Synopsis
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.
The Barnes & Noble Review
"As the ramp went down we were getting direct fire right into our craft," wrote a soldier in the 116th on the western part of Omaha. "My three squad leaders in front and others were hit. Some men climbed over the side. Two sailors got hit. I got off in water only ankle deep. I tried to crawl but the water suddenly was up to my hips. I crawled to hide behind the steel beach obstacle. Bullets hit off of it and through my pack missing me. Others hit more of my men."Renowned military historian Antony Beevor, author of the bestselling Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945, here uses the words of a U.S. infantryman to evoke the famous June 6, 1944 landing at Omaha Beach, part of the massive Operation Overlord, when the Allies invaded Nazi-occupied France and began pushing Hitler’s armies eastward into the German fatherland. Beevor’s impressively researched and accessibly narrated account of the turning point of World War II begins a few days before the invasion, as Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower prays for good weather, and ends on August 25th, when Allied troops triumphantly liberate Paris. The focus swivels with meticulous precision to illuminate the military, political, and personal dynamics on all sides, offering the perspectives of the American, British, Canadian, French, and German militaries.