Invasion! They're Coming!: The German Account of the D-Day Landings and the 80 Days' Battle for France (Schiffer Military History) (English and German Edition)

This book almost got 4 stars on the basis of being the most detailed English-language view I've found of the Normandy campaign as told from a German campaign. But the amateur tone of the writing and the dogged repetition of a few main themes (with few supporting historical details ever offered) dragged me back to 3 stars. Never having read anything before about D-Day from the German perspective, I was hoping to learn something new. Instead, all I really got was stuff one's already seen in every D-Day book written in the last 30 years: 1) The Allies had a lot more stuff; 2) Allied air superiority was a major factor in the outcome of the battle.Carell does an excellent job detailing the numerous strategic blunders/failings of the German high command. He also does an excellent job giving a feel for just how often and how thoroughly Allied air superiority upset German plans. In contrast to most American and English historians, he provides a much more detailed view of which German units were where, which German commanders got what orders when, and how individual German units fared through the course of the battle.That said, I found his emphasis on front-line engagements and outcomes unsatisfying. This was magnified by the lack of details and uneven tone in his books. By the fifteenth time he described German courage or Allied tactical ineptness (usually with few details provided to describe why anything happened the way it did), I found it tiresome. To hear Carell tell it, there was not a single instance of tactical competence displayed by Allied soldiers during the sixty days of the Normandy campaign--the Germans just fought bravely until Allied planes finally dropped a bomb on their foxhole.I purchased this book in the hopes of getting a more balanced narrative of what happened in D-Day that led to the outcomes that happened. All I really got was a collection of stories about how bravely the Germans fought until the Allies finally wore them out.

History is usually written by the victors. Thus it is always interesting to get the perspective of the losing side. But I found this book far less interesting and revealing than Carrell's description of the epic 1943 battles on the eastern front given in Scorched Earth.Also, one must remember Carell's biography when reading anything he has to say about WWII. Born Paul Karl Schmidt, Carrell was a committed Nazi, the equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel in the SS, and the chief propaganda spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry. He probably could have been tried as a war criminal, but I suspect that his knowledge of the Soviet intelligence apparatus was probably too valuable to the Brits and the Americans for that.Invasion tells the story of the Normandy Invasion from just before D Day to the end of August and the capture of Paris. By then, German commanders knew the only thing left was retreat. The book contains a number of "what if" scenarios about how the Germans could have smashed the invasion if only Hitler had not interfered. Had that happened, however, we would have just come somewhere else, but probably without Eisenhower. There no way FDR or Churchill would have made a separate peace with Hitler or even with a conservative military government had the July 20 coup been successful. Unconditional surrender was the doctrine, and stopping the Allies in June 1944 would only have meant that the first target of the atomic bomb would have been a city in Germany.One thing Carell's book does make clear is that by the end of 1943 and certainly by June 1944, the German Army was a spent force being rapidly overwhelmed, in the East and the West, by the Allies backed by the industrial capacity of the United States. In June 1944 the Germans had no tactical air force. The Allies ruled the skies, and in France the German Army could only move men and material at night or in bad weather. And when they did move, many of their guns and much of their material was moved by horse, while Allies were fully mechanized. Carell makes much of the fighting qualities of German soldiers, especially the paratroops, and of their small-unit tactical superiority. Maybe so. But it reminds me of the anecdote about the old Confederate veteran who said, "We could have whipped the Yankees with broomsticks. Unfortunately, they chose to fight with rifles and cannon."

An eye opener to how and why the GERMANS were fooled by the Allies as to where the invasion would take place ..The GERMAN WEHRMACHT fought well and was far superior in combat to the "Tommies " and to the "GI'S " except for ALIES air dominance and superiority which pinned downed and destroyed the famous and combative PANZER divisions ..If the WEHRMACHT had not been fooled by the clever deceit manoeuvers by the ALLIES GHOST ARMY at DOUVRES ,they would have unleashed their full strength at once and the AllIES would have be crushed at the very beginning of Operation OVERLORD;It also shows what poor Commander was famed and bloated egotist General MONTGOMERY who new only one tactic :"MATERIALSCHLACHT "::overwhelming material superiority which cost so many unneccessary lives to the Tommies and Canadian units

purchased for a customer who appreciated the exc.ellent condition of the book, the prompt receipt and the reasonable price

Great read for those who has an interest in the invasion of Europe or WW2 in general. Most stories available in English are invariably written by and mostly seen from the Allied point of view, this is a book written from a German point of view by a historian who himself lived during ww2, being a press spokesman for Ribbentrup and as such member of the civilian SS. Paul Smidt as his real name is, is not shy about letting it shine through that he is a patriot and that he is proud of what German arms achieved - Whether you feel comfortable with the objectivity or lack there of from the auther, I do feel this book is well documented and no more subjective than most history books and I found it refreshing to read a book from the opposite point-of-view from what we are used to seeing. If you like this book do check out his book on the invasion of Russia, its worth it ...

Paul Carrell has written an absorbing account of the battle for Normandy using first hand accounts from the German soldiers' and officers' perspectives. This is a revealing collection of stories from a large number of contributors cleverly woven together by the author in a way that leaves the reader rivetted and not wanting to put it down.Importantly it reveals the absolute horror of being on the receiving end of the biggest sea-borne invasion in history. Of being pounded mercilessly by hundreds of heavy calibre guns for hours on end. Of being unable to move during daylight hours, as within a few minutes allied fighter-bombers would appear overhead and blast you to destruction.A particularly heavy-hitting passage concerns the annihilation of the Panzer Lehr division in July which was blasted by battleships, then bombed by over 1,200 allied medium/heavy bombers and then mercilessly hammered by massed artillery. Tanks were thrown through the air like plastic models, whole infantry platoons were buried alive. Once it had all finished the most highly equipped panzer division in the whole German army ceased to exist !It is very easy to forget that the men facing the Americans, British and Canadians were as human as our boys. The intensely personal recollections leaves one truly appreciating the horror of the Second World War.If you are truly interested in D-Day and the following Battle of Normandy, balance the accounts written by British and American authors by reading this truly mesmeric and unforgettable book from the German viewpoint.

We got this as a gift to a ten year old grandson. It is still a gripping account from the German army standpoint of the Invasion of Europe in 1944. Lavishly illustrated with contemporary photos. A must if you're touring the Normandy battlefields.

Book advertised as having 452 pages turns up less than 300!

I now understand why establishing a bridgehead took so long.

First delivery was will done. I can't put down the book it's so good. The one thing I don't like is revised parts of the book. This book is very good and as I said before I can not put it down.ThanksBrian