Recommendations from our site
It was a long time in coming: a new front to challenge Hitler from western Europe (to help the Russians fighting in the East) and much hinged on the success of the D-Day landings. D-Day: The Battle for Normandy, by military historian Antony Beevor, starts in Southwick House (near Portsmouth), where Eisenhower made the difficult decision to proceed on June 6th, 1944, in spite of the choppy weather. The book takes you through the landings on the Normandy beaches and also the terrible fighting that took place in the three months afterwards. If you are visiting the Normandy beaches, this is an ideal book to take along.
(You can also read our interview with Antony Beevor, about his favourite books on the Second World War.)
“Happily, D-Day is vintage Beevor. Written with tremendous verve and flair, it segues seamlessly between the various locations of the narrative – Normandy, London, Berlin and Paris – and between the macro of grand strategy and the micro of soldiers’ experiences, without ever losing its way or appearing disjointed.”
Review of D-Day in the Independent, Roger Moorhouse, 14 June 2009
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On War
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The Art of War
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Life and Fate
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Carl von Clausewitz, Historical and Political Writings
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Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-1944
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