98 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally - an account of the fighting on the Normandy Front from the view of ordinary German soldiers, November 4, 2006
Richard Hargreaves, a newcomer to the genre, has done a masterful job in knitting together a variety of primary sources that provides for the first time the definitive account of the Normandy Campaign from the viewpoint of the ordinary German soldier, or Landser. Though there have been previous attempts to cover the fighting from the German perspective, such as Paul Carell's "Invasion - They're Coming!" and many individual unit histories, this one hits all the bases - expertly weaving each man's story into the overall background of the fighting as well as providing the necessary context that outlines the course of the campaign. The hope, the determination, the fear and the final crushing discouragement that marked each stage of the German soldier's experience are extremely well portrayed here, made all the more compelling by the author's translations that lend weight to the genuine "feel" of each account. Especially illuminating were excerpts from the recent book by Heinrich Severloh, the machine gunner of Grenadier Regiment 916, who stubbornly held out at Strongpoint WN62 at Omaha Beach on D-Day until he was captured. Fast-paced and well written, Hargreaves has done an enormous service to those who study this campaign but have not been able to find a balanced protrayal from the German perspective. This book, along with the upcoming operational history of the German Seventh Army in Normandy by Mark Reardon, should be mandatory reading for all who desire to gain a greater understanding of one of the greatest battles in Western European history.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PAST DUE!, December 10, 2007
I've had this book on my Amazon wish list for over a year now, and it is about time it is available. Now, will TOTENKOPF by Trang ever show up in print?
Though many books have been written on D-Day this is one of very few from the German side. The letters and other writing extracts from the German participants offer clearer insight to what many of the German participants were thinking, planning, and enduring.
Though the book highlights many aspects, one of the more important is the role that allied air power played in subduing the German attempt to counter our landings, especially concerning the Panzers. Each day the 'lansers' would look to the sky, asking "where is our airforce", for throughout the battle the Luftwaffe was missing over Normandy. Daily shelling from the allied navies, and land artillery, combined with complete lack of any countering German airpower, the Germans were not only being pushed back, but also began to realize they were not going to win the battle for France.
Being not a simple rehash of books that have gone before, this is an excellent addition to any WWII Normandy library. The bookshelf of anyone interested in France from June 6, 1944 onward, cannot afford to be without the book.
Semper Fi.
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Death Reaped a Terrible Harvest, June 12, 2007
"Death Reaped a Terrible Harvest," is the sub-title of Richard Hargreave's amazing book, "The Germans in Normandy," that lucidly tells the story of the Germans' buildup and defense of Normandy to the D-Day invasion in June 1944, through the breakthrough by the Allies and the carnage of the Falaise Gap, to the retreat to the Reich in August 1944.
The story is comprehensively told, apparently for the first time, primarily from the point of view of the German defenders, especially the common soldiers on the ground, the "Landser" (German enlisted men). (For those wanting strictly a more strategic viewpoint, a more lofty and ponderous view can be found in "The German Army at D-Day", a collection of post-war reports by captured German generals for their American captors that is rife with fingerpointing and based solely on their selective memories.)
Perhaps more importantly, the story is clearly told in an engaging and informative writing style that pulls the reader in so that one is given a good sense of what it was like for the German forces during this period.
The author does this by cogently interspersing the already well-known "big picture" of what was going on (e.g., the Fuhrer's directives, the lack of air support/defense for the German forces, the failure to put in skilled troops as first-line defenders, the ferocity of the defense put up by the 12th SS Panzer Division - the Hitlerjugend - and other elite forces) and the exploits of familiar names (e.g., tank ace Michael Wittman, the actions of Kurt "Panzer" Meyer) with personal accounts, including fascinating quotations from diaries and correspondence, of common soldiers.
The result is an unparalled must read for anyone interested in D-Day, the Wehrmacht (including the Waffen-SS), the Third Reich, the Second World War in Europe, World War II, or even military historians interested in the impact on command and control of an army in retreat. The dust jacket claims the author spent 15 years researching this book. It was time well spent.
The book also includes a section of 16 photos which appear to be previously unpublished. (Most are from the author's private collection.)
[P.S. My edition of the book was printed in England and was released before the American edition. The cover features Erwin Rommel prominently (his actions are discussed throughout the book) and the book itself is 271 pages, not the 256 listed here, although I have no reason to believe the contents are any different from the edition published state-side.]
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