Max Hastingsâs âexceptionalâ (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) account of the famous World War II D-Day landings â[will] stand with that of the best journalists and writers who witnessed itâ (The New York Times Book Review).
On June 6, 1944, the American and British armies staged the greatest amphibious landing in historyâcalled Operation Overlordâthe battle for the liberation of Europe. Despite the Alliesâ absolute command of sea and air and vast firepower, it took ten weeks of fierce fighting for them to overpower the tenacious, superbly skilled German army. Forty years later, British war correspondent and military historian Max Hastings shares a dense, dramatic portrait of the Normandy invasion that overturns the traditional legends.
First published in 1984, Overlord âwill shock those who regard the invasion of Normandy and the subsequent battles as triumphs of American, British, and Canadian military heroismâ (The New York Times). Instead, Hastings provides a brilliant, controversial perspective on the devastating battles, based on the eyewitness accounts of survivors from both sides, plus a wealth of previously untapped sources and documents. âA masterly book, rich in insight, shrewd and weighty in judgementâŚMax Hastings stands in the first rank of writers on modern warâ (Financial Times).