From the Normandy Beaches to the Baltic Sea

Book excerpt: A brief, yet complete history of the Allied campaign for the liberation of Europe from the Normandy invasion to the surrender of Germany, this study describes not only what happened, but why it happened. While an enormous amount has been written about this campaign, most of it focuses upon a single army or an individual battle. This book stresses a true inter-Allied and all arms approach with a balance of both strategy and tactics; accounts of effort by land, sea, air forces; as well as the strong influence of logistics. Levine deals extensively with the German side, particularly morale issues, and he includes the role played by Canadian forces—a topic usually neglected in American accounts. Rapid changes in warfare rendered the character of the battles of 1944-1945 quite different from battles earlier in the war, and Levine finds that old-fashioned fortifications often had an unexpected and formidable impact on the fighting. Logistics played a central role in the struggle, and supply problems would continuously plague the U.S. Army during this campaign. Levine considers whether the war could have been won in 1944, and he discusses the lost opportunities on both sides. Casting new light on some familiar subjects and recounting many neglected issues, this book places the campaign within the larger context of European events in both the east and the Mediterranean.