Leading military historian Antony Beevor tackles the Western front
Antony Beevor is the doyen of British popular history. The world's bestselling military historian, with an astonishing four-million sales to his name, he has done more than any other current writer to drag history out of its ivory towers and into the nation's living-rooms.
Beevor came to prominence with two bestselling tomes, Stalingrad and Berlin, both of which deal with the eastern front of the Second World War. Now, however, he has turned his attention to the western theatre to tackle the D-Day campaign and the Battle for Normandy.
There is a danger inherent in this westward shift. Beevor's earlier books succeeded not only because they were brilliantly written, but also because they brought something genuinely new to the party, expanding the reader's understanding of a largely under-known subject. Stalingrad and Berlin were the first books in English, for instance, to detail the grim tribulations of the ordinary Soviet soldier in the Second World War. There is surely a risk that, in turning to the familiar surroundings of Normandy's beaches and hedgerows, Beevor will lose a part of his appeal, sacrifice his unique selling point. Crucially, can he still meet his own high standards on such familiar terrain?
Happily, D-Day is vintage Beevor. Written with tremendous verve and flair, it segues seamlessly between the various locations of the narrative – Normandy, London, Berlin and Paris – and between the macro of grand strategy and the micro of soldiers' experiences, without ever losing its way or appearing disjointed. All the salient points of the story are elegantly and engagingly retold – from the rugged heroism at Pointe du Hoc, to the grim confrontation at Falaise and the joyous liberation of Paris....
Read entire article at Roger Moorhouse in the Independent
Beevor came to prominence with two bestselling tomes, Stalingrad and Berlin, both of which deal with the eastern front of the Second World War. Now, however, he has turned his attention to the western theatre to tackle the D-Day campaign and the Battle for Normandy.
There is a danger inherent in this westward shift. Beevor's earlier books succeeded not only because they were brilliantly written, but also because they brought something genuinely new to the party, expanding the reader's understanding of a largely under-known subject. Stalingrad and Berlin were the first books in English, for instance, to detail the grim tribulations of the ordinary Soviet soldier in the Second World War. There is surely a risk that, in turning to the familiar surroundings of Normandy's beaches and hedgerows, Beevor will lose a part of his appeal, sacrifice his unique selling point. Crucially, can he still meet his own high standards on such familiar terrain?
Happily, D-Day is vintage Beevor. Written with tremendous verve and flair, it segues seamlessly between the various locations of the narrative – Normandy, London, Berlin and Paris – and between the macro of grand strategy and the micro of soldiers' experiences, without ever losing its way or appearing disjointed. All the salient points of the story are elegantly and engagingly retold – from the rugged heroism at Pointe du Hoc, to the grim confrontation at Falaise and the joyous liberation of Paris....