D-Day: The Greatest Invasion A People s History - Softcover

Van Der Vat, Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1897330278 ISBN 13: 9781897330272

Publisher: Madison Press Books, 2010

Synopsis

With rare photographs and personal artifacts from private collections, this compelling history depicts the battle that would prove to be the turning point of World War II. The stories of the men who survived the invasion accompany those who courageously lost their lives, painting a remarkable, poignant, firsthand narrative. The author, who was a young boy living in a village near the site of the D-Day landing, includes his perspective, adding to the others' tales to offer a complete re-creation. Accurate, colorful, and authentic, this portrayal of the attack is a personal, moving account of one of the most important—yet heartbreaking—days in history.

About this title

About the Author

Dan van der Vat is a military historian and journalist who is the author of several books on warfare, including D-Day, The Good Nazi, The Last Corsair, and The Pacific Campaign. John S. D. Eisenhower is the son of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He has served as American ambassador to Belgium and as a White House advisor. A distinguished historian, he is the author of Allies, The Bitter Woods, and Yanks. He lives in Trappe, Maryland.

From Publishers Weekly

This fluently written and lavishly illustrated volume on the Normandy invasion and campaign covers ground that will be familiar to many readers, but offers many details (such as the different weather requirements of different services) that some longer books slide over. It also shifts with ease from grand strategy to tactics, from individual memoirs (frequently accompanied by photographs of the narrators, looking incredibly young in June 1944) to logistics (including such aspects of that essential subject as the Mulberry artificial harbors). The author keeps his promise to tell a "warts and all" story of the campaign and also exhibits admirable balance among the Allies' contribution (the Canadians are honored ) and on such controversial questions as Field Marshal Montgomery's strategy and tactics. All this is done in few enough words to leave room for an exceptional array of graphic material, including highly readable maps, classic war paintings and abundant photographs, few of them overused. As an introduction by John S.D. Eisenhower puts it, the book "recognizes that the everyday solider really occupies center stage."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Madison Press Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1897330278
• ISBN 13: 9781897330272
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 176