Normandy: The Real Story

by Denis Whitaker, Terry Copp

“It was the [allied armies’] valor, their endurance, and their ability to adapt that won the battle of Normandy and launched the liberation of Western Europe.”
—from Normandy: The Real Story

For decades, it’s been the conventional wisdom that “brute force” alone beat the German army at Normandy. Now a definitive new history, coauthored by a highly decorated field commander, proves otherwise. Using archival data, oral histories, and exclusive new interviews, Normandy: The Real Story takes the reader deep into the minds, hearts, and souls of the allied armies to show how—despite the shortcomings of their superiors and the inferiority of their weaponry—they destroyed two well-equipped German armies and won the war.

Here is the crucial summer of 1944 as seen by both sides, from the British spy, code-named “Garbo,” who successfully misled the Nazis about the time and place of the D-day landings, to the poor planning for action after the assault that forced the allies to fight for nine weeks “field to field, hedgerow to hedgerow.” Here too are the questionable command decisions of Montgomery, Eisenhower, and Bradley, the insatiable ego of Patton. Yet, fighting in some of the most miserable conditions of the war, the allied soldiers used ingenuity, resilience, and raw courage to drive the enemy from France in what John Keegan describes as “the biggest disaster to hit the German army in the course of the war.” Normandy is an inspiring tribute to the common fighting men of five nations who won the pivotal campaign that lead to peace and freedom.

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 2004

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of WWII books but most are written from the general’s perspective. This book was written mostly from the infantry officer’s and tank commander’s perspective- which takes you much closer to the action and death and dying that took place during the Normandy campaign. An interesting read.

[Tplauche · Rating 3 out of 5]

My dad recommended this to me after I told him I read Beyond Band of Brothers. I enjoyed the book and as well as learning about the Battle of Normandy. I know very little about the events of WWII and I feel that this book showed me the events and circumstances about the war that I was fairly unfamiliar with. By reading this book I gained respect for the soldiers who faced the unrelenting terror and atrocities of battle and bravely overcame such a formidable opposing force. The book seems to have the purpose of debunking a mentality that the allied forces overcame the German forces by brute strength, superior numbers and available resources and shows that the resourcefulness, tenacity, and commitment of the allied soldiers was the fundamental strength of the allied forces.
I give the book a three because of my stinginess in grading most books. Most readers would probably give this a four.