March to Victory: The Final Months of World War II : From D-Day, June 6, 1944 to the Fall of Japan, August 14, 1945

by Tony Hall

A fully illustrating retelling of the last sixteen months of World War II covers the period between D-Day and the surrender of Japan, and includes extensive photo-essays, commentary coverage, and annotated maps of campaigns and major battles.

Genres: History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 1994

Reviews

[Joe Krakovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The March to Victory" was a little different in my opinion. Although there were plenty of photos and concise descriptions of the campaigns, there were no maps. But then again, I have plenty of period maps in other books, and most of the time I am frustrated when places mentioned in a story are not shown on the maps provided!

I learned a lot of interesting background facts in this book, and it served to offer comparisons to various generals mentioned. For instance, British General Montgomery is shown in a rather incompetent light, who only won battles when he got the lion's share, and then some, of arms and supplies. His armies lost hundreds of tanks trying to breakout of Normandy, Operation Market Garden was a fiasco, and his contribution to the Battle of the Bulge was negligible. However his crossing of the Rhine gave him glory compatible to Al Alamein. On the other hand General Slim, in the forgotten theater of Burma, though starved of supplies and resources, and fighting thru the monsoon, recaptured Burma for the Crown.

The following is from the fighting in Burma and offers a taste of the contributing chapters to the book. 

"A young British soldier, far from home, fighting around Meiktila a savage war against a relentless foe, a war moreover in which he knew the 'home front' took little interest was dazzled to encounter the army commander in person, virtually unaccompanied, carbine slung over his shoulder. Making his rounds of units, feeling the pulse of his army, Slim told the soldier and his companions that, the sooner they took Rangoon, the sooner they would be on the 'big ships' home. There was none of Montgomery's careful stagecraft or Patton's histrionics in this, but it was exactly the right touch for that soldier and his companions, so exactly right that he was able to recall the dialogue clearly nearly a half century later."

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. I’ve had an interest in the Normandy campaign for years, but still learned some from this book. What was most valuable for me, though, was the coverage of the Italy campaign and the German/Soviet front.

The book was edited by Tony Hall and he compiled a very nice group of authors in the following chapters:

Europe Invaded
The Soviet Summer Offensive, 1944
The Reconquest of the Philippines
Drive to the Rhine
The Strategic Bombing Offensive
War in Italy: The Final Year
The Ardennes Counteroffensive
Crossing the Rhine
The Soviets Enter Germany: The Winter Offensive
Burma Reconquered, 1944-1945
From the Rhine to the Elbe
The Battle for Berlin: April-May 1945
Island by Island
The Final Horrors
I liked each chapter, but would have tired of it quickly if not for the use of different authors.

The book is VERY heavy on mentioning specific army groups, divisions, fleets, etc and their commanders. This can be quite difficult to follow because I don’t think there was a SINGLE MAP in the entire book. The names and units all start blending together without a way to picture the setting of the battles described. This meant that I had to go to other sources for maps to get a better context of the battles and campaigns described by the authors. Sometimes it didn’t seem worth the trouble. The book has almost 300 illustrations and over 100 color artifact photos, but NOT A SINGLE MAP! The photos and illustrations are really good, though.

This book is 3/5 but would easily be 4/5 if it had proper maps. I can’t believe there weren’t any maps… wow.