Product Description

This classic text describes the build-up of the invasion of Europe, and the scenes at the beach-head and in the "bocage" of Normandy. It also discusses the disputes among the Allies, the Anglo-American difficulties over Grand strategy, and the friction between Hitler and his generals which culminated in the plot of July 20th 1944, as well as the pincer movements of the Russians and the Anglo-American forces which brought Europe to victory.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83909 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 766 pages

Customer Reviews

A classic
Although this book was first published a few decades ago it is still a work of reference for anyone interested in the campaigns in the west from the Normandy landings to the German surrender. It is no surprise that John Keegan rates it among the highest achievements of WWII literature. The description of the sequence of events is masterful and the analysis of how decisions were made is second to none.Its psycological description of Montgomery and Eisenhower are a magnificent example of how a journalist or a historian can interpret reality to tell the reader not only the what and when but also the why and how. In summary we can only be thankful to the author for the great breakthrough that his book made in the search of the truth about the Second World War.

The Benchmark; Quality which has never faded!
A fantastic account from the BEF evacuating from Dunkirk to the fall of the Thrid Reich. Wilmot is so well balanced, criticism is aimed where due and not through national bias (not sure if this book will appeal to many Stephen Ambrose fans - not many eagles soaring on the wings of democracy, freedom and liberty for all here, not even a mention of Easy company winning the war all by themselves), his objectivity places this book amongst the very best histories of the campaign in North-West Europe.

A great read, not an overly easy or flowing read, but such a rewarding and insightful history which has, and will always stand the test of time.

Excellent!
This book sat on my shelf for about 2 years before I finally picked it up to read and I was disappointed that I hadn't done so earlier.

This book is absolute superb! The author covers the entire war in this one volume.

He starts off covering in brief what took place between 1939-1944, which is crammed full of amazing information before going into the main subject of the book, the fighting between 1944 and 1945.
During the main portion of the book he covers both the Western and Eastern front and provides and excellent narrative of the fighting backed up by dozens of maps to illustrate what he is talking about.

On top of this, the author actually took part in Operation Overlord and provides a first hand account of his landing into Normandy with the 6th Airborne Division.

To sum up, the book is full of amazing information for a book covering the war in general and is superbly written.