The Allied assault on Normandy beaches was an almost flawless success, but it was to take three months of bitter fighting before the German defence of Normandy finally collapsed and Paris was liberated. In this masterly and highly individual account of that struggle, the reader is subjected to the gruelling ordeals confronted by the combatants - each encounter related from the point of view of a different nationality. While transcending conventional military history, it provides an intensely vivid picture of one of the Second World War's most crucial campaigns.

Tells the story of the Allied invasion of Normandy and shows how each of the armies mirrored its own nation's values.

The Allied assault on Normandy beaches was an almost flawless success, but it was to take three months of bitter fighting before the German defence of Normandy finally collapsed and Paris was liberated. In this masterly and highly individual account of that struggle, the reader is subjected to the grueling ordeals confronted by the combatants – each encounter related from the point of view of a different nationality. In this way we learn precisely what it was like to take part in the American airborne landings, move up the Canadian beachhead under a blistering hail of fire, attack on foot across country with Scottish infantry, engage the enemy from a British tank, move into the German counter-attack at Morain, close the Falaise Pocket under Polish command, and liberate Paris as a Free Frenchman. Six Armies in Normandytranscends conventional military history while providing an intensely vivid picture of one of the Second World War’s most crucial campaigns.

Combining newly released top-secret Admiralty reports, rare photographic materials, and extensive interviews with eyewitnesses from three nations, James Tent has produced a comprehensive study of a little-known episode of World War II - the campaign to defend the Normandy invasion fleet from Germany's high-performance motor torpedo boats or Schnellboote, known to the Allies as "E-boats". Besides presenting a detailed account of naval operations at a crucial stage of the war in Europe, this history integrates many facets of modern warfare: the development of fast coastal craft; the creation of precision bombing units; the interaction of naval, air, and ground forces among both the Allies and the Germans; the harnessing of science and technology to meet changing military needs; and the use of various forms of intelligence - cryptanalysis, prisoner interrogation, photoreconnaissance, and photo-interpretation. While tracing these important technical considerations, the study also examines the human dimension of the forces arrayed against each other. In addition, it offers historical precedents for weapons and warships in which there is now renewed interest, namely, deep-penetration bombs and high-speed coastal combatants.

The Normandy campaign in the summer of 1944 was perhaps the most important battle of the twentieth century. It decided the fate of Nazi Germany. This historiographical narrative critically assesses the important literature on the campaign and offers the most comprehensive bibliography on the subject to date. This research guide is easily accessible, with cross-references between the text and the bibliography and a full index. It has been developed for use in public, college, university, and institutional libraries and to serve military historians and history buffs interested in D-Day. The narrative provides a brief historical background, describes ten different types of sources for conducting research on the Normandy campaign and then looks at sources concerned with the Second Front, Overlord, air and naval preparations, Operation Fortitude, D-Day, and the Battle for Normandy, before pointing to trends and future research needs. The second part of the book lists 539 works on the Normandy campaign, including references, bibliographies, guides, dissertations, books, documents, and magazine articles. The emphasis is on English-language works, but the most significant French and German materials are included also.

The greatest military operation in history, the invasion of France on June 6, 1944 has become immortalized as D-Day or The Longest Day. This massive land, sea, and air operation led to an 11-month campaign that concluded with the surrender of Hitler's Germany in May 1945. But nothing that came after D-Day equaled the achievement of that day in terms of planning, preparation, and logistics. It was an achievement that only four years before might have seemed like a flight of fancy. "Normandy 1944" looks at the planning and preparation for the invasion, the launching of the greatest military operation of all time, and the campaign that followed in the summer of 1944 until the Allied armies closed the Falaise Gap and the Germans began their retreat from France. The book looks at the personalities involved, the innovations employed, and the experiences of those who fought in Normandy. The greatest military operation in history, the invasion of France on June 6, 1944 has become immortalized as D-Day or The Longest Day. This massive land, sea, and air operation led to an 11-month campaign that concluded with the surrender of Hitler's Germany in May 1945. But nothing that came after D-Day equaled the achievement of that day in terms of planning, preparation, and logistics. It was an achievement that only four years before might have seemed like a flight of fancy. "Normandy 1944" looks at the planning and preparation for the invasion, the launching of the greatest military operation of all time, and the campaign that followed in the summer of 1944 until the Allied armies closed the Falaise Gap and the Germans began their retreat from France. The book looks at the personalities involved, the innovations employed, and the experiences of those who fought in Normandy.