Normandy: The Landings to the Liberation of Paris - Hardcover

Wieviorka; Olivier; DeBevoise; M. B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674028384 ISBN 13: 9780674028388

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2008

Synopsis

The Allied landings on the coast of Normandy on June 6, 1944, have assumed legendary status in the annals of World War II. But in overly romanticizing D-day, Olivier Wieviorka argues, we have lost sight of the full picture. "Normandy" offers a balanced, complete account that reveals the successes and weaknesses of the titanic enterprise.In addition to describing the landings with precision and drama, Wieviorka covers the planning and diplomatic background, Allied relationships, German defensive preparations, morale of the armies, economics and logistics, political and military leaders, and civilians' and soldiers' experience of the fighting. Surprisingly, the landing itself was not the slaughter the general staff expected. The greater battle for Normandy - waged on farmland whose infamous hedgerows, the bocage, created formidable obstacles - took a severe toll not only in lives lost, but on the survivors who experienced this grueling ordeal.D-day, Wieviorka notes, was a striking accomplishment, but it was war, violent and cruel. Errors, desertions, rivalries, psychological trauma, self-serving motives, thefts, and rapes were all part of the story. Rather than diminishing the Allied achievement, this candid book underscores the price of victory and acknowledges the British, American, and Canadian soldiers who dashed onto the Normandy beaches not as demigods, but as young men.

About this title

Review:

"A reviewer is bound to experience a similar ennui face with yet another book on
Normandy. But there is every reason for his spirits to lift when he looks at the breadth
of treatment that French historian Olivier Wieviorka accords his subject. This book's
great strength is the contextualisation of Normandy. [...] Wieviorka breaks important
ground in his examination of the relationship between the French and their liberators
in a chapter heavy with contemporary relevance. [...] This is a useful and provocative
book, drawing our attention to the complex relationship between servicemen, civilians
and national authorities in the newly liberated state."
-- Richard Holmes, Financial Times, 31/05/08

About the Author:

Olivier Wieviorka is Professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0674028384
• ISBN 13: 9780674028388
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 376