Customer Reviews

Omaha Beach: 6/6/1944

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not long ago, I read and reviewed Joseph Balkoski's "Omaha Beach" and somewhat lamented the absence of really adequate maps to better show what had happened, linking the small unit actions with the bigger picture. I must say tha Georges Bernage's book is the perfect companion to Balkoski's, supplying highly vivid maps and photographs to amplify the words of Balkoski's narrative. And it certainly is not necessary to read Balkoski's book to find Bernage's much more visually-oriented work valuable in itself. A detailed picture of German tactical arrangements is presented along with equally detailed portrayals of individual American attacks bypassing and overcoming those defenses. And Bernage's text should not be ignored, as it contains some excellent first-hand account material.

I've read very many writings of Omaha Beach from the official military records of September 1945 to present. After making several trips to the area and using my uncles maps as a reference, I find Mr Bernage's book one of the best! His interview of many veterans as well as local civillians will place you there on one of the most historic day's of the history of the world. I recomend this book very highly.

Tim Roop
...

Excellent deatailed text & photos & drawings. This book give you all the deatails of omaha beach for both american& german sides

I want to say that this is definately a keeper if you are interested in the hisory of D day. My father was on Omaha Beach and I feel it tells his story. Also tells of German side too. I seen some new photo's I have not seen in any other book I have. I am esp. fond of the book because it has the 467th AAA bunker memorial in it, before and after scenes, and that was my fathers battalion.

The Good: Great photos - both period and contemporary. Maps galaore. In depth interviews, stories, research.

The Great: Awesome, extreme detail and so many photos I've never seen before.

The Bad: Typos typos everywhere! Not sure if there are 2nd additions out with corrections but the book must have hundreds in it. I suspect it was translated from French as sometimes the English is a bit clunky and obscure. Sometimes references are made to French companies, farmers, etc. with little explanation - as if we should know them. Would have liked more background. Still, the bad only brings this down one star in my mind.

The Ugly: The construction of the paperback book is more like a glorified magazine - the pages are not thin mind you, it is heavy stock. The binding is the problem. I fear that overtime the glue will separate and pages will start to fall out. I would therefore recommend the hardback book - for only a few dollars more.

I purchased this book for one reason..the visuals. The book has fantastic photographs, super maps and illustrations. If you own a dozen books on Omaha Beach, you'll want this volume for the visuals alone.

Outstanding! I want to point out at the start that I have read most of the sections of this book, not all of it. What I read was good, but the reason you really want this book is the graphics. The maps and photos are the best I have seen, and I own quite a few books on this campaign. I recently used it as a reference with "Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944" by Joseph Balkoski. The combination of the two was a great way to find out about that fateful day.