Six Armies in Normandy: 2from D-Day to the Liberation of Paris

In "Six Armies In Normandy", John Keegan tells the stories of the six armies which fought the battle of Normandy, from D-Day to the Liberation of Paris, viewed from the individual perspective of each army. Here we meet the generals and the GI Joes of the United States, Britain, Poland, Canada, France and Germany. Starting with Keegan's personal boyhood observations of the American buildup in England, the reader is reminded that, for all the big stories, the war was fought by small groups of individual soldiers. The reader is introduced to the strategy sessions, both in Washington and at summit meetings, as well as to the small engagements in which ordinary soldiers fought the war.Here we learn of Hitler's command failures and German transportation problems. We read of the struggles within the American military over the competing needs of Europe and the Pacific. The stories of fathers and sons and their units in the two world wars are compared and contrasted.I appreciate books which teach me something new. This book meets that test. I was surprised to learn of the intensity of support for the war across Canada, including in Quebec. The accounts of the rivalries within the French army are interesting. The reader is admitted to the interactions among the giants, Churchill and Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton and Montgomery, Petain, Leclerc and DeGaulle.I enjoyed this book. At its end I felt that I knew more about the war in France than I had at its beginning. For this I recommend it.

This book is why I think that John Keegan is one of the greatest historians of our times. As I write this, the 56th anniversary of the landings is but two days away and we are also very close to the opening of the D-Day memorial. This book, written in Keegans wonderful narative style shows us what all of these celebrations are really for. While Keegans writing style does not use the same overly dramatic touches that Stephen Ambroses' style does, he always manages to keep you entralled in the subject that he is presenting. And the subject that he is presenting is done infinitely better than in any other contemporary novel. He not only gives us the normal tales of the Americans and British and Germans, but we also get to see the contributions of the Free Polish and French divisions that landed after the intial wave. Being an American, I am used to seeing D-Day memorials to the British, Canadian and American forces involved. We tend to forget that other countries also had a hand in the victory involved there, and Keegan shows us this magnificently. He does this in the best way possible. He has devoted an entire chapter to each country, which gives us a chance to see each countries story presented uninterrupted and in my opinion paces the book wonderfully. This book is a must read for anybody who really wants a good, unbiased look at one of the pivotal moments in the worlds history. Highly recommended.

I would scarcely have believed that a detailed account of a single campaign could be so moving and so detailed simultaneously. His account of his wartime childhood in the West Counties is heartbreakingly poignant, and at the same time keenly insightful; this first chapter is among the most evocative and beautiful personal accounts of the war which I've ever read.His analytical method (I hesitate to call it a 'device' because it is not the least bit artificial or awkward) compares the national historical character of each combatant nation with the decisive phase of the campaign in which each struggled. He compares the dashing (and desperate) courage of American paratroopers compares to the savage, sacrificial bravery of the Free Polish tank corps, in a way that no historian I've read has done before.Mr. Keegan is a writer and historian of the first rank. Each of his many books is among my all-time favorite works of non-fiction; my only regret is that his erudite, rigorously scholarly output cannot possibly meet my voracious demand! Keegan's contribution to the field of history (the weight, variety, and evenly superb quality of his work) makes one compare him inevitably to Sir Kenneth Clarke. Perhaps those in charge of making Britons into 'Sirs' will take notice of this fact and reward him accordingly.Three cheers for Sir John!

I usually stick to war novels like "The Triumph and the Glory" because fiction is such a powerful medium for portraying the harsh reality of war. But I always read John Keegan because he is John Keegan, the master military historian of our age. Six Armies in Normandy is his best book, I hope you read it.

While I have found most of Keegan's works to be dry and difficult reads, Six Armies in Normandy is well-written and enjoyable. The book focuses on the armies of various nationalities that fought in Normandy in the months after D-Day. One of the exceptional features of this history is that Keegan covers more than just the British, French, and Germans. I found his depiction of the Polish armored division that tried to plug the Falaise-Argentan gap to be fascinating and visceral. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the European theater of World War II.