Operation Overlord

[colin]

Anyone got any opions on Max Hastings Book Overlord, or any books they can recommend on this time in history.

Thanks

[Vince1159]

I've got Operation Pedestal-The Fleet that Battled to Malta and Vietnam-An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975 plus a couple of others not exactly what you're looking for but a great author....

[Des]

Never read that particular book by Max Hastings but other titles by him on that period  and later are all are well researched and well written.

 

Recall in my youth reading The Longest Day , A Bridge Too Far and The Last Battle all covering aspects of WWII in Europe by Cornelius Ryan and found them very readable but no idea how his research is considered now.

[John Tapsell]

Depends on the depth of your interest:

-Decision in Normandy by Calo D'Este

-Six Armies in Normandy by John Keegan

-D-Day by Steven Ambrose

-D-Day by Antony Beevor

-Struggle for Europe by Chester Wilmot (an older book and probably a bit dated by modern standard, but still good)

-The Guns at Last Light by Rick Atkinson (actually the third part of a trilogy on the US Army during WWII, but this volume concentrates on NW Europe).

 

There are literally hundreds of books that cover the Normandy campaign but most of them are personal memoirs or unit histories, so they don't cover the broader overview in the same way but are often excellent books in their own right.

 

[Marvel Onkey]

Max Hasting's Overlord is a perfectly good general history and benefits from being very readable, Cornelius Ryan and Stephen Ambrose are very good on individual and small unit stories; Normandy '44 by James Holland is an excellent narrative of not only D-Day but the whole Normandy campaign, Anthony Beevor's book is very good.

 

John Keegan is a world renowned historian and Six Armies in Normandy is a fine book, but he is a bit of the declinist view of British history which you may or may not subscribe to; Carlo D'este meanwhile has a not particularly balanced point of view best summarised as "the Brits were useless, Monty was rubbish, the US won the war on their own etc etc..." which may cause the more anglophile reader to throw his books across the room.

[AWFK10]

"Monty's Men: The British Army and the Liberation of Europe", by John Buckley. A very balanced appraisal of the British Army in NW Europe from D-Day to VE Day.

 

"The Armoured Campaign in Normandy June - August 1944"  by Stephen Napier.

[tank152]

Don't overlook the 2 volumes of D-Day Then and Now. 

Take a look here to get an idea what's in them.

 

[Julien]

On 17/12/2021 at 22:03, Des said:

Never read that particular book by Max Hastings but other titles by him on that period  and later are all are well researched and well written.

 

 

I would echo that

[dnl42]

Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France by James Holland. Most excellent.

[IanC]

On 12/17/2021 at 8:31 PM, colin said:

Anyone got any opions on Max Hastings Book Overlord..

Thanks

 

Hello Colin,

 

Some good recommendations there, but I still think Overlord is the best book on the subject. Some have criticised him for exaggerating the quality of the German forces, but for me it's an essential read.

 

For a wider view, I can also recommend 'Defeat in the West' by Milton Shulman, who was an intelligence officer at the time and interviewed many of the protagonists immediately after the war. An absolute classic.

[ViggenXC]

Sand and Steel by Peter Caddick Adams so far I've reached page 200 and they haven't landed in Normandy yet but an excellent book.

 

[colin]

Thanks everyone for the information, clicking and checking avaiability on a few mentioned. May be picking up more than just Overlord, ah well tis Christmas after all 😄

[roginoz]

Anthony Beevor - "Ardennes 1944" & "Arnhem ; The Battle for the Bridges" are both well written and informative.

 

For a look at Germany in 1944-45, "The End" by Ian Kershaw is a riveting read about the impositions suffered by the German "man in the street" as the war literally ground the country down.

[JohnT]

2 hours ago, roginoz said:

Anthony Beevor - "Ardennes 1944" & "Arnhem ; The Battle for the Bridges" are both well written and informative.

 

For a look at Germany in 1944-45, "The End" by Ian Kershaw is a riveting read about the impositions suffered by the German "man in the street" as the war literally ground the country down.

 

 

 

Not long finished "The End" and I can second that.  Quite insightful in that it explains why the Germany fought to the bitter end in WW2 when common sense tells them to seek terms much earlier.  

 

Anthony Beevor - have yet to read a poor one from his pen.

[Whofan]

If it's any help, I second the recommendations above for Max Hastings, James Holand and Antony Beevor's books about D Day and the Normandy campaigns. 

 

I found them al not only readable, but immensely informative and compared to older books on the subject - subject t the caveat that they were written when certain matters weren't written about better researched.

 

Oddly enough, I have The End Ian Kershaw on my bedside cabinet to read after I finish the 840 page first volume of the Beatles story by Mark Lewisohn!

[colin]

Thanks evryone, managed to get the James Holland from Wordery and D Day then and now 1&2 book set tucked away on Amazon very cheap (imho).

[Des]

On 12/21/2021 at 10:40 AM, roginoz said:

Anthony Beevor - "Ardennes 1944" & "Arnhem ; The Battle for the Bridges" are both well written and informative.

Limited time offer for Kindle edition of  'Arnhem - Battle of the Bridges' on Amazon today for 99p.  -   https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arnhem-Battle-Bridges-Sunday-Bestseller-ebook/dp/B078H4RMXP/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1LRS5ZZQETW7T&keywords=Arnhem%3A+The+Battle+for+the+Bridges&qid=1640533879&s=digital-text&sprefix=arnhem+the+battle+for+the+bridges%2Cdigital-text%2C166&sr=1-2

[JohnT]

Thanks Des

just paid my 99 pennies