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Review
| The Americans at D-Day: The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion, by John C. McManus. New York, New York: A Forge Book, 2004. 400 pages. $26.95, cloth.
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| John C. McManus sets out in this, the first book in a two volume series commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion to specifically retell the American experience of the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War. He portrays the battle primarily from the viewpoint of the American "G.I.," centering his research around the firsthand accounts of the veterans who served on D-Day. This is McManus's third book about the experiences of American military personnel during the war. Here he provides the reader with a picture of the period from February to June of 1944, the most crucial six months of the European campaign starting with the initial planning stages of Operation Overlord and continuing through to the evening of June 6, 1944. Using a list of primary sources and interviews with combat veterans, he follows the troops through the seemingly never ending weeks of monotonous drills in the Welsh countryside and the crowded pubs of the London night scene to the gut-wrenching ride over the English Channel and death and carnage on Omaha beach. |
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This book's contribution to military history, as well as to United States history, is that it balances the human aspect of the story with the tactical and strategic aspect of the operation. The book will prove to be invaluable to historical education because it forces the reader to feel the variety of emotions that the soldiers who fought on D-Day experienced. I actually found myself at several points in the book becoming so engrossed with the story that I started racing through the pages to find out what happened next. Never was this more apparent then when I was reading the chapter entitled, "The Airborne Ride Over." I already knew what was in store for the 101st Airborne Division as their armada of transport aircraft flew towards France on the evening of June 5, 1944, yet I still raced to read the pages telling the story. This book is an appropriate addition to the reading lists of any undergraduate or graduate level course in Military History or 20th Century Warfare. McManus is a scholar of Military History and an expert concerning the American combat experience during the Second World War. The book would also be a worthy companion to any college level course in recent American history, indeed it might also be appropriate for the secondary school classroom. Besides providing invaluable insight into what combat was like during the most pivotal event of World War II, it can give students a glimpse into what military life was generally like during the war. The overall readability of the book is high because McManus refrains from the heavy usage of military acronyms, which can prove to be extremely confusing, supplying clear definitions throughout the book when their use is necessary. A significant contribution to United States Military History, the book is also a true testimony to the sacrifices made by America's Greatest Generation. |
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| Arcadia University |
Jeffrey S. Crompton |
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