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 his "Liberation Trilogy", Rick Atkinson shows why no modern reader 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. Beginning with the daring amphibious invasion in November 1942, "An Army at Dawn" follows the British and American armies as they fight the French in Morocco and Algeria, and then take on the Germans and Italians in Tunisia. Battle by battle, an inexperienced and sometimes poorly led army gradually becomes a superb fighting force. Central to the tale are the extraordinary but fallible commanders who come to dominate the battlefield: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, Montgomery and Rommel.

裏剋•阿特金森（Rick Atkinson）

★三屆普利策奬得主

★普利茲剋軍事圖書館文獻奬“終身成就奬”

裏剋•阿特金森曾任職美國《華盛頓郵報》特約撰稿人和編輯25年，獲得2003年普利策曆史圖書奬、2003年軍事史學會傑齣圖書奬、1982年普利策國內報道奬、1983年利文斯頓新聞奬等16項新聞報道、軍事曆史類著名奬項，是美國最具代錶性的軍事曆史學傢。

1952年，阿特金森生於一個美國軍人世傢，幼年曾隨父親輾轉世界各地。在獲得東卡羅來納大學英語學士學位和芝加哥大學英語文學碩士學位後，他先後在《匹茲堡太陽早報》《堪薩斯城時報》《華盛頓郵報》擔任記者，負責國防、外交、情報等內容。

1999年離開報社後，阿特金森專注於“二戰”，寫下瞭一係列作品，包括《“二戰”解放三部麯》《西點軍魂》、《漫長的灰綫》和《十字軍東徵》等。