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The D-Day Landings: The Allies’ Invasion of Nazi-Occupied Europe
Fighting Them on the Beaches tells the story of one of the largest and most meticulously organized seaborne invasions in the history of warfare - the Allied Landings of June 6, 1944: D-Day.
As the parachutists and glider troops of the US and British airborne divisions went in on the night of June 5, Allied shipping began massing out in the Channel.
As dawn broke on June 6, waves of assault craft hit the Normandy beaches. British, American, Canadian, polish and Free French troops began to stream ashore to storm the defences of the Atlantic Wall in the teeth of overwhelming enemy firepower.
As the parachutists and glider troops of the US and British airborne divisions went in on the night of June 5, Allied shipping began massing out in the Channel.
As dawn broke on June 6, waves of assault craft hit the Normandy beaches. British, American, Canadian, polish and Free French troops began to stream ashore to storm the defences of the Atlantic Wall in the teeth of overwhelming enemy firepower.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Nigel Cawthorne
331 books131 followersNigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".
One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.
Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).
Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".
One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.
Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 23, 2020
This non-fiction book by Nigel Cawthorne is about the famous D-Day Landing during the WW2. I had come across this incident or reference to this incident in so many computer games, movies, books that I had developed an interest in it. I came across this book in a second hand book store at least 4 years ago and simply couldn’t let go of the opportunity to read a historical account of the landing.
I was surprised by a few things about this book – such war historical accounts are usually written by historians, military officers or journalists and there is always an "about the author" page. However, nothing was mentioned about the author save his name. Also, there were no pictures of soldiers, leaders, ruins – the usual photographs found in such books. Anyway, let us get into the review.
I will begin by admitting that I don’t have sufficient knowledge of the D-Day Landings to vouch for the factual accuracy of the book.
The book is divided into three parts mentioned below and each part has a number of chapters.
1. Build up to the Invasion
2. Operation Overlord
3. Towards victory in Europe
The enjoyed the first part especially the chapter entitled “The War of Secrets.” I had read about how the British competence and German ineptitude in espionage had titled the war in favour of the Allies. This chapter describes the events related to the war of misinformation. The author has provided accounts of the warfare in each of the beaches the Allied had landed.
I checked out the author’s website. He is a very prolific writer who has written many books on a variety of subjects like warfare, serial killers and some fiction. Needless to say, this book is not a scholarly piece of work for researches or serious history buffs. Lay persons with some curiosity around the landings might like it. You need to be careful of the typos in the book though.
The Day-D Landings were one of the most significant events not only in WW2 but in the history of the world. Had the invasion ended in a failure, it would have completely changed the world as we know it today. I am sure there are better books out there on the topic which are not too scholarly but do justice to the incident. I would be on the lookout for such books once the pandemic is over and life returns to normalcy.
Stay safe, my friends!
I was surprised by a few things about this book – such war historical accounts are usually written by historians, military officers or journalists and there is always an "about the author" page. However, nothing was mentioned about the author save his name. Also, there were no pictures of soldiers, leaders, ruins – the usual photographs found in such books. Anyway, let us get into the review.
I will begin by admitting that I don’t have sufficient knowledge of the D-Day Landings to vouch for the factual accuracy of the book.
The book is divided into three parts mentioned below and each part has a number of chapters.
1. Build up to the Invasion
2. Operation Overlord
3. Towards victory in Europe
The enjoyed the first part especially the chapter entitled “The War of Secrets.” I had read about how the British competence and German ineptitude in espionage had titled the war in favour of the Allies. This chapter describes the events related to the war of misinformation. The author has provided accounts of the warfare in each of the beaches the Allied had landed.
I checked out the author’s website. He is a very prolific writer who has written many books on a variety of subjects like warfare, serial killers and some fiction. Needless to say, this book is not a scholarly piece of work for researches or serious history buffs. Lay persons with some curiosity around the landings might like it. You need to be careful of the typos in the book though.
The Day-D Landings were one of the most significant events not only in WW2 but in the history of the world. Had the invasion ended in a failure, it would have completely changed the world as we know it today. I am sure there are better books out there on the topic which are not too scholarly but do justice to the incident. I would be on the lookout for such books once the pandemic is over and life returns to normalcy.
Stay safe, my friends!
January 11, 2022
It saddens me to see that even the edition I read from 2017 (by Arcturus) hasn’t been revised ever since it has been published for the first time. As if nobody took the time or cared enough to proofread this book. I would gladly have done it. Luckily the human brain autocorrects.
