Brassey's D-Day Encyclopedia: The Normandy Invasion A-Z

This book is a little less than five stars but its better than four stars so it was rounded up to five. Though the book is small, Mr Tillman has squeezed a lot of useful information into it. Coverage includes key people, places, events, weapons and practically everything else that is conencted to the Normandy invasion. (There are a few things missing.) It includes army, navy and air force. People include both military and civilian. For the military personnel, it includes their history and organization and the accomplishment made for D-Day. The beach designations and troop dispositions at the landing are covered on both sides. The predominate countries covered are US, Great Britain, Canada and Germany. The German aspect is well covered. The book also has good photos and maps to study. There is also a nice Bibliograpy of secondary sources if you desire further reading. There are larger D-Day encyclopedias to choose from but this would be an excellent choice to start with. Its inexpensive and you may find it satisfies all your needs. If you would like to supplement this volume, the larger "The D-Day Encyclopedia" by Chandler / Collins is a worthy candidate.

How did this little gem go unreviewed for so long? If you want a "one stop shopping" place for Operation Overlord, this book is the choice. The organization, content, and execution are all excellent. My only suggestion would be more illustrations but that's a small complaint in a book that contains a tremendous variety of subject matter and presents it in comprehensible, readable form. There's even examples of D-Day movies with favorite lines from each. Altogether a top-notch effort.