Gary’s Reviews > Normandy ‘44: D-Day and the Battle for France > Status Update

The Allies have bombed critical infrastructure: bridges, marshaling yards, locomotives, airfields, aircraft production factories and oil refineries for five months, and now it's time to go. The British 6th Airborne Division and American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions are taking off to be flown to France, where they will have to jump out in the dark while being shelled by anti-aircraft guns – cripes!

Four chapters in and it's all been about some of the units and men who will have to face the monumental task before them – and the plans made by the generals, admirals and air marshals carrying the immense responsibility of sending those men to a highly dangerous place from where many thousands of them will not return.
Thankfully, it's a good plan – a very good plan, and they are confident they will prevail.

Some features of this book:
A) Lots of maps – yay!
B) Photos of many people mentioned, and not just generals but privates, sergeants and airmen as well;
C) One appendix shows the composition of Allied and German divisions, helping one understand how hard it was to move locations, and how they fought.
Today I have enjoyed studying these pages before getting into the main narrative. This is a great book.

Just on the Introduction. I am re-reading this book to compare it with Antony Beevor's excellent D-Day, the Battle for Normandy, which I have just finished. WWII is over, let the battle of the historians begin!

I have almost finished. Many of the pages are maps (hooray!), index, glossary, introduction, notes and sources.