Clayton and Craig’s work covers the pivotal period of May to November 1942. Focussing their narrative on north Africa, they nevertheless clarify the contribution Malta’s dogged resistance made to bringing about this first British victory of the war to date. Ranging widely, this history touches on the experience of an American soldier caught up in the raid on Dieppe, RAF bomber crews flying into Europe from British airfields, and a nurse working in appalling conditions in a hospital in Malta. More than a dozen individuals, many of which will inspire your emotional investment, have their stories stitched together to present this solid and comprehensive account of a wildly dynamic theatre of war. Fittingly, each one is eulogised in the book’s short epilogue.