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D-Day: La storia segreta
Lo sbarco in Normandia, in codice operazione Overlord, fu indubbiamente l'azione più complessa, difficile e pericolosa di tutto il secondo conflitto mondiale in Europa. Vi presero parte, nel giugno 1944, quasi 200.000 uomini e oltre 5000 navi, la più imponente flotta che avesse mai solcato gli oceani. Larry Collins, esperto di politica internazionale e autore di spy story e di romanzi-reportage, racconta non solo i fatti e i dati già noti del "giorno più lungo" - la potenza di fuoco della flotta, il ruolo dell'aviazione, le cinque spiagge dell'invasione, i massacri, gli atti di eroismo - ma anche il lavoro meno conosciuto cui per oltre un anno si dedicò, con il nome in codice di Fortitude, un gruppo di intelligence britannico, voluto da Winston Churchill.
150 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2004
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About the author
Larry Collins
65 books180 followersBorn in West Hartford, Connecticut, he was educated at the Loomis Chaffee Institute in Windsor, Connecticut, and graduated from Yale as a BA in 1951. He worked in the advertising department of Procter and Gamble, in Cincinnati, Ohio, before being conscripted into the US Army. While serving in the public affairs office of the Allied Headquarters in Paris, from 1953-1955, he met Dominique Lapierre with whom he would write several best-sellers over 43 years.
He went back to Procter and Gamble and became the products manager of the new foods division in 1955. Disillusioned with commerce, he took to journalism and joined the Paris bureau of United Press International in 1956, and became the news editor in Rome in the following year, and later the MidEast bureau chief in Beirut.
In 1959, he joined Newsweek as Middle East editor, based in New York. He became the Paris bureau chief in 1961, where he would work until 1964, until he switched to writing books.
In 1965, Collins and Lapierre published their first joint work, Is Paris Burning? (in French Paris brûle-t-il?), a tale of Nazi occupation of the French capital during World War II and Hitler's plans to destroy Paris should it fall into the hands of the Allies. The book was an instant success and was made into a movie in 1966 by director René Clément, starring Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford and Alain Delon.
In 1967, they co-authored Or I'll Dress you in Mourning about the Spanish bullfighter Manuel Benítez El Cordobés.
In 1972, after five years' research and interviews, they published O Jerusalem! about the birth of Israel in 1948, turned into a movie by Elie Chouraqui.
In 1975, they published Freedom at Midnight, a story of the Indian Independence in 1947, and the subsequent assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. It is said they spent $300,000 researching and still emerged wealthy.
The duo published their first fictional work, The Fifth Horseman, in 1980. It describes a terrorist attack on New York masterminded by Libya's Colonel Gaddafi. The book had such a shocking effect that the French President cancelled the sale of nuclear reactors to Libya, even though it was meant for peaceful purposes. Paramount Pictures, which was planning a film based on the book, dropped the idea in fear that fanatics would emulate the scenario in real life.
In 1985, Collins authored Fall From Grace (without Lapierre) about a woman agent sent into occupied France who realizes she may be betrayed by her British masters if necessary. He also wrote Maze: A Novel (1989), Black Eagles (1995), Le Jour Du Miracle: D-Day Paris (1994) and Tomorrow Belongs To Us (1998). Shortly before his death, he collaborated with Lapierre on Is New York Burning? (2005), a novel mixing fictional characters and real-life figures that speculates about a terrorist attack on New York City.
In 2005, while working from his home in the south of France on a book on the Middle East, Collins died of a sudden cerebral haemorrhage.
He went back to Procter and Gamble and became the products manager of the new foods division in 1955. Disillusioned with commerce, he took to journalism and joined the Paris bureau of United Press International in 1956, and became the news editor in Rome in the following year, and later the MidEast bureau chief in Beirut.
In 1959, he joined Newsweek as Middle East editor, based in New York. He became the Paris bureau chief in 1961, where he would work until 1964, until he switched to writing books.
In 1965, Collins and Lapierre published their first joint work, Is Paris Burning? (in French Paris brûle-t-il?), a tale of Nazi occupation of the French capital during World War II and Hitler's plans to destroy Paris should it fall into the hands of the Allies. The book was an instant success and was made into a movie in 1966 by director René Clément, starring Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford and Alain Delon.
In 1967, they co-authored Or I'll Dress you in Mourning about the Spanish bullfighter Manuel Benítez El Cordobés.
In 1972, after five years' research and interviews, they published O Jerusalem! about the birth of Israel in 1948, turned into a movie by Elie Chouraqui.
In 1975, they published Freedom at Midnight, a story of the Indian Independence in 1947, and the subsequent assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. It is said they spent $300,000 researching and still emerged wealthy.
