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After Dunkirk #8

Storming the Reich

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As winter casts its long shadow across Europe, the pulse of battle beats louder, drawing the Littlefield family into the fray of the Siegfried Line and beyond.

Jeremy Littlefield stands at a crossroads, his loyalties torn between two continents. On the verge of departing for Burma, he faces a crucial heed the urgent call of the Pacific Theater, or remain in France to support the Resistance alongside his beloved Amélie. Each choice carries the weight of survival, not just for himself, but for those he might leave behind.

Meanwhile, in the secretive confines of Bletchley Park, Claire's world of codes and ciphers exposes a desperate German ploy to turn the tide of the war. The success of the Allied forces hangs on her ability to crack these messages; failure could spell disaster.

In the thick of the action, Paul, with the 2nd French Armored Division, orchestrates and leads daring assaults deep into enemy territory. His tactical prowess is crucial as the Allies push through the Siegfried Line toward the German heartland.

At the same time, Lance, embodying undaunted resilience, escapes captivity once again. His return to the Resistance fuels a series of perilous sabotage missions designed to dismantle the enemy’s operations from within.

Together, the Littlefields navigate the complexities of war with unwavering courage. Confronting danger and moral dilemmas head-on, their story unfolds as a gripping narrative of endurance, sacrifice, and the unbreakable bonds of family.

From Wall Street Journal bestselling author Lee Jackson comes Storming the Reich, the eighth installment in the epic After Dunkirk series.

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Praise for Lee Jackson and the AFTER DUNKIRK

"...an exceptional work of historical fiction..." —Lieutenant General Rick Lynch, US Army (Ret.)

"...compelling fiction is masterfully woven in with the actual events...” —John J. Gobbell, author of The Last Lieutenant

"A sweeping, wonderfully crafted saga...Jackson has created a masterful, enduring tale." —H.W. "Buzz" Bernard, award-winning author of When Heroes Flew

"[Jackson]...deftly balances the deeply personal stories of his characters with the action..." —Commander George Wallace, USN (Ret.), author of Warshot and Operation Golden Dawn

“There is intrigue and action galore, but also true and gripping personal depth in this remarkable story...” —Don Keith, author of Final Bearing and Only the Brave

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What readers are

★★★★★ "...fantastic..."
★★★★★ "...remarkable..."
★★★★★ "...continues to thrill!"
★★★★★ "...series only gets better and better...."
★★★★★ "...a historical novel with accuracy and believability."

440 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 24, 2025

2143 people are currently reading
180 people want to read

About the author

Lee Jackson

17 books536 followers

My Tagline: Lee Jackson Brings Heat To The Cold War. I write Historical Thriller Fiction - particularly surrounding the Cold War. Having lived in Morocco, Germany, Costa Rica, and of course in the United States; and, having been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for a combined 38 months, I've been up-close-and personal with many different cultures. I graduated from West Point and Boston University, resulting in a front row seat on many pivotal events. I live in Texas with my wife. My first novel, "Curse The Moon" was published on 10 December 2013. I publish under my own name, Lee Jackson.

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5 stars
1,245 (67%)
4 stars
476 (25%)
3 stars
118 (6%)
2 stars
16 (<1%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Dan.
44 reviews3 followers
July 20, 2025
I'm glad Jackson came out with another installment. I love this series, particularly for its unusual approach to realism in depicting war.

To his credit he gets us into a lot of the war's less celebrated and less glorious moments, giving us candid looks at everything from Operation Market Garden with its "bridge too far" disaster, to the meat grinder of Peleliu in the Pacific.

Allied forces about to attack a German stronghold in the Vosges Mountains in France learn the region has never been successfully attacked, going back to Roman times. And now they've got to take this natural bastion.

He counters that with the utter nobility of the Anglo-American Littlefield family and their circle. Each refuses multiple opportunities to quit the fight. Each looks out for others and sacrifices to help them. Each is self-effacing about his or her talents.

Jackson gives us the terror and violence of war but resists the temptation to reduce his characters to PTSD victims. His characters are too busy thinking about the others they love and the war they've got to fight. Love affairs are romantic. There's next to no sex. Jackson gives us the mud and the blood and the squalor, but somehow keeps finding ways to uplift us.
513 reviews7 followers
July 14, 2025
Wow

What a well written book. I really love this series. This book is the best of them all. Getting to know the characters and breathe with them and worry with them.
2,814 reviews57 followers
August 26, 2025
Storming the Reich is a reminder that WW2 was not as simple as our textbooks make it out to be. It cannot be summed up in a few paragraphs or a chapter. Lee Jackson takes a horrible period in our history and shows the reader how chaotic and difficult it was in Europe and the Pacific.

