Overlord: D-Day and the Invasion of Europe

by Albert Marrin

A chronicle of the planning, implementation, and aftermath of the Allied invasion of Europe conveys the miscalculations, the courage, and the brutal costs of this epic endeavor

Genres: History

177 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Albert Marrin is a historian and the author of more than twenty nonfiction books for young people. He has won various awards for his writing, including the 2005 James Madison Book Award and the 2008 National Endowment for Humanities Medal. In 2011, his book Flesh and Blood So Cheap was a National Book Award Finalist. Marrin is the Chairman of the History Department at New York's Yeshiva University.

Reviews

[Jacob P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book “Overlord” by Albert Marrin

First I would give this a five out of five stars because this book had lot’s of excitement and shares what happened in the past in Europe when countries were at war. In addition the theme of this story is “ A chronicle of planning and aftermath of the allied invasion of Europe conveys the courage and brutal costs of the epic war.” (Marrin 87). This quote shows what sacrifices millions of people made to liberate France and defend it with their lives at all costs from the Germans. The conflict in this story is D-day and the events that led up to this moment in history and why it played such a big role in millions of lives in Europe. The protagonist in the book would be Winston Churchill, because what he had to plan for this invasion and what sheer force he brought to Frances beaches to free them from the occupation of the Germans. One of the main crisis in this story was “ World War II was really two wars: against the Japanese empire in Asia and against Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany in Europe.”(Marrin 4) This quote shows what the United States and it’s other allies truly feared, fighting a two front war because there recourses would be stretched this across Europe. A quote that represents characterization is ( “Omar Bradley led the troops bravely the heavy gunfire from artillery and heavy gunfire but he was able to “read” the battle field differently and used that to breach German lines.”)(Marrin 54) Next a dynamic quote in the story ( “The German army’s achievement in Normandy was very great, and I have sought out many of its survivors. I have tried to write dispassionately about the German soldier’s experience without reference to the odiousness of the cause for which he fought.” ​( Marrin 63) This quote reflects war and the human experience on the front lines and how deadly D-day was. Furthermore a figurative language quote, ( “Out on the sea … well, the horizon was like a solid wall of ships. As if someone had put a steel curtain across the horizon, that’s how many there were.” ​(Marrin 76) this quotes just shows how much firepower and determining Winston Churchill and the allies were so desperate to regaining France from German liberation. The genre in this book is Nonfiction history because, this books takes you back into history and shows you the war from up close and the detailed planning and execution that took place to execute D-day.

Five Unfamiliar words: Amphibious Assault, Mulberry Harbors, beachhead, Logistics, Infantry

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Albert Marrin's WW2 trilogy in my high school library some twenty years ago and was transfixed by it. Marrin combines details with narrative storytelling to deliver a sense of the importance of the mission of D-Day, the insane amount of prep work and logistics required to support it, and of course the outstanding courage of the men who broke through the walls of Hitler's "Fortress Europe". There are ample photos, though the quality is wanting. For a younger reader who wants an overview of how important D-Day was and how it was accomplished -- and needs interesting details like Patton's decoy army -- Overlord remains a terrific read if you can find it.