Second Front: The Allied Invasion of France, 1942–43 (An Alternative History)

by Alexander M. Grace

What would have happened if Churchill’s Mediterranean strategy was overruled? This novel of an alternate D-Day explores this fascinating scenario.

One of the great arguments of World War II took place among Allied military leaders over when and where to launch a second front against Germany in Europe. Stalin, holding on by his teeth in Russia, urged a major invasion from the west as soon as possible. The Americans, led by Marshall and Wedemeyer, argued likewise. It was Churchill who got his way, however, with his Mediterranean strategy, including a campaign on the Italian peninsula, which he mistakenly called the “soft underbelly of Europe.”

This realistic, fact-based work posits what would have happened had Churchill been overruled, and that rather than invading North Africa in the fall of 1942, then Sicily and Italy, the Allies had hit the coast of southern France instead. The key element that enables the alternative scenario is the cooperation of Vichy, which was negotiated at the time but refused. If the Allies had promised sufficient force to support the French, however, the entire southern coastline of France would have been undefended against a surprise invasion.

In this book, once the Allied armies are ashore, Germans stream toward the front, albeit through a gauntlet of Maquis, Allied paratroopers, and airpower. Meantime the Allied forces push up the Rhône Valley and titanic armored clashes take place near Lyons. Already in desperate straits at Stalingrad, where they had committed their air and armored reserves, the Germans had also yet to switch to a full total-war economy, with tanks like the Panther and Tiger not yet deployed.

This fascinating alternative history comes close to informing us exactly what might have happened had D-Day in Europe come as early as some had wished.

Genres: Alternate History, History, World War II, Military Fiction, Nonfiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 19, 2013

About the author

Alexander M. Grace is the author of a number of well-received novels including Holy War, Hegemon, Coup, and Sky Blue. When not writing he is a professor and former Foreign Service officer.

Reviews

[Erin (Historical Fiction Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find this and other reviews at: http://flashlightcommentary.blogspot....

Alexander Grace's Second Front: The Allied Invasion of France, 1942-43 is one of those titles I wanted like more than I did. An alternative history of WWII, the subject matter seemed right up my alley and I've never been one to shy away from a creative premise. Unfortunately, the execution left much to be desired and I spent most of my reading struggling to remain interested in the story.

To be fair, the action is actually noteworthy. Grace is well-versed in the historic elements of the narrative and retains an air of authority even while screwing the timeline. There is an enthusiasm behind the prose one can't help but notice and I felt the chain of events Grace crafted both exciting and imaginative.

My difficulties with the novel stem from Grace's cast. I couldn't connect with a single player and couldn't care less about their individual fates. I appreciate action-driven fiction as much as the next person, but it needs to be balanced against character development and some micro level emotional turmoil. Second Front lacked that and often found me bored with the constant barrage of military action.

Second Front is fun for history buffs, but if I'm entirely honest, I don't think the title competes with the work of Harry Turtledove or C.J. Sansom.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexander M. Grace has written a very readable counter-factual tale of the Second Front during World War II. He starts with the premise that the US could talk the Vichy French into allowing them to land at Marseilles and elsewhere on the Mediterranean coast in December 1942 rather than doing the invasion of North Africa. He also places Marshall in Eisenhower's place as head of the coalition force and bumps Eisenhower to Chief of Staff. After initial setback and a close run counterattack by Rommel, the war proceeds with Hitler's assassination being successful with a second bomb, Poland being liberated, Montgomery invading Italy, etc. Read the book for details. With the war ending by 1943 in Europe and 1944 in the Pacific, the world in this counter-factual is different in outlook.

I am calling this a counter-factual rather than Alternate History because Alexander Grace is using fiction to explore an alternative road to victory than what was taken in our timeline. He based his tale on histories of WWII, just moved the actors into different sets. He provides his bibliography of sources. Very well done as a history of a different war and as a tale.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting read, showing the depth of understanding the author has for military and political situations.

I would have benefited from some more maps in the book, as it was difficult to visualise some of the strategy and tactics from the words alone.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an alternate-history scenario that I wish to attempt someday in a wargame.

[Cathy Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting concept

This alt e restive history book was very interesting and a viable concept on what could have been. Especially the stopping of the communist border.

[Kevin Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting idea. Not sure the outcome would have been like this, but the beginning was a master stroke.

[Matt Mitrovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted here: http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.b...

The Allied Invasion of France, 1942-43 by Alexander M. Grace is one of those books I enjoyed and can recommend to lovers of alternate history...but I can't help thinking there is an even better book hiding within its pages.

In this timeline the Allies invade Europe in the Fall of 1942 instead of in the summer of 1944. This is similar to the proposed Operation Roundup and Operation Sledgehammer, except instead of attacking across northern France, the Allied invasion force would land in southern, Vichy-controlled France. Thanks to high-level negotiations with the French government, France reenters the war just as the Allies begin off-loading in Marseilles and other ports along the French Mediterranean coast. The Germans, still thinking that the invasion will happen in the north and distracted by the battle around Stalingrad, are slow to act and when they do finally confront the reality of the invasion, Supreme Commander George Marshall and General George Patton are driving their forces north. Field Commander Erwin Rommel is sent to stop the allied advance, but even his armored first of German tanks may not be enough and as Axis losses mount in both the Western and Eastern theaters, German commanders begin thinking of way to get rid of Hitler and his cronies before it is too late to save Germany.

