Caen: Anvil of Victory [Paperback]

Alexander McKee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2012

A brilliant reconstruction of the struggle that ravaged Normandy throughout the summer of 1944 in the wake of the D-Day landings, this work culls personal accounts of those who took part in the fighting, both Allied and German, and of the French civilians caught in one of the most terrible and heroic episodes of the Second World War. With fearful losses on both sides and unspeakable suffering for the French, who had to endure constant massive bombardments from the air, this acclaimed account re-creates a vivid portrait of the action and feelings felt by all involved. A major commemoration of the role played by the common soldiers—those who witnessed the landings and experienced the Battle for Caen—this edition includes revisions and new material and is further enhanced by archival photographs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alexander McKee was a revered military historian and the author of numerous books, including The Devil’s Tinderbox: Dresden 1945 and The Race for the Rhine Bridges.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Souvenir Press (April 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 028563559X
• ISBN-13: 978-0285635593
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,179,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic account, July 1, 2003

By 

H. Lim (Carlingford, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caen: Anvil of Victory (Paperback)

It is a terrible pity that this book is out of print, both in Australia and in the USA. This is probably the best account of a battle that I've read, along with A Bridge Too Far. The descriptions of the horrors of the Caen battlefield - particularly the Battle of the Falaise Gap - are excellently done. One gets a good feel for small unit tactics in the British Army, especially tank actions. They ought to make a movie out of this!!!
McKee also does not hold back on stories of Allied war crimes, with the English, Canadians and Scottish mistreating and executing prisoners, especially SS-troops. It certainly gives a dark side to the story, especially the Canadians, who seemed to have been especially venegful (many were descended from Frenchmen). This is stuff I never read before in the history books...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book that set the Standard, March 20, 2004

By 

Michael L Peirce (Snellville, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House in Marsh Road (Hardcover)

It has been twenty or thirty years since I first read this account of the Caen battles and I still re-read it every couple of years. It is that good. There would have been no Max Hastings' 'Overlord' or John Keegan's 'Six Armies in Normandy' without Alex Mckee - he laid the ground work for all that.

In addition to giving a well crafted account of the fighting and what it felt like to be a British or Canadian soldier in Normandy he provides lots of information and first person accounts from the German side as well.

There are books with more technical detail but this is one upon which all subsequent accounts of Normandy can be based. McKee writes as a man who was there (and not so long ago as of original publication date) and incorporates his own prejudices into his account which for me gave the work verisimultude.

I find myself sharing his frustration as one bloody blunder follows another, and both sides heaped up more than their share of blunders. After reading this book one becomes aware of just how big a debt the Allies owed to Adolf Hitler for pushing his troops into a trap (Falaise) from which less than half broke free.

This book is to me, like an old friend, and I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in military history in general or the Normandy battles in particular

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite good, very British, April 27, 2009

By 

David W. Nicholas (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caen, Anvil of Victory (Paperback)

I read a lot of military history. Much of what I read is from the American point of view, and of course I like to try and get things from other perspectives, too. Of course when I do that, I often find myself disagreeing with what's written, because I am an American, after all. So I read on, and come across this book.

Alexander McKee served with the British army during the Normandy campaign, and then about two decades later wrote this book. It's the sort of thing that couldn't be constructed now, because the author interviewed dozens of participants on both sides of the fighting. The blurb on the back says he interviewed Americans while writing the book, but in reality only a few were consulted. Instead, this book recounts in pretty sharp detail the fighting on the British side of the Normandy beaches, and most of his interview subjects are British, Canadian, French, and German. There are a surprising number of interviews of the last, given that the book was written so close to the war itself.

These interviews are really the heart of the book, and frankly they give it an immediacy that books written afterwards won't have, unless they quote from it. McKee talked to a number of individuals, and at times he talked to participants on both sides of the same action, and told you how they misinterpreted what was going on on the other side of the fighting. This creates a very good narrative, one that gives the reader a great understanding of the course of events on the British side of the Normandy beaches.

I will comment that the author is very British. His verbiage and usage might be a bit confusing to some American readers, and his opinions about Montgomery, Eisenhower, and Bradley, are very in tune with the British military community in the early 60s. All three men were still alive, and so criticism of them was somewhat muted. Monty still had considerable influence in British military circles, and used it pretty ruthlessly to enforce the view of him that he liked: he never had a battle that didn't go exactly according to plan. This book hews to that line pretty closely, and in some places appears to blame the American army for the casualties suffered by the British in the fighting.

Even so, this is an extremely valuable book, because of the authenticity of the accounts of the fighting, and the detail with which they are presented. The author rarely tries to analyze anything. There's no summation chapter or or conclusion, epilogue, anything like that. He simply concludes his account of the battle on the last page. That account is extremely worthwhile.