Aside from that, I liked this book and the way the author related the events. It’s one of the reasons I picked it up; it singles out and discusses every mission separately. However never going into too many details. The account focuses on the mission and their decision makers, not so much on the people. In any case, Operation Overlord is mind-blowing (I’m trying to find a better word but that’s the first one coming up right now). Keep talking, writing, and reading about it because it should never be forgotten.
Aside from that, I liked this book and the way the author related the events. It’s one of the reasons I picked it up; it singles out and discusses every mission separately. However never going into too many details. The account focuses on the mission and their decision makers, not so much on the people. In any case, Operation Overlord is mind-blowing (I’m trying to find a better word but that’s the first one coming up right now). Keep talking, writing, and reading about it because it should never be forgotten.
November 24, 2022
Wow, what a great read!
I thought I knew a fair bit about D-Day & the landings (I'm a Grandad & certainly no spring chicken) but this book has shown me just how much I thought I knew but didn't really. From details of the only person to win a "Victoria Cross" on D-day to how the allies were kept supplied, to the final surrender of Nazi Germany; the detail in this book is incredible.
It's an easy read & flows well & the only thing that stops me giving it 5 stars is that I think perhaps the proof-reader was so absorbed with the story that they forgot to concentrate on actually proof-reading it: there are repeated time when metres are mixed with yards & kilometres with miles which after a while becomes annoying Also at times the grammar is poor & detracts a little from the story.
For me though it's a very solid 4 stars all the same & is certainly a book I would highly recommend.
I thought I knew a fair bit about D-Day & the landings (I'm a Grandad & certainly no spring chicken) but this book has shown me just how much I thought I knew but didn't really. From details of the only person to win a "Victoria Cross" on D-day to how the allies were kept supplied, to the final surrender of Nazi Germany; the detail in this book is incredible.
It's an easy read & flows well & the only thing that stops me giving it 5 stars is that I think perhaps the proof-reader was so absorbed with the story that they forgot to concentrate on actually proof-reading it: there are repeated time when metres are mixed with yards & kilometres with miles which after a while becomes annoying Also at times the grammar is poor & detracts a little from the story.
For me though it's a very solid 4 stars all the same & is certainly a book I would highly recommend.
April 30, 2025
A very interesting read. I've deen other reviews stating it's not the most academic, but in my eyes, it's still an interesting read.
I have an interest in WW2 and this informed me of bits I wasn't aware of. very good read.
only 4* as it can be a bit of a miserable topic at times!
I have an interest in WW2 and this informed me of bits I wasn't aware of. very good read.
only 4* as it can be a bit of a miserable topic at times!
February 2, 2017
Fighting Them on the Beaches, first published in 2002, is a basic roundup of the events of the Normandy Invasion of June 1944. The text is marred by some colossal errors that should have been swept up in proof-reading, combined with a casual approach to facts and apocryphal anecdotes with no attempt at providing supporting notes. A reasonable overview of the events.
April 4, 2015
Easy to read and is a good basic history, but sure could use an editor. There are a tremendous number of typos - including some which translate into factual errors. With all the great books on D-Day available, I wouldn't recommend this one too highly.
January 12, 2019
It was cheap and I lacked a book that gave an overview of the D-Day landings.
I did give it a quick once over as, since I joined Quora, I have been getting increasingly annoyed at some American attitudes about how THEY won the war and even saying that if it was not for them Brits would be speaking German. Well, the spellings appeared to be British and the dates dd-mm-yy, so I took a punt.
It does a broad brush coverage of the landings and later events, though a lack of maps oft makes it hard to work out just what and where things were going on. There is an interesting section on the intelligence war and the Allied deceptions that kept the Germans on the back foot. Acknowledgement is given to the number of Blue-on-blue incidents, particularly on the American side. I was pleased that the fact that mention is often made that many of the "German" troops were in fact not "German" but Ost troops from Eastern Europe fighting on the German side. But. But Montgomery doesn't, I feel, get the credit he should have and there are many what I consider to be errors (some just typos - V2 when it should be V1 for example). Galippoli actually had more British and French involved than ANZACs (and I am a Kiwi), in fact there were more Irish troops involved than Kiwis and Ozzies. The Japanese did not get the better of the Chindits, quite the opposite, in fact their only failures came after their behind the Japanese lines operations when the incompetent American General Sitwell used them as ordinary infantry. When talking about North Africa there is no mention of the failure of the green American troops when they invaded Tunisia where they had to be rescued by Montgomery and the 8th Army. And, those are just in the Introduction chapter!
On the invasion itself I was amazed that no mention was made of the that the Americans refused to use Hobart's Funnies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart%...) and that the swimming tanks they did use were dumped too far off shore at Omaha and almost all of them sank; in fact at that landing, most of the infantry were dropped off too far from shore (another book on the subject put this all down to the LCT and LCA skippers being too nervous about coming close inshore).
