The Normandy Campaign: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris

by Victor Brooks

To defeat Nazi Germany, the Allies had to mount the largest amphibious attack in history. Nothing like it in size and scope had ever been attempted. Failure would mean, at best, prolonging the war. At worst, it would give Germany the chance to develop the "wonder weapons" they had been talking about for so long. Despite all of the mistakes and miscues of the Allied armies, as well as the great cost in lives, they secured the beaches with heroic determination and moved on to defeat Germany. The much-celebrated Allied landing at Omaha and the other Normandy beaches on D-Day was just the beginning—the success of the landing was secured only after another two months of hard fighting, bravery, and death. The Normandy Campaign describes in broad strokes the movements of the armies as they fought their way to Paris and presents a complete picture of the campaign through France. Brooks details his narrative with firsthand accounts from the soldiers who were in the dunes and hedgerows of Normandy. The reader comes to understand both the strategic situation and the human drama of war that made the Normandy campaign the incredible story it is.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2002

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good basic history of the Normandy Campaign, this book by Victor Brooks is part of the "Great Campaigns" Series, books that all address famous or pivotal military history. Here the Villanova Professor and Author give a tight little exposition of the "Beginning of the End of WWII" in the west. The main text follows the concept, buildup, planning, execution and then follow- on maneuvres on land of the Allied Forces under Eisenhower. At the same time, we get the Nazi defensive plans- their two theories- fighting at the beaches or luring the Allies into the interior for armoured "PanzerWaffe" combat on their own terms- and the struggles in their command structures. Along the way Brooks drops in sidebars - little 1-4 page articles on particular points - like the organisations of the British/American and Germans Armies or Uniforms or Weapon comparison- even the interpersonal dynamic of both SHAEF and OKW/OKH get a look . The result is a very readable little book with a lot of meat on the bone.

It's not as if this ground has not been covered a lot before, but this book did marry up the various parts of the campaign into a coherent story - all the way to Paris. The Americans have the difficulty at Omaha beach- and then struggles dominating to Cherburg peninsular and the bocage country to their south. The Brits and Canadian have the better roads to try- but all of them seem to feature German Armour and SS units- sometimes both. The Germans- trying to stem the tide- foolishly choose to fight within range of the Massed fleet offshore and British Airbases- holding the line- but being ground down by constant attrition of the Sea Power and Airpower. Brooks explains Monty's successive Offensives and Bradley "Cobra" popping of the boil better than many have done- and uses maps well to explain the progress. You feel the pressure of the Beachhead- and the excitement of the breakout when it happens.

There are few adult themes and no graphic casualty descriptions , so this is a good choice for the History minded Junior reader over about 11 Years old. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, these book looks a real boon. Lots of ideas for Scenarios/Dioramas, although I would have liked to see more granular diagrams for some skirmishes added. This would be an ideal book for the Warhammer player wanting to give Bolt Action/Flames Of War/BattleGroup/Angriff a try- but wanting all the campaign info in one place. The B/W pics are strewn gleefully about the text- but perhaps not quite enough and not enough coiour to be the only resource- but this book cover the history, strategy, and grand tactics as well or better than most books on the battlefield. A strong rec for this- and I will be looking for the others in this series...