The Battle of Normandy 1944

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Orion, 2013 M10 17 - 448 pages

A fresh and incisive examination of one of the Second World War's crucial campaigns, the battle for Normandy in the months after D-Day.

What happened to the Allied armies in Normandy in the months after D-Day, 1944? Why, after the initial success of the landings, did their advance stall a few miles inland from the beaches? Why did the British take so long to capture Caen? Why did the US infantry struggle so much in the bocage south of Omaha beach? Who was right about the conduct of the land campaign - Eisenhower or Montgomery? How did the Germans, deprived of air support, manage to hold off such a massive Allied force for more than two months? And if Enigma was allowing the Allies to read German battleplans, why did things go wrong as often as they did?

THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY re-examines the demands and difficulties of the campaign and sheds new light on both with the aid of accounts from veterans on both sides. (Oral history forms a large part of the book.) It also analyses in detail the plans and performance of the commanders involved: Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, Montgomery, Crerar and, of course, Rommel. Controversial and at times catastrophic, the Battle of Normandy was the last great set-piece battle in history and is long overdue for reassessment.

 

Contents

Cover
About
Caen and the Allied Command June 7
The Germans
The Battle
Expanding the Bridgehead June 1218
Supply and Cherbourg June 1929
Attrition
Charnwood and Jupiter July 711
The FightforStLôJuly318
Spring
Brittany and Falaise August 110
The Mortain CounterAttack August 712
Closing the Falaise Pocket August1823 18 Retreat totheSeineAugust 23September 1
By Robin Neillands
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About the author (2013)

Robin Neillands served in 45 Commando Royal Marines during the 1950s. He now works as a journalist and travel writer and has a growing reputation as a military historian. He has published many books on British military history from the Napoleonic era through to the Second World War. His co-author Roderick de Normann also has a military background and several military histories to his credit.

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