So, if those bits are not spot on, how good is the rest?
I did give it a quick once over as, since I joined Quora, I have been getting increasingly annoyed at some American attitudes about how THEY won the war and even saying that if it was not for them Brits would be speaking German. Well, the spellings appeared to be British and the dates dd-mm-yy, so I took a punt.
It does a broad brush coverage of the landings and later events, though a lack of maps oft makes it hard to work out just what and where things were going on. There is an interesting section on the intelligence war and the Allied deceptions that kept the Germans on the back foot. Acknowledgement is given to the number of Blue-on-blue incidents, particularly on the American side. I was pleased that the fact that mention is often made that many of the "German" troops were in fact not "German" but Ost troops from Eastern Europe fighting on the German side. But. But Montgomery doesn't, I feel, get the credit he should have and there are many what I consider to be errors (some just typos - V2 when it should be V1 for example). Galippoli actually had more British and French involved than ANZACs (and I am a Kiwi), in fact there were more Irish troops involved than Kiwis and Ozzies. The Japanese did not get the better of the Chindits, quite the opposite, in fact their only failures came after their behind the Japanese lines operations when the incompetent American General Sitwell used them as ordinary infantry. When talking about North Africa there is no mention of the failure of the green American troops when they invaded Tunisia where they had to be rescued by Montgomery and the 8th Army. And, those are just in the Introduction chapter!
On the invasion itself I was amazed that no mention was made of the that the Americans refused to use Hobart's Funnies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart%...) and that the swimming tanks they did use were dumped too far off shore at Omaha and almost all of them sank; in fact at that landing, most of the infantry were dropped off too far from shore (another book on the subject put this all down to the LCT and LCA skippers being too nervous about coming close inshore).
So, if those bits are not spot on, how good is the rest?
May 28, 2018
Looking at his bibliography, Nigel Cawthorne appears to be a rent-an-author, the James Patterson of non-fiction, churning them out at the rate of several a year, on a vast range of topics. Accordingly, Fighting Them On The Beaches contains all the hallmarks of production-line writing. To maintain his fast-paced, confusing and sometimes disordered narrative (which possibly mirrors the manner in which he wrote it), Cawthorne relies heavily on battlefield anecdotes, many of which read like old soldier beer talk, and at least one or two urban legends. Facts or events are thrown at us holus bolus with little context or explanation, the rather simple maps are difficult to relate to the text, and the whole book is full of glaring typographical errors. At the very least you need Wikipedia and Google Maps close at hand, or you'll never figure out what's going on.
For all that, I learned a lot about D-Day, an important event about which I'd never known more than could be expressed in a brief paragraph. I just wouldn't recommend this book to anybody - there are great numbers of far superior books on the topic, as my WW2-mad son was keen to point out. And he'd know. He told me not to read this, but since it had been gifted to me I felt I had to make the effort.
For all that, I learned a lot about D-Day, an important event about which I'd never known more than could be expressed in a brief paragraph. I just wouldn't recommend this book to anybody - there are great numbers of far superior books on the topic, as my WW2-mad son was keen to point out. And he'd know. He told me not to read this, but since it had been gifted to me I felt I had to make the effort.
June 10, 2018
A Good Book for a Quick Summary of the D-Day Landings and Subsequent Battles.
I recently went of a self-guided cycling tour through Normandy. (It was a tough gig, I know but, somebody must do these things for the local Normandy tourist industry. If anyone is considering such an adventure, I can tell you that we did leave some cidre behind on the shelves, so you won’t die of thirst.) To complement the trip notes, I was looking a book that was a quick read but gave a full overview of the whole Wold War II Normandy campaign. This book met my needs perfectly.
This book has been around for a while, but it was published at the right time. It takes about fifty years for all the necessary secret files on an event to be made public and then another 10 or so years for these to be analysed. It also has some poor reviews, but I think these are misleading. The book is not meant to be a formal history book and is not written by an historian. It is a tightly written, concise book written in an easy to style for the laymen such as myself. These are none of heavy indexing and reference notes that are typical of history book. (These notes are wasted on people with only a passing interest in history like myself.)
Never the less the book is very comprehensive in the material it discussed. There are chapters on strategy that set the context for the invasion. He makes the point about German’s Atlantic wall which is the anthesis of the mobile blitzkrieg tactics Germany mastered earlier in the war:
“Now he build a static line of defence, the very thing that had failed Germany the First World War. Hitler had also forgotten another military lesson as old as war itself: that it military suicide to try and defend a long static line. An attack in massive force at one point on the line will breach it, and once breached, the attackers can pour through the gap if there are no mobile reserves behind. They can then attack the defenders from behind.”