Open the book and observe the leaders as the talk strategy. Watch the power struggles over what they each think is the best idea. Enjoy their secret meetings and see that they are just like the rest of us. They make mistakes. They are dedicated to a successful mission. Their exhaustion shows with every day the war continues.

I was reminded that a lot could happen in each day. It wasn't just one battle in a single day. Soldiers could be sneaking across a river in the dead of night while tanks were rolling through minefields, getting stuck in muck. On the other side of the world bombs could be dropping on Japanese battleships.

Battles and missions are brought to light as the reader follows the Littlefield family. Members are stationed in different parts of the world. As letters don't arrive; my heart broke in fear that another would never arrive. The unknown showed in their actions. I couldn't read fast enough to see if tragedy would come to the Littlefields. The author hooked me with each tragedy. Who would survive? Who would be injured? Read their story and realize the struggles of the unknown, the fear of the telegram.
184 reviews
July 20, 2025
Four well deserved stars!

Early in the series the books focused on the Littlefield family and a group of secondary characters that they interacted with in the course of the stories being told. These characters were enough to bring into focus the different events the author deemed important. With each successive book the Littlefield family and a growing cast of secondary and tertiary characters expand to get in all of the stories the author deems interesting and necessary...in so doing I fear the expansion of all the different story lines dilutes the great interest in the main characters and major portions of the stories told go by leaving us wondering what is happening to the main characters. Unless I'm mistaken, this is the second book in a row with only a sentence or two about the patriarch of the Littlefield family and no mention of his day to day existence and conditions in which he finds himself? I don't necessarily mean this is a detriment to the stories but the continued absence of many of the major characters does lessen the enjoyment of the stories for me. Still four stars means that this is another very good installment in the Littlefield saga and I hate that I have to wait until June of 2026 to get an update...
Profile Image for David Taylor.
1,538 reviews24 followers
June 24, 2025
Excellent addition to some of the best historical fiction written.

Over the course of seven novels, I’ve come to feel like the entire cast of characters in the After Dunkirk series are old friends. So, Reading Storming the Reich was like getting to sitting down with them to catch up on what everyone has been doing.

There isn’t a moment of downtime in this book, and to be honest there were a couple of times I was cursing the author while my eyes got misty and my chest felt heavy. I don’t remember the previous books having this much effect on my emotions. Maybe it’s got something to do with the war being in its waning days and a feeling that in the not so near future I’ll have to bid goodbye to all these old friends.

The way Lee Jackson weaves history into each character’s story leaves the reader wondering which parts are fiction. Or more like which of these characters are from Mr. Jackson’s imagination and which are real people. To me they all seem real.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from the publisher and chose to provide my review.
Profile Image for Connie Hill.
1,881 reviews47 followers
July 6, 2025
Storming the Reich is book number 8 in the After Dunkirk series that is written by Lee Jackson. I have not read the other books in the series and did not have any issues in following along. This book drew me in within the first few pages. The author has done careful research to bring this story to life


This book moves at a fast, but comfortable pace. The author has not allowed a lot of down time - there is a lot going on. I enjoyed getting to know the Littlefield family. The author has developed the characters so well, that you feel like you are sitting down with friends.

My master thesis was on espionage - mainly the Civil and Revolutionary war, and I loved reading about Claire and her world of codes and ciphers. Espionage, coding and all that fascinates me. I felt the author brought history to life through this story.

Thank yout to the author, Lee Jackson and Severn Publishing for allowing me to read a copy of this book - all thoughts are my own.
Profile Image for Frieda Thompson.
390 reviews6 followers
August 13, 2025
Storming The Reich

