|
D-Day: The Battle for Normandy |  | Author: Antony Beevor
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $32.95
Buy Used: $4.76
as of 3/21/2010 01:55 CDT details
You Save: $28.19 (86%)
New (50) Used (41) Collectible (1) from $4.76
Seller: book-a-lot
Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 4234
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 608
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.5 x 2
ISBN: 0670021199
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5421421
EAN: 9780670021192
ASIN: 0670021199
Publication Date: October 13, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780670021192 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The definitive account of the Normandy invasion by the bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945
From critically acclaimed world historian, Antony Beevor, this is the first major account in more than twenty years to cover the whole invasion from June 6, 1944, right up to the liberation of Paris on August 25. It is the first book to describe not only the experiences of the American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, but also the terrible suffering of the French caught up in the fighting. More French civilians were killed by Allied bombing and shelling than British civilians were by the Luftwaffe.
The Allied fleet attempted by far the largest amphibious assault ever, and what followed was a battle as savage as anything seen on the Eastern Front. Casualties mounted on both sides, as did the tensions between the principal commanders. Even the joys of liberation had their darker side. The war in northern France marked not just a generation, but the whole of the postwar world, profoundly influencing relations between America and Europe. Beevor draws upon his research in more than thirty archives in six countries, going back to original accounts, interviews conducted by combat historians just after the action, and many diaries and letters donated to museums and archives in recent years.
D-Day will surely be hailed as the consummate account of the Normandy invasion and the ferocious offensive that led to the liberation of Paris.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 74
 Outstanding D-Day Book! March 18, 2010
William Pilon (Roswell, GA United States)
Despite the name, this book covers the entire Normandy operation from the planning for the actual landing up through the liberation of Paris. I found it an outstanding book. Beevor has done an excellent job of using primary source material to give readers a real sense of the fighting at the "sharp end", but making sure that sense is grounded in the context of the larger operation. One example is the 101st taking Carentan, Beevor explains why it was important (it was the link between Utah and Omaha beaches), who was defending it (German paratroopers) , who was attacking it (the US 101st AB). Once this background is laid out, he plunges into a detailed account of the attack based mainly on primary sources. Very well done.
Beevor also takes the trouble to give readers a good sense of what the Generals at the top were thinking, again, mostly using primary sources. Montgomery, Eisenhower, Rommel, Hitler and many others are honestly evaluated. The states of the various armies are examined with particular attention paid to the war-weariness of the British army and its resultant "brittleness" and reluctance to take casualties. Finally the human cost of the invasion is explored with particular attention to the number of French civilians killed and wounded. The book is well mapped, which is rare for a book of military history.
In short, Beevor has written a lucid, concise history of Normandy that may well serve as the definitive book on that campaign. I'll be keeping my copy.
 Liberation of Europe or Iron Curtain? March 14, 2010
Nathaniel Luxor
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I looked forward to reading this book immensely, and I was disappointed.
I highly recommend to read the following "CENSORED" books:
1) "THE HOAX OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY" by Arthur R. Butz.
2) "NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG" by Carlos W. Porter.
3) "FLASH POINT, Kristallnacht 1938. Instigators, victims and beneficiaries" by Ingrid Weckert.
4) "ALBERT SPEER: The End of a Myth" by Matthias Schmidt.
None better March 11, 2010
William C. Beatty MD (Cincinnati, OH United States)
I found Beevor's Stalingrad and Fall of Berlin books to be gripping, compelling, erudite, readable, objective and unforgettable. D-Day continues this tradition. I enjoyed it immensely.
 From a Life-Long Student of WWII February 26, 2010
Holiday Trains (Maryland, USA)
I buy a new history of D-Day every few years; there is always more to learn. I found myself wishing for many more maps with the detail to follow the individual allied and German operations; and the division/brigade-level battles.
As always, narrative on the detailed logistics of the fight once the allies were ashore was sorely lacking...this should be the exclusive focus of the Next History of the Normandy campaign. Just how did the allies manage the buildup; absorb their heavy losses; and overwhelm the Germans; just how did the Germans manage to supply their battlefront in the face of enemy air supremacy. What were the total losses in men and equipment for each day/week/operation. Some detailed divisional TO&Es would have been very useful. Contrast the standard US/UK armored and infantry division with the SS Panzer, Wehrmacht Panzer, and Infantry Divisions. Withal, I enjoyed Beevor's book immensely.
Not what you'd expect in a book on Normandy February 24, 2010
David W. Nicholas (Montrose, CA USA)
OK, so we have yet another book on D-Day, this one not keyed to any anniversary (as Max Hastings' Overlord was to the 40th, and Stephen Ambrose's was, to the 50th, of the invasion). Antony Beevor is a well-known historian, with his primary work (that which has been instrumental in establishing his reputation) mainly involving battles on the Eastern Front. This book then is something of a departure for him, in that it covers what's probably the most important battle on the *Western* Front, the D-Day invasion of France. While the book's title implies a "Longest Day" focus on the events of June 6, 1944, the book actually continues right up until the Allies capture Paris. This is the traditional stopping point for those books which don't stop at the end of June 6.
Beevor constructs his book differently, though. Most authors, writing a book like this, spend a hundred or so pages backgrounding the main narrative. You get thumbnail biographies of the main participants, especially the generals, and a discussion of everything from terrain to weapons, weather, military organizations, etc. Beevor for the most part skips all of that, and heads straight for the fighting. The first paratroopers are on French soil on page 51, with the narrative continuing right up to the end of the book. There's an aftermath chapter of half-a-dozen pages, but the main heart of the book, the combat narrative, takes up almost all of the space in between.
This is an interesting idea as far as I'm concerned. It allows the author to concentrate on the battle, the motivations of the participants, and the results of the actions they took, in a way that few historians have done, or tried to do, since. The closest book I can think of to this method is Carlo D'Este's Decision in Normandy, and there the author doesn't work as hard to get the personal accounts from the actual soldiers into the narrative.
As a result, Beevor comes to some interesting conclusions. For one thing, he thinks the almost-disaster at Omaha Beach was the result of the fortifications on the beach, the rogue currents that disorganized the landing forces, and so forth. He pretty firmly discounts the idea that the 352nd Division's presence made the problem worse, citing the fact that most of the division was on a wild-goose chase behind the beach, looking for phantom American paratroopers.
It's also interesting to read a book that's written by a Brit, but relatively objective about Montgomery and Patton. In Beevor's mind, Patton was good soldier somewhat handicapped by an alarming personality, while Monty was worse, and almost got himself relieved a couple of times during the course of the battle. Apparently there were proposals at several points to relieve him, during the battle, and he somehow always dodged the bullet. Beevor is especially critical of Monty's insistence that the battle went according to plan (which he tried to push during the latter part of the battle, with people who had been briefed on the plan when it was in its inception stages. No one's ever been able to explain to me, at least not convincingly, why the man was so obsessed with the plan, as opposed to winning the war.
Eisenhower he mainly dismisses as a colorless administrator, while Bradley he generally treats well. Dempsey is more evenly treated than typically happens in such a book. Typically, the only general in the British Army in Normandy who gets much attention is Monty; every one else is treated as a bystander, almost. Apparently Dempsey was more than that, and the author goes to great lengths to let you see who he was and what he was about.
So, all in all, this isn't an incredibly ground-breaking book. The author goes over a lot of territory that's been covered in the past, and only a few of the things he puts forward are completely new. That being said, his views of the events are new, and the analysis he puts on the events is very interesting. I would recommend this book, especially to someone interested in military history.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 74
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
![[your site name here]](http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/graphics/header2.jpg)
