Best books on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign?

With the 60th anniversary fast approaching, I would like to know what are your thoughts on the essential books that one should read on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign.

This list should exclude general histories of WW2, as well as biographies in which Normandy only plays a part (e.g. Vol 2 of Hamiltions bio of Monty).

My essential booklist would include:
1. The Longest Day - Cornelius Ryan: beautifully written and an ideal book to start with
2. Decision in Normandy - Carlo D'Este: the best book I have so far read on Monty and the battles within the Allied high command
3. The Big Drop - John Golley: a thorough study of 9 Para at the Merville Battery
4. Guy Hartcup's book on the Mulberry Harbours:

Other possibles for inclusion are:
1. Pegasus Bridge - Steven Ambrose: I enjoyed this, demolishing it in about 4 hours on a recent flight, though understand that Ambrose does not have a particularly good reputation for accuracy
2. The Intelligence and Deception of the D-Day Landings - Jock Haswell: I am still reading this, but already think that it will end up as an essential

I am sure that I will come up with a few more that I have long forgotten

Also a 'perhaps'..

1. Brightly Shone The Dawn - Johnson & Dunphie: I liked the approach of taking several unit actions, but felt it needed more and better maps as well as present day photos of the ground in order to make the concept work effectively.

over to you...

Charles

 

I would recommend the new 'Battlezone Normandy' series from Sutton for touring and facts & figures for each 'zone'. Excellently compiled!

Also the evocative 'D Day, Normandy Revisited' just out.

I recently read 'The Invasion of Europe' by Alan A Michie which I thoroughly enjoyed as more of a background to the event and all the planning behind it.

To be honest there are well over 100 on the subject currently in print...!

Ryan

 

I agree with Carlo D'Este's 'Decision in Normandy' as the best 'strategic' study. I think he is a superb military historian. Max Hastings 'Overlord' is pretty good too and I always thought Belfield and Essame 'The Battle For Normandy' was a good short study (although written before the secret of Ultra was revealed). Not a big fan of John Keegan but 'Six Armies in Normandy' has its moments. For a view from the front-line I recommend '18 Platoon' by Sydney Jary, 'So Few Got Through' by Martin Lindsay, 'Accidental Warrior' by Geoffrey Picot and 'Tank!' by Ken Tout. 'Invasion-They're Coming!' by 'Paul Carell' is an interesting, early attempt to tell the story from a German point of view. Unfortunately my 1970's paperback edition suffers from a very poor translation by someone with little understanding of military matters.

 

Ditto on a lot of the above, especially 18 Platoon by Jary. Similiar is Lion Rampant by ?woolcombe? sorry not sure but an amazon search should steer the way. I found Max Hastings Overlord stood out but for a personal reason, I was asked by a friend to look into the war service of her uncle who was KIA in Normandy, a diary extract from one of his friends was included in the book. Sadly it was covering the death of the man I was researching, which was something his family didn't know more than the date of his death.
Ali

 

Has anyone looked at the official histories for this time period?
Ali

 

I have just picked up the next Battlezone Normandy title, 'Juno Beach' and also Charles Messenger's D-Day Atlas.

Hpefully I'll also get a chance to look at them in the next day or two!

Ryan

 

I have read many of the books mentioned in this thread and I hope that some of the many books likely to be available this summer will have something new to say. At the strategic and command level, though, I will be surprised if there is anything really new.

If I buy anything, it is likely to be some unit histories. I remember that in 1994 there were quite a few of these on the shelves, but they soon disappeared.

So, buy while you have the chance. Most of them will be hard to find again by next year.

Finally, there will be a lot of fixation on D-day. I can see why, but to me the interesting questions concern the campaign that followed - the consequences of the British failure to take Caen and the American failure to take St Lo for instance -and the debate which continues over the German strategy. This is another area where new thought would be appreciated. On the allied side, I generally go with D'Este, but the German side needs a fresh look.

