Product Description

This is the first of a two volume set exploring the inception, planning and preparation of the offensive to liberate Europe, Operation "Overlord", culminating in its launch on D-Day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14526 in Books
• Published on: 1995-08-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Unbeatable and essential reading!
Once again at the top of the pile from the unrivalled and undisputed foremost military history publishers, After the Battle, have produced the most comprehensive, heavyweight and monumental history of the D-Day operation to date.

Quality and quantity are both here in sheer abundance, packing a combined punch of 736 pages with over 1,800 photographs, making this the last word on the subject and offering the reader weeks of incisive study from cover to cover.

Intelligently and sensitively composed by several contributors with a full-time knowledge of the subject, the professional interpretation shines through enabling the reader to trust every word: a crucial factor not always apparent in other rather opportunistic publications.

Whereas most military history books offer a distant glance to the past, as ever, After the Battle's oft copied but never matched intrinsic style of comparative then and now shots, contribute an added poignancy to the subject, bringing history to life in three dimensions.

The two volumes tell the full D-Day story from inception to completion, nicely covering the whole operation, with text and photographs showing US 82nd Airborne paratroopers buckling up for the offing at Leicestershire's Cottesmore airfield through to the same men fighting and dying in the French fields around Carentan.

The After the Battle treatment not only offers a definitive and honest account for the reader, but also a fitting and sincere tribute to the men that took part and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Do not let the price be off-putting - whereas you will read the other books maybe once, the sheer detail and authority of these two volumes mean that they will be on and off the shelf for many years to come.

The first book you should buy
These two volumes combine to provide an incredibly detailed account of the D-Day operations in 1944. The 'After the Battle' format is centered on comparing photographs taken at the time with contemporary images. This works well as it is supported by meticulously detailed text covering all aspects of the operation. One of many insights that it gave me was an appreciation of the planning that was required - for over two years in fact. There is a theory abroad that Operation Sealion - the German plan for invasion of Britain in 1940 - was doomed to failure due to the lack of planning and resources at the disposal of the Germans. This book indirectly demonstrates, by its account of the planning for D-Day, that this could indeed have been the case. Highly recommended.

Literally a heavyweight work
This two-volume set is a detailed and authoritative work on the D-Day landings in Normandy, France during WWII. I particularly liked the amount of photographic work and cartography included in the books. Given the resurgence of interest in Normandy recently due to several film, TV and game titles this will be an ideal tool to use for filling in the details.