The Americans at Normandy: The Summer of 1944-The American War from the Normandy Beaches to Falaise

by John C. McManus

Book Overview

In "The Americans at D-Day," the first volume of this series, John C. McManus showed us the American experience in Operation Overlord. Now, in this succeeding volume, he does the same for the Battle of Normandy as a whole. Never before has the American involvement in Normandy been examined so thoroughly or exclusively as in "The Americans at Normandy." For D-Day was only one part of the battle, and victory came from weeks of sustained effort and sacrifices...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765311992
• ISBN13: 9780765311993
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

An Impressive Read on American Participation at Normandy

This book is the sequel to the author's book on D-Day and its one of the best books on Normandy from the American perspective that you will find. It begins with the V and VII Corps fighting their way off the beaches and ends at the Falaise Pocket and covers everything in between. The author has an engaging style that blends the tactical with the personal that creates a lasting impression on the reader. You will learn about the bravery and hardship of many soldiers as they try to defeat a still determined enemy. There are also 18 quality maps that will help you understand the progress being made. If you're just starting out or have been reading about WWII for years, this book will be a delight. Its highly recommended.

An Outstanding Treatment of the Battle for Normandy - 1944

McManus' detailing of the events of Normandy (post-D-Day landing) is just that - an awesome detailing of the struggles faced (and overcome) by the American Army in Normandy during the summer of 1944. I was struck by the absolutely appalling machine gun, mortar and HE fire that the American forces were required to endure in each and every hedgerow-bordered field they crossed. The lack of pre-planning by Allied commanders on how to effectively deal with an enemy entrenched in such ideal defensive positions is appalling. The number of lives lost due to such short-sightedness is sobering. McManus' book does a great job of giving the background, setting the scenes and giving the reader the perspective of the men in the field. He liberally uses maps - but these are reproduced in the hardcover edition in a scale that is far too small to be as effective as they could be. McManus' treatment of American leadership is honest and unvarnished. He - as could be predicted - discusses many of the Patton's foibles - but so have many other historians and biographers. I was struck by his less-than-admiring treatment of General Omar Bradley and Bradley's decisionmaking. McManus really takes Bradley to task for certain of his decisions regarding Operation Cobra and the northward pincer movement south of Falaise. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It makes me appreciate all the more the bravery shown by many American combat vets who were forced to learn - through trial and error at horrible cost - how to use combined arms to dislodge the entrenched Germans from Normandy's hedgerow country. Anyone interested in this theater of WWII should read this book.

No Book Can Match It

The best book I have ever read ! Amazing detail and it shows the true horror of war.I am probaly the only 9 year old that would read The Americans At Normandy I don't know why because it is very interesting.

Best History on Americans in Normandy so far

John C. McManus's "The Americans at Normandy" is the best work of history I've come across on the American role in the decisive battles comprising the Normandy campaign from the beaches of Normandy to the closing of the "Falaise Gap", which nearly suceeding in wiping out Nazi Germany's French army of occupation. McManus is a gifted storyteller, recounting numerous fascinating vignettes which showed how inexperienced American troops managed to hold their own against, and then finally defeat, a superbly trained force of Wehrmacht and SS soldiers. Although there have been many books devoted to the Normandy campaign, few have been as successful as McManus's book in rendering the events from the perspectives of those who fought in this campaign. Though there isn't much in the way of significantly new historical research, I was certainly intrigued by McManus's poor assessment of General Omar Bradley as the overall commander of American forces. More than once, he indicates that Bradley wasn't as willing as his colleague General George S. Patton in waging an extremely aggressive campaign against the Nazis. Indeed the best instance of this is Bradley's own reluctance in closing the "Falaise Gap" by linking American troops with British and Canadian armies. If the gap had been closed successfully, McManus suggests that the war in Europe could have drawn to a close much sooner. "The Americans At Normandy" is divided into three parts corresponding to each month of the campaign. "June" begins on June 7th, describing American attempts to expand the Omaha and Utah beachheads, followed by an ill fated attempt to seize the strategic town of St-Lo and the brutal assault on Normandy's largest port, Cherbourg. July describes much of the hedgerow fighting in Normandy's bocage country, the successful seizure of St-Lo, and the beginning of the breakout from Normandy at the end of July. August includes chapters devoted to the breakout and the ill-fated Nazi counteroffensive near the town of Mortain, followed by the nearly complete encirclement of Nazi troops in the "Falaise Gap". Most of the chapters are devoted to recounting what these battles were like from the perspectives of the front-line privates, noncommissioned officers, lieutenants and captains faced in dealing with a tenacious, determined foe.