The Allied Invasion of France, 1942-43 is a well-researched and believable scenario of how the Allies might have invaded Europe earlier and brought the war to a different conclusion. Grace certainly has a strong grasp of military strategy and tactics, plus he didn't just fall into the trap of everything going right for the Allies and allowed for mistakes and accidents to be made. There were little touches as well that brought a smile to my face, such as characters imagining what it would have been like to transport troops and supplies on a beachhead under enemy fire instead of through a friendly port or the "Eisenhower Plan" to provide economic support to a war-torn Europe.

The book wasn't without its flaws and there were two big issues that I had with The Allied Invasion of France, 1942-43. First was how it was written. Most of the story was told by info dumps in a "tell, don't show" fashion. There were characters who occasionally had dialogue, but they were just there to give context to the information Grace was throwing at us. To be honest they weren't even needed and at times detracted from the book since the characters tended to be bland and indistinguishable from each other, although thankfully the dialogue wasn't as bad as the dialogue in Germanica. I'm not sure why Grace just didn't take the guise of a historian from this timeline and just write a fake history book of that era, like For Want of a Nail or When Angels Wept. It would have been a much better book in my humble opinion.

The second issue is the short epilogue at the end and if you don't want anything spoiled, I would skip to the last paragraph. Still here? Okay, lets begin: Grace paints a post-war Europe where Germany is still intact, Poland and the Czech Republic are democratic (and presumably armed by the Allies) and Tito leads a quasi-democratic Yugoslavia that is also pro-West...and Stalin is just fine with this. Grace makes several references to Stalin's paranoia and distrust of the West and yet despite the western allies being a lot closer to the Russian border, relations are surprisingly good between the two sides. Even more surprising is the fact that when China falls to communism, the West just shrugs it off like it was no big deal. This was a major issue in the United States in our timeline, but it does nothing to effect the good feelings all around.

I think what Grace is trying to say is that an earlier Allied invasion of Europe would have convinced Stalin that the Allies weren't just waiting for the Soviets and the Nazis to destroy each other. Thus mollified and with less Russian lives lost, the Soviet Union would be more willing to work with the West. That being said, the incompatibility of the two economic systems, the personalities of the people in charge, the desire to control the resources of the Third World and the arrival of nuclear weapons on the scene (which aren't actually used by the end of book) would have eventually brought upon the Cold War. So Grace's epilogue is just a little too optimistic to me, but I welcome any arguments to the contrary.

Despite my issues with the writing style and the epilogue, I nevertheless can recommend The Allied Invasion of France, 1942-43 by Alexander M. Grace, especially if you are a fan of alternate history. Casual fans of the genre may not enjoy his style of storytelling, but alternate historians will appreciate a detailed WWII scenario that doesn't end in a cliche Axis victory.

[Bruno Di Giandomenico · Rating 5 out of 5]

What could have happened if the Allies decided to invade the south of France in late 1942 instead of invading Italy ?
This is the possible story of what could have happened if the invasion had been carried through during the battle of Kursk, with the German army
Pulled two ways at once, in Russia and in France. The review contains spoilers, so you are warned.
Very good book, recounting the assault on the ports of southern France, Marseille and Tolon fallen almost without a shot being shot, with the help of the Vichy government, which helped put after seeing the effort made by the allies.
A quick thrust in the interior of France, led by gen. Patton countered by Erwin Rommel at his best and worst, and the war of attrition between the industrial machine of the USA and of tired Germany soon made the scale weigh in one side only.
A different Europe came out, because Russians could not occupy Germany and Berlin before the allies did, and that is all.
Nothing is said of what happened afterwards but it is only fair.
Splendidly written, it looks like a true story which really happened somewhere and somewhen.
The characters are of course not very detailed, but it is very appealing as a tale of what could have been.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book the author takes was through what he thinks might have happened if we invaded France when Eisenhower wanted to at the very beginning of our enrollment into the war. Though I found it interesting at least with the invasion of France. The loss of life might not be as high. I am not so sure with other parts of the story. The Germans at the beginning and still at the end had some very good weapons, and though he mentions the tiger, and Panzer tanks would not have been around. We would not have had some of are better weapons, planes and such as we did towards the last year of the war. What people miss is that it took some time for our factories to change into fighting production, and our troops for example on Guadalcanal were using world war one weapons. For me this was the part of the story that would not work now knowing what we know now. Other than that it was an interesting read and a good look at what might have been. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 3 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Andrew J Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Premise – Point of Divergence (POD)
The Allies invade Europe via the coast of southern France in 1942

The first two thirds of the book was definitely edging into a 5 but as the story moved further away from the initial landing it became increasingly difficult to suspend my sense of disbelief at where the author was pushing the story to. What I did enjoy was how the author used real persons doing the same sort of the same thing they were famous for but at a different time, or in different place. And the re-imagining of ‘the Battle of the Bulge’ was quite entertaining. This is definitely a book I’ll be reading again, although probably not for a couple of years.

Full Review - http://thealternatehistoryreview.com/...

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting "What if...."

I enjoyed this alternate history. It seemed a viable option. The use of all the major players, "in character" made it a fun read.