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D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. By Antony Beevor.
France liberated, the full version
MOST of the young soldiers pictured above are now dead. The battles they fought in Normandy, France, are fading into history and acquiring the patina of Verdun, Gettysburg and Waterloo. This new historical distance gives Antony Beevor, who made his name with his 1998 bestseller, "Stalingrad", the freedom to explore without inhibition the most controversial questions posed by the campaign that opened with the storming of the French beaches on June 6th 1944. It is a freedom he exploits to the full in his new book, "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy".
The first issue Mr Beevor tackles is the courage of the German troops. Many wondered what the Germans would think when they caught sight of the allied armada, the largest fleet that had ever put to sea. Nearly 5,000 landing ships and assault craft were escorted by six battleships, four monitors, 23 cruisers, 104 destroyers and 152 escort vessels, while 277 minesweepers cleared channels ahead of them.
The Germans did not flinch. Their...