Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy

I read this book as preparation for a recent trip thru Normandy and a tour of the landing beaches. This book does a splendid job of giving the American reader a broader perspective of the Battle of Normandy and its prominent but not dominant role in ending the war(Think Russia and the Eastern Front).

The challenges faced by Eisenhower, Bradley, Montgomery, Churchill and Roosevelt in conducting the campaign makes for great reading. Inexperienced officers and soldiers in the field, where casualty tolls exceeded original projections, were led by too many ineffective, incompetent, and even cowardly senior officers. Many of the American units were undertrained, inexperienced, and over matched during the early part of the campaign, and it led to massive losses. On the other hand the 82nd and 101st airborne and the Army Ranger units were the equal of anything the Germans had.

Hasting is excellent in explaining the Battle as it unfolded from both the perspective of the allies and from the Germans. He also shares individual stories of many who were there from Germany and the Allies, some who survived and some who did not.

This overview of D-Day and the Normandy battle is an incredibly rich and nuanced study of this critical battle in World War II. It is replete with vivid descriptions of the actual fighting and incisive analysis of the strategies and motives of the German and Allied commanders. I read this volume after having read two other Hasting's books on WWII--Armaggedon and Retribution--both brilliant analyses of the last two years of the war against Germany and Japan, respectively. But his D-Day book, published earlier (1984) is still a terrfic read and may remain the best one-volume history of this campaign.

"Overlord" by Max Hastings is a competent and insightful examination of the clash between the armies of the Western Allies on the one hand, and the German Wehrmacht, as the latter attempted to defend against the invasion in Normandy. Mr. Hastings employs the increasingly popular method of supplementing overall analysis with anecdotal stories of incidents of actual combat. This device usually succeeds, although at times the reader may not be clear what point Mr. Hastings is trying to make by reciting various instances of company and platoon level combat.

Mr. Hastings' overall theme is simple enough. He believes that the German Wehrmacht showed itself to be one of the best trained and best led armies of all time. Since it was fortified with the knowledge that it was fighting literally for its life, the Wehrmacht was able to punch well above its weight in fighting a delaying action against the Allies. Hastings opines that generally the Allies were unable to prevail against the Wehrmacht until they were able to bring their superior numbers and firepower to bear--in an even fight, the Wehrmacht usually won. There were exceptions of course--the superbly trained and led 101st and 82d Airborne Divisions, two examples that Hastings cites, were the equal of any similar sized and equipped German units. But most Allied combat soldiers were citizens first and soldiers second, while the Wehrmacht often behaved as though the reverse were true for its soldiers.

Mr. Hastings does a good job making his case, and this piece is a valuable addition for those who are interested in understanding the period from the Allied landings in Normandy through General Bradley's breakout in Operation Cobra. Recommended.

The theme of the book is that the Allies were amateurs and the Germans professionals, similar to an amateur boxer taking on a pro in the ring. The author is almost contemptuous of the British and Canadians, who threw their hands up in surrender at the least provocation. The Americans fare little better in the book.

According to Hastings, even the second-rate German outfits composed of old men could out-think and out-fight the Allies, especially the British. Hastings heaps criticism on Montgomery, Eisenhower, and even Patton.

The German veterans of Normandy that the author interviewed had no respect for the fighting ability of the Allies. The author feels the same.

The book is overly one-sided, but I am giving it 5 stars in spite of its drawbacks, because it offers the German view of Normandy that you won't find elsewhere.

To start I should clarify two things, firstly, I like Max Hastings as a writer and historian. I like the way he incorporates the entire spectrum of participants in the story which takes the 'grind' out of reading an historic account. He also doesn't 'romanticise' topics like D Day which, of recent times, has received a number of glowing commentaries as we celebrate those who took part. I don't want to take away from those who fought, as I have genuine respect for their contribution, but recently I believe Hollywood and some historians have glorified the actual events, clouding the realities of the battle and the 'knife edge' it was fought on for the first few weeks.Thank God for the Russian Front as I don't believe the Allied armies would have succeeded had they faced more units such as Hitler Jugend,12th SS Panzer, Panzer Lehr and the Parachute Divison.Enough emphasis cannot be placed on the importance and contribution of FORTITUDE in the ultimate success!
Back to the book,looking at it from a resident of a country that didn't have troops committed to the battle (we were getting ground up in Italy!)I find it very balanced in its criticisms of the generalship and quality of troops from the various nations. Far from coming away with negative thoughts regarding Allied superiority in quality of troops I come away with a feeling of awe that they accomplished what they did, sticking to their task in very unpleasant conditions, considering Britain had been at war for 5 years and America didn't have any great animosity toward Germany and nearly all their troops were new to the battlefield.
I agree with Hastings that German forces were superior to Allied forces (excluding Airborne and Special Forces)on the whole. Unit for unit the Germans showed greater tenacity and initiative than the average Allied formation. Wittmans feat of arms with a single tank, Fritz Langangke's 'one man war'near St Denis and countless other defensive efforts showed, that with more resourcing, the Wehrmacht, in all liklihood, would have defeated the Allies. As quoted by Brigadier Williams, "The Germans adjusted much better to new conditions than we did. By and large they were better soldiers than we were.The Germans liked soldiering. We didn't."
Overall I found the book very readable, concise and balanced. It showed well the magnitude of the task in forming armies from numerous countries, the personalities that could have defeated the forces prior to any landing,the ebbs and flows which determine the outcome and the fact that numerical and logisitcal superiority will,over a period of time,win out.
If I was to choose one book to learn about the overall conduct of the battle, not in-depth analysis of a particular battle or battles, from top to bottom, this is the one. Well worth it. Not sugar coated, telling it how it was, sharing the criticisms in a fair and even-handed manner.