Thomas F. (hardtack) -
As I'm well read in World War II history, I wasn't expecting a lot from this book. It is mainly a "popular history" book about the Normandy landings, and follows several men from just before the invasion until many years later. But I was pleasantly surprised due to the details the author gave about the men and the battles they fought in. I learned a lot, including about some aspects of the Normandy landings I was never aware of.
I thought I had caught two mistakes the author made, but it turned out it was only one. On one page the author refers to the German Panzer Lehr division as a SS division. I didn't think that was right. So I checked Wikipedia and found, "It was the only Wehrmacht Panzer division to be fully equipped with tanks and with halftracks to transport its mechanized infantry." So it wasn't an SS division.
On another page the author refers to "Queen Elizabeth" touring the hospitals visiting the wounded after the invasion. So I "knew" there were only two Queen Elizabeths and the second--- Princess Elizabeth---didn't become queen until years after the war. Some research showed I was amiss, as he was referring to the Queen Elizabeth who was the wife of King George and the mother of Princess Elizabeth. You never stop learning.
This was an easy and fun read, and I enjoyed the book. But as the author spends a lot of time discussing the terrible casualties many of the Allied units took, there is also a sober---and yes, a depressing side---to the book.
I thought I had caught two mistakes the author made, but it turned out it was only one. On one page the author refers to the German Panzer Lehr division as a SS division. I didn't think that was right. So I checked Wikipedia and found, "It was the only Wehrmacht Panzer division to be fully equipped with tanks and with halftracks to transport its mechanized infantry." So it wasn't an SS division.
On another page the author refers to "Queen Elizabeth" touring the hospitals visiting the wounded after the invasion. So I "knew" there were only two Queen Elizabeths and the second--- Princess Elizabeth---didn't become queen until years after the war. Some research showed I was amiss, as he was referring to the Queen Elizabeth who was the wife of King George and the mother of Princess Elizabeth. You never stop learning.
This was an easy and fun read, and I enjoyed the book. But as the author spends a lot of time discussing the terrible casualties many of the Allied units took, there is also a sober---and yes, a depressing side---to the book.
