The Normandy campaign 1944 : sixty years on / edited by John Buckley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Buckley, John (John D.)

Series:

Cass series--military history and policy ; no. 24.

Cass series--military history and policy, 1465-8488 ; 24

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy.

World War, 1939-1945.

Allied Forces.

Germany--Armed Forces--History--World War, 1939-1945.

Germany.

Armed Forces.

History.

Normandy (France)--History, Military.

Normandy (France).

Physical Description:

xi, 228 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2006.

Summary:

Bringing together essays on key aspects of the Normandy campaign from leading names in military history, this book re-examines the crucial issues and debates of the D-Day campaign. Although it was the most important campaign fought by the Western Allies in World War II and was pivotal in determining the outcome of the war, there remains much to debate about D-Day and subsequent operations in Normandy. This volume tackles a range of core topics, placing them in their current historiographical context, to present new and sometimes revisionist interpretations of key issues. How effective was the deception plan used against the Germans? Can it be said that the German army was superior to the American, British and Canadian forces? Why did the Allied armies become bogged down for two months and to what extent, if at all, was the stalemate a product of poor Allied operational technique or German tactical flair? How have we come to see or interpret the Normandy campaign through the media of cinema and television?

As World War II is increasingly becoming a field of revisionism, this book sits squarely within growing debates and brings current thinking from leading military and strategic historians to a wider audience. This book will be of great interest to students of World War II, and of military and strategic studies in general.

Contents:

1 The 21st Army Group in Normandy: towards a new balance sheet / Terry Copp 11

2 The German perspective / Mungo Melvin 22

3 The German commanders on D-Day / Marc Hansen 35

4 Culture, controversy, Caen and Cherbourg: the first week of the battle / Stephen Badsey 48

5 American tactical innovation in Normandy, 1944 / Nigel De Lee 64

6 British armoured operations in Normandy, June-August 1944 / John Buckley 74

7 Operation Bluecoat - a victory ignored? / Ian Daglish 90

8 'The black day unrealised': operation Totalize and the problems of translating tactical success into a decisive breakout / Stephen A. Hart 104

9 Dead cows and Tigers: some aspects of the experience of the British soldier in Normandy, 1944 / Gary Sheffield 118

10 The Luftwaffe in Normandy / James S. Corum 131

11 Arthur Tedder and the transportation plans / Vincent Orange 147

12 Caen - the martyred city / Peter Gray 158

13 Deception and the planning of D-Day / Mary Kathryn Barbier 170

14 Intelligence and Overlord: a snapshot from 6 June 1944 / John Ferris 185

15 Reconstructing D-Day: 6 June 1944 and British documentary films / Michael Paris 201

16 D-Day in Hollywood motion pictures: a brief history of changing perceptions of war / Carsten Hennig 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415369312

0203028880

OCLC:

62324866

Publisher Number:

9780415369312 (hbk.)

9780203028889 (ebk.)

Online:

Publisher description