He also makes interesting comments on the leadership style of the opposing forces. The allies delegated control to commanders on spot with the situational awareness to make better decisions. This sometime did not go well middle ranking officers. For example, General Rennie of the 3rd British infantry division which landed on Sword beach was most upset that he was not allowed to go ashore until the Naval Beachmasters in change of the landing had disembarked the fighting troops and equipment necessary to secure the landing. On the other hand, Hitler actively tried to control General Forces in the battle despite being Poland 600 miles away. He points out:
“On D-Day, Eisenhower, the Allied Supreme Commander, gave no order, while Hitler gave two bad ones.”
The book has a separate chapter for the landings and subsequent action on each of the five beaches. It these chapters of the book that are a little deficient in that there are numerous references to places using a random mixture of the English and French names. There are no maps in the book that refer to these localities. You need a good atlas, Google Maps or in my case the trip maps of our cycling tour to extract full value from these chapters. The random way in places names are used in the text without any maps are the reason why I have reduced the rating of this book by one star.
The readability of book is enhanced by interesting anecdotes. For example, the gun emplacements near Longues-sur-Mer which threatened the Gold Beach landings was taken out of action because:
“…the exact co-ordinates of the emplacements had been paced off by the farmer who owned the land and his blind son. He got the figures to Andre Herintz, professor of history at Caen University, who transmitted them to England on a home-made radio.”
There is a good discussion of the challenges that the various commanders faced during the operation. This continues up to the closing of closing of the Falaise pocket three months after the initial landing. Here a pincer movement by the British to the North and Americans to South captured or destroyed most of the German armoured formations in Western Europe. With the this victory the success of the Normandy campaign was assured.
While the book is a quick read, it does contain facts that are not widely known among the historians and guides who you meet in various museums scattered along the Normandy coast if you visit the area. One example is the discussion of the Germans use of a new type of mine, the ‘Oyster’ mine. This could not be swept by mine sweepers and which began sinking large numbers of vessels 10 days after the landing. Fortunately, the area was hit by the most severe gale in 50 years and while this gale destroyed one of the temporary mulberry harbours being used to supply the troops, it also released these mines from their housing and allowed them to be swept. This fortunate occurrence saved a lot of lives.
In summary, this is a great book to read if you want a quick and enjoyable read that on the D-Day invasion. It is particularly handy if you are visiting Normandy and want to place the information obtained from visiting the huge number of museums and war memorials in the region. This book does not claim to be the definitive book that contains detailed information of the Normandy campaign. It you feel the need for more information on any aspect of these battles after reading this book, there are many excellent titles covering these in more detail.
November 25, 2021
It was very interesting to learn of the particulars that went into the many successes and failures of the Normandy invasion. I liked how methodical and detailed the author tried to be in relaying information on the events and the people involved. However, I'm not sure how this book made it through publishing with so many grammatical, punctuation, and stylistic errors which sometimes distracted from the content. Additionally, in his conclusion, he made some claims that are not supported by historical consensus or any sources, scholarly or otherwise. It's an interesting read that will frustrate you at times, but you will take a lot from the content.
July 6, 2025
Read the book The D-Day landings - The Allies’ invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe by Nigel Cawthorne.
This book lost me in the middle where it discussed in depth the positions of different allied regiments then where the German panzer divisions were in comparison. Even though the aforementioned didn’t work for me the book intertwined the detailed facts with remarkable stories of bravery and deceptions. I particularly liked the Rene Duchez and spy hiding plans within bicycle handlebars. The book also showcased examples of those soldiers that won military medals for their bravery.
A decent fast paced account of D-Day landings.
This book lost me in the middle where it discussed in depth the positions of different allied regiments then where the German panzer divisions were in comparison. Even though the aforementioned didn’t work for me the book intertwined the detailed facts with remarkable stories of bravery and deceptions. I particularly liked the Rene Duchez and spy hiding plans within bicycle handlebars. The book also showcased examples of those soldiers that won military medals for their bravery.
A decent fast paced account of D-Day landings.
June 22, 2019
Picked up at a bookshop where I met a date last week. Brief overview of the D Day landings and their aftermath. Not terribly scholarly and light on sources. Suffers from some poor proof-reading and editing. Handy as a beach-by-beach review of events and I found out a few things I didn’t know about previously - but overall, a little too light and dependent on unsupported anecdote to recommend as a serious history.
