The Germans in Normandy

By: Richard Hargreaves

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

An account of the D-Day invasion - from the German point of view.

The Allied invasion of Northern France was the greatest combined operation in the history of warfare. Up until now, it has been recorded from the attackers' point of view - whereas the defenders' angle has been largely ignored.

While the Germans knew an invasion was inevitable, no one knew where or when it would fall. Those manning Hitler's mighty Atlantic Wall may have felt secure in their bunkers, but they had no conception of the fury and fire that was about to break. After the initial assaults of June established an Allied bridgehead, a state of stalemate prevailed. The Germans fought with great courage - hindered by lack of supplies and overwhelming Allied control of the air. This book describes the catastrophe that followed, in a unique look at the war from the losing side.

©2006, 2019 Richard Hargreaves (P)2019 Tantor

Lots of history I was unaware of happening during the D Day and the liberation of Western Europe.

Great look at D day and events in German government and military. Lots of little known but important details of the summer and fall of 1944.

Great audible

Very interesting to hear the German side of battle. I listen to many audible non fiction and fiction books and I learned a lot from this one.

Thoroughly fascinating.

I enjoyed the detail of the recollections...I found myself looking skyward for allied fighter bombers.

Great listening

I enjoy stories from the German side, and this one did not disappoint, had my full attention the whole way!

Excellent History

This is an excellent history of the other side in the Battle of Normandy. It is marred, however, by a poor narrator. I don't mind English narrators at all; some are excellent. What I do mind, though, are British narrators pronouncing German and French words with a British accent. It's like fingernails on a blackboard. All audiobooks that include non-English words or place-names should require that the narrator be able to pronounce them correctly!

Great

Great to see the battle of Normandy from the German prospective. Everyone suffers in war.

well written but contains verbose language.

I loved the book but contains a lot of untranslated German, for some reason. It doesn't contribute much to the narrative, just translate it to English.

Good if you're not familiar

This is a good book if you are not familiar with the events. But if you've seen or read the Longest Day, Patton, Is Paris Burning, and similar movies or books, you will know most of the content. WWII buffs especially will likely find better German perspectives from the many autobiographical books.

Montgomery’s performance during Normandy

It appeared that the author went to great lengths to justify Montgomery’s performance as a General at Normandy from a British perspective. It was over done! Although it was apparent he was running out of manpower.

a different view of Normandy 1944

This book was excellent. I visited Normandy on vacation in 2019, so obviously I am fascinated by this battle history. We went to several battle sites, and we may go again this year. (2020) History is written by the victors, so this book gives the German perspective. Excellent collection of diary accounts of what the soldiers were seeing, from the German side. We deliberately had dinner each night at the English pubs in Bayeux Normandy. Those pubs were full of English history buffs and ex-UK military vets, all sharing battle stories they knew about. We had too much fun bs'n in those pubs. (I got accused of having a thick American accent. I also experienced the most aggressive handshakes imaginable. A lot of beer consumed, and they were all very proud of their military units. I want to go back!) Normandy in the summertime is a great place to vacation, particularly if you are into this subject. Cheers!