The siege of Tobruk was the longest in British military history. The coastal fortress and deep-water port was of crucial importance to the battle for North Africa, and the key that would unlock the way to Egypt and the Suez Canal. For almost a year the isolated garrison held out against all attempts to take it. For both sides it assumed a propaganda role that outweighed even its great strategic value. Goebbels referred to its defenders as "rats," which, in characteristic British fashion, the whole army proudly adopted as their title, the "Desert Rats," and the port became a symbol of resistance when the war was going badly for Britain. When it fell and 25,000 men surrendered to an armored assault on 21 June 1942, Churchill said it was "one of the heaviest blows I can recall during the war." William F. Buckingham s startling account, drawing extensively on first-hand testimony from veterans on both sides, is a comprehensive history of this epic struggle, and essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Western Desert Campaign."