Normandy ‘44

D-Day and the Battle for France

By: James Holland

Narrated by: John Sackville

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Normandy '44 by James Holland, read by John Sackville.
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Renowned World War Two historian James Holland presents an entirely new perspective on one of the most important moments in recent history. Unflinchingly examining the brutality and violence that characterised the campaign, it's time to draw some radically different conclusions.
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D-Day and the 76 days of bitter fighting in Normandy that followed have come to be seen as a defining episode in the Second World War. Its story has been endlessly retold, and yet it remains a narrative burdened by both myth and assumed knowledge.

In this reexamined history, James Holland presents a broader overview, one that challenges much of what we think we know about D-Day and the Normandy campaign. The sheer size and scale of the Allies’ war machine ultimately dominates the strategic, operational and tactical limitations of the German forces.

This was a brutal campaign. In terms of daily casualties, the numbers were worse than for any one battle during the First World War.

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·Drawing on unseen archives and testimonies from around the world

·Introducing a cast of eye-witnesses that includes foot soldiers, tank men, fighter pilots and bomber crews, sailors, civilians, resistance fighters and those directing the action

·An epic telling that will profoundly recalibrate our understanding of its true place in the tide of human history

Critic reviews

As an account of this mighty and vitally significant clash of armies, Normandy ’44 stands as richly impressive, hard to surpass

A superb account of the invasions that deserves immense praise…To convey the human drama of Normandy requires great knowledge and sensitivity. Holland has both in spades

An invigorating new history of the Allied invasion of France

A readable account of one of the 20th century's most defining battles provides a strategic overview enlivened by personal accounts of the horror ... for the general reader there are plenty of surprises

An impressive new account of D-Day ... Holland knows his stuff when it comes to military matters ... he reads the minds of the generals, their tactics, their blunders - on both sides

Laced with firsthand accounts...the book provides an invaluable narrative

A powerful account of the invasion

Any past criticism of General Montgomery’s leadership and tactics is put into a fresh focus … armed with the newly-presented facts we are able to make sense of the broader picture

If he says meanwhile one more time I am gonna die!

Slow start, but did build towards the end. a bit droning at times. And please drop the Nazi accent! it is just stupid, just say the words in German and if you cant German learn it.

The author clearly don't know the technical stuff

the book is good but there is an allarming ammount of errors regarding equippment and tactics

Good listening.

A good book, except the narrator should have refrained from the German accent. Made it sometimes difficult understanding what he was trying to say.