Max Hastings, author of over twenty books, was born in 1945. He was a scholar at Charterhouse and University College, Oxford, before working as foreign correspondent for newspapers and BBC television, reporting from over fifty countries. He was editor of the Daily Telegraph for almost a decade, and then for six years edited the Evening Standard. He has won many awards for his journalism, particularly for his dispatches from the South Atlantic in 1982. He was knighted in 2002.

Table of Contents

Section - i: List of Maps Section - ii: List of Illustrations Section - iii: Foreward Section - iv: Prologue Chapter - 1: 'Much the greatest thing we have ever attempted' Chapter - 2: Preperations: Commanders; Airmen; Invaders; Defenders Chapter - 3: To the Far Shore: The overture; The American beaches; The British beaches; Inland Chapter - 4: The British Before Caen: Closing the lines; Villers-Bocage; EPSOM Chapter - 5: The Americans Before Chebourg: The bocage; The battle for Chebourg Chapter - 6: The German Army: Stemming the Tide: Soldiers; Weapons Chapter - 7: The Battlefield: From the beachhead to the front; Casualties Chapter - 8: Crisis of Confidence: The fall of Caen; GOODWOOD Chapter - 9: The Breakout: COBRA; The limits of air power Chapter - 10: The Open Flank Chapter - 11: The Road to Falaise Chapter - 12: The Gap Section - v: Appendix A: Chronology of the Normandy Campaign Section - vi: Appendix B: Allied Order of Battle Section - vii: Appendix C: Forces available in ETO for Operation OVERLORD, D-Day, 6 June 1944 Section - viii: Appendix D: German land forces encountered by the Allies in Normandy Section - ix: Appendix E: Some British administrative statistics Section - x: Bibliography and a note on sources Section - xi: Notes and references Section - xii: Glossary Acknowledgements - xiii: Acknowledgements Index - xiv: Index

About the Author

Max Hastings is the author of thirty books, most about conflict, including Bomber Command, Armageddon, Das Reich, The Korean War, The Battle for the Falklands, Vietnam, Operation Pedestal and Abyss, and editor of two anthologies. He worked as a reporter for BBC television and British newspapers, covering eleven wars, including Vietnam, the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the Falklands war. Between 1986 and 2002 he served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph, then editor of the Evening Standard. He has won many prizes for both journalism and his books. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an Honorary Fellow of King’s College, London, and was knighted in 2002. He has two grown-up children, Charlotte and Harry, and lives with his wife Penny in West Berkshire, where they garden enthusiastically.

Reviews

"Max Hastings's reportage of the battle is not unworthy to stand with that of the best journalists and writers who witnessed it. . . . A tribute to his skills as a historian." -John Keegan, "The New York Times Book Review"
"Hastings combines a quick, clear prose with provocative and often brilliant analysis. His conclusions are sharp yet sound, his research through, and his history incisive. Of the many books that have been written on Normandy, it is quite simply the best." -"Dallas Morning News"
"A brilliant and concise account."
-"The Washington Post Book World"
"A fine account of the strategy and tactics of the campaign. The author has been shot at himself. . . . This has done marvels for quickening his understanding of what such landings are like, and adds an extra cutting edge to his book. He goes over a well-worn path, full of pitfalls, and falls into none of them."
- "The Economist"

" Max Hastings ' s reportage of the battle is not unworthy to stand with that of the best journalists and writers who witnessed it. . . . A tribute to his skills as a historian. " - John Keegan, The New York Times Book Review
" Hastings combines a quick, clear prose with provocative and often brilliant analysis. His conclusions are sharp yet sound, his research through, and his history incisive. Of the many books that have been written on Normandy, it is quite simply the best. " - Dallas Morning News
" A brilliant and concise account. "
- The Washington Post Book World
" A fine account of the strategy and tactics of the campaign. The author has been shot at himself. . . . This has done marvels for quickening his understanding of what such landings are like, and adds an extra cutting edge to his book. He goes over a well-worn path, full of pitfalls, and falls into none of them. "
- The Economist