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Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign
A revelatory new account of the Second World War—and how bitter competition between the Allies would shape the postwar world
In June 1944, an Allied army of British, American, and Canadian troops sought to open up a Second Front in Normandy. But they were not only fighting to bring the Second World War to an end. After decades of Anglo-American struggle for dominance, they were also contending with one another—to determine who would ascend to global hegemony once Hitler’s armies fell.
Marc Milner traces this bitter rivalry as it emerged after the First World War and evolved during the fragile peace which led to the Second. American media and domestic politics dominated the Allied powers’ military strategy, overshadowing the contributions of Britain and the remarkably critical role played by Canada in establishing this Second Front.
Culminating in the decisive Normandy campaign, Milner shows how the struggle for supremacy between Churchill and Roosevelt changed the course of the Second World War—and how their rivalry shaped our understanding of the Normandy campaign, and the war itself.
In June 1944, an Allied army of British, American, and Canadian troops sought to open up a Second Front in Normandy. But they were not only fighting to bring the Second World War to an end. After decades of Anglo-American struggle for dominance, they were also contending with one another—to determine who would ascend to global hegemony once Hitler’s armies fell.
Marc Milner traces this bitter rivalry as it emerged after the First World War and evolved during the fragile peace which led to the Second. American media and domestic politics dominated the Allied powers’ military strategy, overshadowing the contributions of Britain and the remarkably critical role played by Canada in establishing this Second Front.
Culminating in the decisive Normandy campaign, Milner shows how the struggle for supremacy between Churchill and Roosevelt changed the course of the Second World War—and how their rivalry shaped our understanding of the Normandy campaign, and the war itself.
- GenresWorld War IIHistory
800 pages, Hardcover
Published May 13, 2025
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69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 4, 2025
On the positive side, this book goes a long way towards giving the Canadians just recognition for their role in the war and particularly the D-Day campaign through Normandy. The Canadian contributions – materiel, logistics, ships, combat forces – has been overlooked, in large part because it has been subsumed into the British narrative, as the author makes clear. Britain intended to sustain and restore the British Empire and went to lengths to insure that the contributions of the Dominions and colonies were incorporated as elements of the British Empire. The Americans, on the other hand, were equally determined that the war effort would not sustain and restore the Empire, and it was a source of considerable friction in the planning and coordination efforts among the two allies.
Although Milner is highly admiring of the courage, determination and sacrifices of the combat troops of British, Canadian, and American forces, he treats the American senior government and military officials with considerable disdain, including Churchill. Some (Mark Clark) certainly deserve it... but many do not. On the other hand, his critiques of British and Canadian general officers are muted by comparison. He relies often, and uncritically, upon the diaries kept by Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who in fact was notoriously contemptuous of anyone who did not recognize, and agree with, him and his personal brilliance. This certainly explains the negatively critical treatment of Churchill, George Marshall, and other contemporaries. Brooke, despite his views to the contrary, was himself much over-rated and a hindrance to effective prosecution of the war.
He explains the political and social realities within Britain and Canada and their effects upon military, strategic and war policies and issues yet he is oddly dismissive of the political and social realities within America, giving them perfunctory attention. He implies that the Americans were late-comers to the war (ignoring the very real dilemmas facing FDR before Pearl Harbor) and should have been content to finance and supply the British war effort because the British knew what they were doing and the Americans did not.
Likewise, much of the book is devoted to detailing the reporting of the war and the various approaches and policies affecting the press, the public relations campaigns of each of the three countries, and the resulting headlines and press treatments. Milner seems to resent the fact that American media spent so much time and effort reporting on American actions and campaigns in the war, although he does note and criticize the British for their media policies and practices that served to diminish media interest in British war efforts. It is, to me, an esoteric concern that is superficial to the more substantive subject of D-Day – its planning, evolution and eventual implementation. Milner protests repeatedly that Nazi propaganda efforts in the United Staes were allowed and were effective, unlike the British propaganda/PR efforts (in fairness, he blames Britain for the ineffectual and inadequate PR/media efforts in the US) – but I this little credence – the Nazis were hardly well regarded in America by 1944. In his final, conclusory chapter Milner cites Rachel Maddow, a progressive polemicist TV commentator, as evidence of his contention about the success of Nazi propaganda, noting she has said Nazi talking points are now common in the American right wing. I have to say, you lost me there.