It seems as though I had to wait forever for this book, & now I have to wait another forever for the next! I can't complain! I've yet to START my first book! Much less finish one! I have a great interest in WWII stories since I had Uncles in both theaters, & both my parents worked for the US government then. Mr. Jackson does well in telling these stories, both the historical & the personal. I almost feel as if I'm there, although I have absolutely no personal knowledge of wartime. Naturally, I can relate to the family stories most, but by reading this series, the place names that I've heard in history classes, other books, & movies, mean more to me than just random words as they have in the past. I can recommend this series to anyone with an interest in WWII history & the families who lived it.
1 review
Read
July 4, 2025
Well done. I'm 90 and remember WWII very well. I read the newspaper and looked at the maps where the battles were taking place. My dad had scoliosis very badly and was rejected as 4F. I remember his coming home from the exam. He said, "I don't want to go, but to be told I wasn't fit hurt." He had two young brothers--one fought in the Pacific arena, the other in Europe--he received the silver star in the Battle of the Bulge--he got tired of being tied down by a machine gun nest, rushed it and wiped it out. My mother had a brother-in-law who was in the Army Air Corp and was in the Quarter Master unit in England and on the continent. I'm looking forward to the next book and hope I outlive the series!
4 reviews
November 23, 2025
Without all the extraneous real person stories, some are stories widely known only because there have been recent miniseries about them, the character and plot forwarding part of this book would be about 150 pages. About halfway through this book I set aside down for several months. I only finished it because I hate to quit a book and I know the finale coming. It felt like a lot of historical text book filler. I guess the entire Littlefield family and extended family and friends of extended family, did not have much to do with this timeframe of the war. There was so little story progress that it could have easily been included in the final offering. I’m not convinced that I am even interested in the wrap up anymore.
Profile Image for Ashley.
38 reviews2 followers
July 24, 2025
I've really loved this series, however, this particular book #8 seemed different than the rest. As if maybe the author was rushed to finish it or something like that. There wasn't a lot of main character development & a lot of secondary character's stories took center stage. The series already has a lot of characters & to me it seemed unnecessary & even distracting to add even more characters. Also, I don't appreciate the volume of foul language included in this book. One of the reasons I've loved the series is because of its lack of foul language. So, while I'll continue to read the series (because it's so close to the end!), I definitely didn't enjoy this book as much.
196 reviews4 followers
September 8, 2025
The Littlefield saga continues

The Littlefield family continues to fight the Axis powers in Europe and in the Pacific.

Lance and Paul are in France, and Jeremy is flying out of England. Josh is in the Pacific with Halsey and MacArthur. Amelie, Chantal, and Horton are with the French 2nd army liberating Paris and Strasbourg.

Claire has her own struggles with the possibility of losing Timmy to his grandparents.

The strength of love and family keep the Littlefields strong and together in their hearts while the war rages around them.

The book is exciting and entertaining. If you like historical fiction with plenty of action, this book is a winner.
153 reviews2 followers
June 26, 2025
Book #8 Storming the Reich

I just finished reading the 8th volumn of Lee Jackson's excellent After Dunkirk series. This series only gets better & better. The story of the Littlefield family during WWII continues. I feel as if I have become a member of this family watching each character's story as it unfolds. Now that I have read this book in a little less than 24 hours, I can't wait for Crossing the Rhine to be published. I highly recommend Storming the Reich as well as the other 7 books in this series. Please read them in order so you don't miss anything.
Profile Image for T D.
27 reviews1 follower
July 3, 2025
I actually really like the series and was waiting for the next book. This one was just hard to get through. There was a lot of repetition from the previous books and there was too many details on squadrons and battles and it was hard to follow. I couldn’t keep up with who was doing what or where or the names of cities and battles. Many times I found myself just skipping over all the information. This read more like a textbook and it just was not my favorite. It was too detailed and boring But I do like the series and I hope the next one’s a lot better!!
151 reviews
June 24, 2025
I received an advanced copy of this book for my honest review. This is a continuation of a great series. It tells the stories of a family and extended family during WWII. The characters are great and well developed. This is historical history at its best. As with most book series they should be read in order so that you can follow along with the full character development. I highly recommend this series and can’t wait for the next book.
1,077 reviews7 followers
June 30, 2025
Book 8 in this monumental series about the Littleton family during WWII. Each of the children have roles to play in the Allied war effort and face danger and difficulty at every step. From Britain to Norway to France, and finally Germany each plays a pivotal role in the a European theatre. In the Pacific, their cousin is a famed war planner and aviator. This series so reminds me of the epic Winds of War / War and Remembrance. Love it and will be waiting for the next book to come out!
74 reviews
July 4, 2025
Patiently, I have been waiting for this!

