published in 2019 and was written by Samuel Marquis (http://samuelmarquisbooks.com). Mr. Marquis has published ten novels. This is the fourth in his "World War Two" series. 

I categorize this novel as ‘G’. The story is set in North Africa during the early years of World War II. While David Sterling, the founder of the British Special Air Service (SAS) is a major character, there are others as well: German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Egyptian belly dancer Hekmat Fahmy, head of British Field Security Major A.W. Sansom, German spy Johannes Eppler, and U.S. military attaché Colonel Bonner Fellers.

This dramatized historical novel describes how the SAS was formed and outlines some of the action that they saw in North Africa. There is also the story of the German spies that infiltrated Cairo and how Sansom pursued them. You also find that the Germans had broken the code used by Colonel Fellers as he made his daily reports back to Washington. This gave Rommel and incredible insight into what the British were doing. 

I enjoyed the 16.5 hours I spent reading this 562-page story of action in North Africa. I was a little disappointed that this was dramatized history. I had hoped it was more straight non-fiction. I did find that the novel gave a different outlook on the war in Africa. The chosen cover art is OK. I give this novel a 3.6 (rounded up to 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Lions of the Desert is a fictional recounting of the 1941-42 desert war in North Africa. I am not well versed on the subject. I was interested in the story, enough to seek out some actual history. While the book is entertaining, I am aware that it is strictly historical fiction, and the author may have taken some liberties with the story. The pacing of the book is even. I received an advance reader's copy, so I am trusting grammatical errors will have been corrected in the final product.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.