The best part of this book, and reason to read it, are the insights into the personalities and machinations among the senior leadership of the three countries – Britain, Canada, and the US. The rest of it is interesting, but a bit of a slog.
Although Milner is highly admiring of the courage, determination and sacrifices of the combat troops of British, Canadian, and American forces, he treats the American senior government and military officials with considerable disdain, including Churchill. Some (Mark Clark) certainly deserve it... but many do not. On the other hand, his critiques of British and Canadian general officers are muted by comparison. He relies often, and uncritically, upon the diaries kept by Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who in fact was notoriously contemptuous of anyone who did not recognize, and agree with, him and his personal brilliance. This certainly explains the negatively critical treatment of Churchill, George Marshall, and other contemporaries. Brooke, despite his views to the contrary, was himself much over-rated and a hindrance to effective prosecution of the war.
He explains the political and social realities within Britain and Canada and their effects upon military, strategic and war policies and issues yet he is oddly dismissive of the political and social realities within America, giving them perfunctory attention. He implies that the Americans were late-comers to the war (ignoring the very real dilemmas facing FDR before Pearl Harbor) and should have been content to finance and supply the British war effort because the British knew what they were doing and the Americans did not.
Likewise, much of the book is devoted to detailing the reporting of the war and the various approaches and policies affecting the press, the public relations campaigns of each of the three countries, and the resulting headlines and press treatments. Milner seems to resent the fact that American media spent so much time and effort reporting on American actions and campaigns in the war, although he does note and criticize the British for their media policies and practices that served to diminish media interest in British war efforts. It is, to me, an esoteric concern that is superficial to the more substantive subject of D-Day – its planning, evolution and eventual implementation. Milner protests repeatedly that Nazi propaganda efforts in the United Staes were allowed and were effective, unlike the British propaganda/PR efforts (in fairness, he blames Britain for the ineffectual and inadequate PR/media efforts in the US) – but I this little credence – the Nazis were hardly well regarded in America by 1944. In his final, conclusory chapter Milner cites Rachel Maddow, a progressive polemicist TV commentator, as evidence of his contention about the success of Nazi propaganda, noting she has said Nazi talking points are now common in the American right wing. I have to say, you lost me there.
The best part of this book, and reason to read it, are the insights into the personalities and machinations among the senior leadership of the three countries – Britain, Canada, and the US. The rest of it is interesting, but a bit of a slog.
October 11, 2025
I have tried to find Marc Milner to thank him for this book.
So the best I can do is write this review.
I highly recommend this book. I think that if it had been written in the 60's, the trajectory of Canada would have altered, and maybe it is not too late. Our self-esteem and confidence might have been greater.
We as Canadians, have every right to stand up proud for our performance in the past as a military contributor. The reputation we earned in WW1 should have been, and is now, burnished with what our country, and my dear father, did in WW2.
Thanks Marc, thanks very much.
So the best I can do is write this review.
I highly recommend this book. I think that if it had been written in the 60's, the trajectory of Canada would have altered, and maybe it is not too late. Our self-esteem and confidence might have been greater.
We as Canadians, have every right to stand up proud for our performance in the past as a military contributor. The reputation we earned in WW1 should have been, and is now, burnished with what our country, and my dear father, did in WW2.
Thanks Marc, thanks very much.
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July 9, 2025The book is about the rivalry between the UK and the USA during World War 2. The author talks about how the united states undermined the UK, even with the help of the USSR, during the war and how the UK/USA rivalry was created during world war 1.
September 20, 2025
Fine account of the run up to D Day in Normandy and how despite all the Allied bickering they succeeded.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews