#119
Post
by Simon Trew 1 » 15 Dec 2019, 14:46
I agree that Richard's book has many strengths. This is the descriptive entry from my forthcoming bibliographical guide to the German perspective on the Normandy campaign:
Hargreaves, Richard: The Germans in Normandy – Death Reaped a Terrible Harvest (Pen & Sword Books Ltd., Barnsley 2006; xv + 271pp., maps, illustrations). This book provides a lively narrative of the Normandy campaign, seen from the German perspective. The emphasis is on describing personal experiences and attitudes, as articulated by all ranks from ordinary infantrymen to the highest commanders. Effective use is made of documents held in the archives of the Imperial War Museum, London, and material translated from German-language secondary sources. The content is well balanced, with the perspectives of ground, air and naval forces being effectively represented. The book offers a good starting place for anybody who wants to begin learning about the German view of the Normandy campaign.
In my guide I will specify the ten books that I believe collectively represent the starting point for anybody who is interested in the German perspective on the Normandy campaign, but who know nothing about it already. For various reasons I will probably make this an English-language list (though I may add a second list for those who read German and/or French). Richard's book will certainly be on the list.
I'm afraid I can't be as positive about JT's book, partly because of its reliance on Eckhertz - which is almost certainly a work of fiction (although there may be fragments of truth within it). This is what my guide say's about 'D-Day through German Eyes':
Trigg, Jonathan: D-Day through German Eyes: How the Wehrmacht Lost France (Amberley Publishing, Stroud 2019, 320pp., maps, illustrations). This is a lively account of the summer 1944 campaign as seen from the German perspective. The book is weighted towards the events of 6 June, although the entire campaign is described. The author makes some analytical points, but his focus is on reproducing personal accounts drawn from the tactical level of war. Many of those whose experiences are described are familiar figures, reflecting the fact that the book mostly contains extracts from previously published works. The contents suggest some lack of awareness of recent scholarship, although the text is still a reasonable starting place for those who are interested in the soldier’s-eye-view of the campaign. The book has one serious deficiency, i.e. it makes extensive use of material taken from Holger Eckertz’s ‘D-Day through German Eyes’ (QV). Since Eckhertz’s book is largely (if not entirely) a work of fiction, this diminishes the overall quality of what Trigg has achieved in his own work.
I very much look forward to seeing Richard's second edition - I agree that there are some excellent German jagdgeschwader and kampfgeschwader histories (insofar as my lousy German-language skills allow me to understand them), with more appearing all the time, and it would be nice to see the Luftwaffe perspective more powerfully articulated. Luftwaffe air units didn't achieve a great deal during summer 1944, but I think they tried pretty hard!
Simon