 

If anyone enjoyed 'Forgotten Voices of the Great War' by Max Arthur, I have now picked up 'Voices from D-Day' by Jonathan Bastable. I am really looking forward to reading this one before I go to the beaches...

and if you liked Max's book he has Forgotten Voices of the Second World War out in the autumn.

Ryan

 

Originally posted by salientpoints@Apr 18 2004, 12:34 PM
If anyone enjoyed 'Forgotten Voices of the Great War' by Max Arthur, .....

and if you liked Max's book he has Forgotten Voices of the Second World War out in the autumn.
Personally I didn't - whilst there were some excellent quotes, they badly lacked context. Also some blatant errors (The Beds and Herts Regt appear, as I think did something called the Bedfordshire Fusiliers). It seemed like a lazy compilation.

 

Just got this:

2. Decision in Normandy - Carlo D'Este

Just need the time to read it.

 

my faves out the ones ive read are:

1. D-Day ,Stephen Ambrose
2. Band of brothers ,Stephen Ambrose
3. Peagus bridge ,Stephen Ambrose

I like Ambrose books however iam looking into other authors also any suggestions guys ?

 

Originally posted by Humper@Apr 28 2004, 11:41 AM
my faves out the ones ive read are:

1. D-Day ,Stephen Ambrose
2. Band of brothers ,Stephen Ambrose
3. Peagus bridge ,Stephen Ambrose

I like Ambrose books however iam looking into other authors also any suggestions guys ?
Stephen E Ambrose is treated with caution by many historians.

His account of the actual landing positions at Omaha beach in D-Day has been disputed and he is accused by some of plagiarism.

Personally, I think he captures the flavour of WWII well and I would particularly mention Citizen Soldiers in this regard, but I would never quote him on facts.

I see The D-Day Companion (Osprey) is being heavily advertised in the May history mags and should be in the shops by now.

 

thank you for your feedback i have ordered that book at amazon

 

Ambrose, who was a highly-respected academic historian, became a bit of a one-man publishing industry towards the end of his life. Some critics have alleged that like other best-selling authors he tended to rely on researchers and assistants a bit too much in his later works and was churning books out so fast he didn't check them properly. Certainly there are basic factual errors in books like 'Band of Brothers' and 'Citizen Soldiers' that I have read, such as the spellings of names,which could easily be checked out and seem rather sloppy. With regard to 'Band of Brothers' he has been taken to task (by 101st Airborne veterans amongst others) for taking evidence from his interviewees rather too readily at face value without cross-referencing with other sources. The most serious allegations were made about his last book 'The Wild Blue', an airforce version of 'Band of Brothers', which supposedly included passages lifted wholesale, without attribution, from other works. Sadly these charges of plagiarism emerged just at the time of Ambrose's death from cancer in 2002.

 

Currahee! A Screaming Eagle in Normandy is a good book written by Donald Burgett, who served in Able Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne. The same Regiment that Easy Company from Band of Brothers was in.

 

One of my favourites- The Day The DEVILS Dropped In, The 9th Parachute Btn in Normandy D-Day to D+6,written by Neil Barber
Excellent book Neil Barber uses recollections by veterans to tell the true story of the early days of the landings.

regards Doug.

 

Rommel is the book worth buying ??

I was going to buy it but changed my mind and bought D-Day instead

 

Burgett was a good interviewee on the two-hour Channel 5 D-Day documentary last night (May 3rd). It was a bit of a hodge-podge but contained some good stuff, particularly the 79th Armoured Division veteran and his radio-controlled 'Funnies'.
I haven't read his Normandy book but used his 'Road to Arnhem' volume on my recent Arnhem battlefield tour. He's a good writer but at times seems to have a rather churlish anti-British attitude which also comes over in places in 'Band of Brothers'. Did 101st Airborne have a particular thing about this?

 

I watched that program last night Mark
I found it ok however i agree with you when you said its a bit Hodge-podge.

 

'The D-Day Landings' by Phillip Warner from the British/Canadian perspective is a good read.

Spider