Just like all the others, this is such a wonderful detailed book of many different locations this war took for our allied forces. Always keeping the reader on edge as to the daily happenings of this war. The characters have become so real that I am always concerned about their lives.
Another great read!, thank you Lee Jackson!
I can visualize this as a television series that would be very successful in the future!
7 reviews
July 9, 2025
excellent. readable captivating

I started this series because I realized my WWII knowledge was pretty limited and superficial. I felt the series would help me put the events of the war in order. It has done that and much more. It’s been such an enjoyable read. I love the stories of real people and following the fictional family. My parents lived this era and the books tie me to them and our world’s history.
Profile Image for Gail Tavis.
203 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2025
Great

Storming the Reich was as great as the last 7 books in the series. Lot of adventure as the book once again follows the Littlefield family. There was lots of information about the war that I didn’t know so I was able to devour it.
I would recommend this series to anyone interested in world war 2. The book was excellent and well written. I only wish I didn’t have to wait a who,e year to read the. Next book in the series.
1 review
July 11, 2025
Very best series of WWII historical fiction ever. Great view of actual events and real people that gives overview of the war. The fictional family and characters are very engaging. Just finished the eighth book and can hardly wait for the next one. On pins and needles to find out how they fare. Utterly engrossing. Could enjoy any of the books but for the best read them in order. Please hurry with number nine.
3 reviews
August 19, 2025
Storming The Reich must read

This series of books gets better with each release. The Littlefield family and their extended families adventure brought me smiles, laughter and tears. Lee Jackson spins a great story weaving his fictional story around the reality of WWII. He brings in side stories of actual heroes and how they made a difference in that war. The After Dunkirk Series is an excellent read, can't wait for book 9.
489 reviews7 followers
October 11, 2025
Excellent Series Continues🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is the eighth book in the series, and I think one of the best. While the author does a fine job telling the big story, it is his telling the numerous small stories within that make this such a fine series. This book had many excellent small stories of sacrifice, courage and heroism. The writing quality is top notch, and his research and attention to details is spot on!👏👏
417 reviews4 followers
May 23, 2025
This is the 8th book in the series. Having the honor to read an ARC, I was continually amazed as to how the events and personalities of WWII could be fictionalized and bring a better understanding of the events. I would highly recommend this book. Word of caution: it is a good standalone novel, but by reading a few of the preceding novels, the backstory makes it better
6 reviews
June 26, 2025
Caught up

I'm caught up to the author once more. This series is so darn good, every time I finish the current book I reread the series prior to the next book release. Historically these books are accurate. I enjoy the authors characters and how they are placed strategically to help tell the stories. Well done once again Mr. Jackson. Looking forward to 'Storming the Reich.'
2 reviews
July 21, 2025
Have loved this series but Storming the Reich was disappointing…..reads like a WWII Chronicle of battles and cities totally foreign to those of us who weren’t there! Author manages to weave in bits of updates on lead characters but not in a way that connects the reader to them…as was the case in the preceding books. Glad this wasn’t the final book because I’m hoping for a better finale in #9.
74 reviews4 followers
July 21, 2025
Best of the series!

This series is outstanding historical fiction. I feel emotionally attached to the Littlefield family and all the people linked to the family. I don’t cry easily but I sobbed reading the last chapters. If you like historical fiction, do yourself a favor and read this series.
25 reviews
July 31, 2025
Historical writing at its bes

Such much about WWII is unknown, yet Lee Jackson paints a vivid picture as he intertwines a family and small group of friends into a story that has us in the midst of the pain and love that existed during battles of WWII. I found the book intriguing and will read more of his series.
32 reviews
June 28, 2025
hard to wait

I can't say enough about this series. It keeps me reading with other things to do. I have checked certain facts I had never heard of before and they are accurate. Can't hardly wait a year for book 9.
159 reviews2 followers
July 8, 2025
Very good series. Jackson is a good writer. My only reason for not giving 5 stars is that it seems unbelievable that his characters are always involved in every major action. However, I also understand that is his, and maybe the only way to present fictionalized history. I ordered #9.
1 review
July 12, 2025
Jackson does a wonderful job of weaving his fictional characters into history. Each of his books in this series being new insights into the events during WW2, as well as into the mindset of those that fought the war.
Profile Image for Bob Cooling.
110 reviews4 followers
July 13, 2025
Master Storyteller

Lee Jackson has become one of my favorite authors. His stories of exceptional bravery and total commitment to a righteous cause are far above the pale. I intend to read all that he has written and all that he will write in the future.

Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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