The duo published their first fictional work, The Fifth Horseman, in 1980. It describes a terrorist attack on New York masterminded by Libya's Colonel Gaddafi. The book had such a shocking effect that the French President cancelled the sale of nuclear reactors to Libya, even though it was meant for peaceful purposes. Paramount Pictures, which was planning a film based on the book, dropped the idea in fear that fanatics would emulate the scenario in real life.
In 1985, Collins authored Fall From Grace (without Lapierre) about a woman agent sent into occupied France who realizes she may be betrayed by her British masters if necessary. He also wrote Maze: A Novel (1989), Black Eagles (1995), Le Jour Du Miracle: D-Day Paris (1994) and Tomorrow Belongs To Us (1998). Shortly before his death, he collaborated with Lapierre on Is New York Burning? (2005), a novel mixing fictional characters and real-life figures that speculates about a terrorist attack on New York City.
In 2005, while working from his home in the south of France on a book on the Middle East, Collins died of a sudden cerebral haemorrhage.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 3, 2018
Con muchos detalles que desconocía sobre el plan de invasion aliada y sus consecuencias en suelo francés.Buen libro.
December 30, 2021
Muy interesante y breve explicación del éxito del desembarco de Normandía.
March 16, 2019
A quick read, but there were many aspects of D-Day I'd never heard of before in this book. I liked the mention of the part played by various countries. I'd mostly only heard from the American perspective - would not mind reading books now about D-Day from the British, Canadian, French, and German perspective.
March 12, 2019
There is a mesage and some interesting facts that I did'nt know!!
November 30, 2020
Increíble como se fueron dando los acontecimientos y que por detalles, la operación fue existosa.
September 17, 2025
A concise yet engaging book that recounts the preparations for the Normandy landings. It covers how Operation Overlord unfolded and highlights the crucial role of Operation Fortitude, the massive deception campaign that convinced the Nazis to expect a second Allied landing that never came. This misdirection prevented them from launching a major counteroffensive that could have driven the Allies back into the sea.
October 1, 2021
Siempre me han gustado los libros sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial y algo que me encantó de este es que, a pesar de narrar hechos reales, se siente como si estuvieras leyendo una novela. Hay muchas cosas que no sabía sobre el Día D que narra este libro.
Fue bastante adictivo a pesar de tratar un tema medio pesado.
Fue bastante adictivo a pesar de tratar un tema medio pesado.
January 21, 2013
Non amo questo genere di libri, ma avendo in programma una vacanza in Normandia, ed essendo stato consigliato da mio figlio, ho fatto uno strappo alla regola. Il libro si concentra in prevalenza sugli aspetti strategici dell'operazione, e sulle azioni di controinformazione adottate dagli Alleati per spostare altrove l'attenzione tedesca, permettendo alle truppe dello sbarco di attestarsi. Ripetitivo come la maggior parte dei libri di storia made in USA, ha il pregio di raccontare anche aspetti poco conosciuti, come la storia del bombardamento delle città normanne da parte degli Alleati; un "effetto collaterale" giustificato dall'esigenza di rendere difficile l'atteso contrattacco tedesco, che non avvenne mai. Tra i difetti di questo libro, l'assoluta assenza di cartine e quadri sinottici, credo indispensabili quando si tratta di un'operazione militare. Apprezzabili il linguaggio scorrevole e la brevità.
August 3, 2013
J'ai appris beaucoup de choses par la lecture de ce livre. Je l'ai trouvé très simple à lire et je dois dire que même si certaines informations ne sont pas très approfondie, on comprend les éléments essentiels et décisifs du débarquement en Normandie.
Je recommande ce livre à tous ceux qui veulent en savoir plus sur le débarquement en Normandie mais qui ne veulent pas un récit long et trop détaillé.
Je recommande ce livre à tous ceux qui veulent en savoir plus sur le débarquement en Normandie mais qui ne veulent pas un récit long et trop détaillé.
March 30, 2016
Menos de lo poco que esperaba de el.
Se trata de varias historias sueltas, casi sin conexion entre si excepto que todas ocurren alrededor del Dia D.
El lector puede llegar a tener la impresion de estar perdiendo el tiempo con historias irrelevantes algunas, muy conocidas otras.
Se trata de varias historias sueltas, casi sin conexion entre si excepto que todas ocurren alrededor del Dia D.
El lector puede llegar a tener la impresion de estar perdiendo el tiempo con historias irrelevantes algunas, muy conocidas otras.
October 13, 2008
no es una novela pero como si lo fuera, es sobre la segunda guerra mundial, el dia "D" obvio como se trama el ataque a normandia, la operacion fortitude etc muy muyy recomendable
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October 30, 2009Great read about the brave men who fought the great war. A must read for WWII historians.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews