Additional information
by Aleksander J. Potocnik (Author)
Few people know that already during the First World War German military leader Erwin Rommel played a significant role, especially during the breaking of the Italian front line in 1917. Through words, photos, maps and illustrations this book describes in detail his amazing achievements. In the wake of the 12th Isonzo Battle the Commander of the German Alpine corps, General Otton von Bellow personally promised the "Pour le Merite" award to the first German officer who reached the peak of Mount Matajur. So what did Erwin Rommel do to deserve his "Pour le Merite"? He breached two enemy lines, captured the garrisons holding three strategically important mountain peaks, probably saved thousands of lives and ushered in a new military doctrine. Besides, he was the first the German officer to reach the peak of Mount Matajur.
Author Biography
Apart from being the leading Slovenian fortification expert Aleksander Jankovic Potocnik is also an illustrator and writer. He graduated in 1984 at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Ljubljana. Despite his formal education as an architect his main endeavour was illustrating and cartooning for the then major Slovenian periodicals. Between 1989 and 1994 he was living in Melbourne, Australia, where he completed a Graduate Diploma course in Animation and Interactive Multimedia. He spent the nineties working mostly in the advertising industry. In the year 2000 he was an animator for the Golden Drumstick Award winning team at the Golden Drum Festival. The turning point in his career happened in October 1999, when drawing a tourist map of the municipality of Ziri he discovered the forgotten fortification system called the Rupnik Line - until then completely unknown to the general public. Under the mentorship of the American fortification expert, Joe E. Kaufmann, he undertook some research and published the very first study about the Rupnik Line in the British based Fort Magazine in 2001. Since then he has published many articles and several books about the subject. The books printed in English or in a bilingual version include: The Ring of Wire (Utrjena Ljubljana), Ad Pirum, 2006; Slovenian Fortifications (Utrdbe na Slovenskem), Ad Pirum, 2008; Fortifying Europe's Soft Underbelly, Merriam Press, 2012 and Hemingway's Trail of the Novel A Farewell to Arms, Merriam Press, 2013. He contributed illustrations for books by Joe E. Kaufmann: The Maginot Line - History and Guide and The Atlantic Wall - History and Guide, both published by British based publishers Pen & Sword. He also continues to work as an illustrator of juvenile literature. One of the major references in this field was a series titled Mischievous Fairytales, published by the Ad Pirum. Aleksander J. Potocnik is a member of the Fortress Study group (FSG) and of the Hemingway Society. At present he is a chairman of the Illustrators Section at the Association of the Slovenian Fine Artists Societies and a chairman of the Artistic Council of the Fine Art Society of Ljubljana.
