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D-Day: The Battle for Normandy |  | Author: Antony Beevor
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $32.95
Buy New: $17.99
as of 11/21/2009 03:47 CST details
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Seller: Oneida Books
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 178
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 608
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 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
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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.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 an old event,a new perspective November 20, 2009
Guy Nanin (las vegas ,nevada)
Anthony Beevor is a great historian.
I have read all his books,but this one is very special to me as it happened in Normandy,where I,partly, grew up. I am very familiar with all the small towns,villages and hamlets mentionned in the book . I have travelled the small roads in a region which is today so quaint and peaceful.
Anthony Beevor ,as with his other books ,Spain,Berlin and Stalingrad, has the knack to intertwine the historical military ,sometimes rapid and brutal events, with the daily ,personal lives of the people,alive and dead.Being an American ,gives him the impartial ,objective view :
A. the ugly part of the liberation of Normandy,that is the crimes commited by the french on other french.
B.the true,MANY,french collaborators with the German army during the allied landings.Very few ,if any,french historians will tell the truth,about them.
C.last ,but not least, The Allies had to fight a very tough ennemy,and it was far from the revised french press articles of to-day which try to portray the liberation of France a jolly good ride.
D. General de Gaulle was not warmly welcomed upon his arrival after the landing.
It is refreshing to see an historian who finally tell like it was. How refreshing!
Great Book ,easy reading and very historically accurate.
Antony Beevor does it again! November 19, 2009
History Buff (Houston, TX)
Antony Beevor has turned a horrific episode of the 2nd WW into a very interesting and suspenseful story. He provides a lot of detailed information from both sides (Allies and German) of the front and keeps the reader well oriented with numerous, detailed battle field maps. He enlivens the military history with many human interest anecdotes and insights into the characters of military leaders.
 Too cluttered November 18, 2009
Scott Charlton (Sarasota FL)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I enjoy reading historical novels. At this time I'm about one-half way through. Some of the detail is facinating especially since I have been to many of the towns that form the place for some battles. Like 1776, he involves too many characters with snippets of what they wrote about the unfolding facts. I am, however, anxiously awaiting the second half of the book.
From D-Day to Paris! November 18, 2009
Maximiliano F Yofre (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
As I say in my Amazon Home Page, I'm a history buff and one of the main historical periods on which I focus is WWII.
My favorite authors covering this period are: John Toland, Cornelius Ryan, John Keegan, Chester Wilmont and obviously Anthony Beevor.
Mr. Beevor (1946) has written many notable books as "Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege" (1998) and "Berlin: The Downfall 1945" (2002) amongst other. He is a former officer with the 11th Hussars and presently is a university professor and writer.
The author is famous for his meticulous research and amenity of his texts, making them very readable for general public.
In this book Mr. Beevor turns his attention from the Eastern Front to the Western Front following Allies' campaign thru Normandy and Bretagne till they enter and liberate Paris.
I was surprised to read about the stern defense put up by German forces in those three critical months frustrating time after time Anglo-American offensives.
The author delivers an equilibrated account of different phases of the offensive without partisan in favor of British forces, giving to each participant his due share of mistakes and successes.
Providing the reader with nineteen maps, the author, makes an easy task to follow the development of the campaign.
Three insets of photos complement the text.
The reader will see thru these pages famous military and political leaders fending to impose their view points and the effects they have on the battleground.
Mr. Beevor also gives a conspicuous place in the book to almost always neglected characters: the civilian population and their sufferings.
A great stuff to read for historians, students or casual readers. Enjoy!!!.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Antony Beevor's D-Day is an excellent military study of the campaign from the beaches of Normandy to the streets of Paris November 17, 2009
C. M Mills (Knoxville Tennessee)
Antony Beevor, the noted British historian, of such fine World War II tomes as "Stalingrad" and "The Fall of Berlin" has written an excellent account of the D-Day battle and the subsequent campaign in Northwestern France in 1944.
The Supreme Commander for the Allied Expeditionary Force was the redoubtable and diplomatic Dwight David Eisenhower who later became a two term US President. Eisenhower launched overe 5,000 ships on in the early morning of Tuesday June 6, 1944 against the Normandy coast. This remains the greatest sea borne armada in the history of warfare. Beevor details the horrible fighting on the five beaches: Americans on Omaha and Utah, British and Canadians on Sword, Juno and Gold. Within days the beaches were secured but much bloody fighting were ahead for the Allied forces. The German soldier was a fanatical defender of Hitler and the Reich possessing good equipment and a desire to prevent the invader from reaching their homeland.
The majority of pages in this 523 page book deal with the fighting in France post-D-Day. Beevor is excellent in recounting the stories of ordinary soldiers in all the armies: British, Canadian, American and German as they battled to the death in an inferno as hot and horrible as anything seen on the hellish Eastern Front.
Beevor records that during the three summer months of 1944 battle over 240,000 Nazi casualties were suffered as well as over 200,000 Wehrmacht troops being taken as POW's by the allied forces. American casulaties were also very high: over 125,000. The British and Canadians lost over 83,000 during this bloodbath.
The fighting in France was vicious taking place in bocage and on the dusty highways and bombed out villages of Normandy. War crimes were rampant on both sides but the butchery of the SS and Nazis was unsurpassed in its cruelty. Beevor criticizes British General Bernard Law Montgomery for his refusal to admit mistakes as he took part in the botched up assault on the Falaise Pocket. General Patton is praised for his desire to speed his way eastward from Brittany towards Paris which was liberated by De Gaulle's Free French forces under General Le Clerc on August 25 (the French were greatly aided by the Americans in getting there!)
Beevor also has harsh words to say about American troop behavior in France which turned denizens of the City of Light against the Yanks. He is, however, fair in his assessment of American contributions to victory unlike some of his fellow British historians.
One salient lesson to be learned from this incisive work is that over 70,000 French civilians died as the result of Allied bombing and slaughter in town fighting. This number exceeds the number of British civilians killed by the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain and throughout the war.
Antony Beevor has authored an excellent modern account of D-Day which is important to add to your shelf of essential books on World War II. Beevor gives you all the tactical details of battle but also includes enough anecdotes about individuals to put a human face on the face of war.
This is a fine history to add to your World War II bookshelf!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
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