July 21, 2019
Great detail of the events which happened before, during and after D-Day. Potentially would have benefitted the clarity of events and troop movement if there were more maps within the book. Did include many individual stories which added a personal nature to the book. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in the tactical decisions, events and the individuals who made the D-Day landings possible.
June 6, 2020
A good, swift moving, account of the D-Day landings in Normandy during World War II, the largest amphibious landing in any war any time. Mostly, it went to plan but...the glider and parachute regiments went astray and as for Omaha Beach, it was a mess which only great leadership on the beach front and the bravery of the troops salvaged. An amazing story people will study and reflect on for centuries to come.
June 19, 2024
In my opinion, a decent and good book on the subject of D-Day of 6 June 1944. With only 240 pages total (of 2017 edition of Arcturus Publishing Limited), this book can be picked up by anyone, beginners or already familiar with the historical event, as a quick reference. My only complaints are the lack of accompanying pictures and maps on pages. The lack of a dedicated table of OrBat or Order of Battle which listed all fighting units involved in the D-Day battles is also wanting, in my opinion.
February 27, 2024
Picked up as a holiday read in a local book swap store, this book, whilst primarily concerned with the events of the 6th of June 1944, gives us an overview of both the build up and the aftermath of the Normandy landings, and packed with fascinating vignettes that help give a human perspective especially given the enormous scale of the operation, years in its planning.
April 23, 2026
This book was ok - a general high level overview of Overlord. A couple of things that I didn’t prefer:
- when discussing events on each beach, at times will expand beyond initial build up phase and stray into more of the inland fighting - which is not fighting on the beaches.
- quite a few grammar errors in this paperback edition I read
- when discussing events on each beach, at times will expand beyond initial build up phase and stray into more of the inland fighting - which is not fighting on the beaches.
- quite a few grammar errors in this paperback edition I read
July 14, 2026
Very informative book on the D-Day invasion, events leading up as well as after the invasion. I wish there were more maps. Many places are mentioned and I had to consult D-Day landing maps to get a better picture of where the action was taking place. Overall a good book for military history buffs.
May 29, 2019
A short but informative overview of D Day, perhaps aimed at the casual reader of WWII history.
April 25, 2020
I have no idea who is the target audience of this literary disaster- but at all cost avoid this poorly written, typo riddled , factually incorrect effort from the Cawthorne book factory.
January 8, 2024
Manages to cover the invasion in some detail whilst giving a good overview despite being a relatively short book
February 11, 2025
Very informative - included info before and after D-day
Technical to a fault, lots of military jargon
Technical to a fault, lots of military jargon
April 16, 2025
This is a good overview of the lead up and execution of the D Day landings. I have seen better in "D Day minute by minute" By Jonathan Mayo but this book is still very informative.
June 9, 2026
This is the sort of book I enjoy because it knows what it is trying to do and commits to it. It works best when it remembers that violence and pressure have consequences, rather than turning everything into empty spectacle. Nigel Cawthorne gives it enough control and personality that it feels like more than just a premise on a page. The pacing, mood, and central ideas all came together well enough that I was happy to keep turning pages. It had the right mix of substance and entertainment, which is always the sweet spot for me. Five stars because it stuck the landing for me and left a strong impression.
September 1, 2010
Until one reads about D-Day, it is perhaps not quite clear how dramatic an action the Normandy landings were. Nor how costly they were.
In a dramatic detailed account of the planning and operation, from both sides, Nigel Cawthorne sets the record straight. Fortunately Herr Hitler did not listen to many of his generals in the field, a decision that fortunately for us, cost him and his forces dearly.
The horrors that the troops encountered are splendidly retold and the acts of bravery by all and sundry are brought clearly home.
In a dramatic detailed account of the planning and operation, from both sides, Nigel Cawthorne sets the record straight. Fortunately Herr Hitler did not listen to many of his generals in the field, a decision that fortunately for us, cost him and his forces dearly.
The horrors that the troops encountered are splendidly retold and the acts of bravery by all and sundry are brought clearly home.
August 11, 2015
Recommended as a solid overview in an easy to read format of the tremendous events and planning leading upto, during and immediately after the battle of Normandy. If like myself your daunted by the sheer volume of material available on this topic, it is a great primer, well researched, it remains engaging and is a far cry from your dry history books.
July 19, 2014
Great set out and well researched love the way it explains the set up and plans through to the execution of each beach landing and the separate air landings and the follow up till victory!
Great book learnt a few bits I'd not known before!
Great book learnt a few bits I'd not known before!
February 18, 2013
Good, but let down by dreadful proofing errors ...
February 14, 2015
Dramatic, tense and pacy account of unparalleled assault on nazi stronghold in Europe. Brilliant book.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews