April 15, 2019
In this fast paced tale, historian, biographer, and journalist Kershaw (The Liberator) draws on interviews, military records, and published accounts to relate the early actions by advance invaders and the events of D-Day itself. The main players will not surprise readers familiar with the invasion’s story—among the well-known people highlighted are Brig. Gen. Teddy Roosevelt, son of the former U.S. president; Maj. John Howard, who led the attack on Pegasus Bridge; Col. James Rudder, leader of the Rangers at Pointe du Hoc; and Brig. Simon Fraser (Lord Lavat), leader of the British commandos. Novelty is provided with some lesser-known stories, such as those of British Sgt. Maj. Stanley Hollis, the only recipient of the Victoria Cross for action on D-Day; Lt. John Spalding and Sgt. Philip Streczyk, who together led the U.S. First Infantry Division off of Omaha Beach. Kershaw is at his evocative best describing the chaos, courage, and carnage of combat, vividly portraying the bravery of the “greatest generation.” Even readers well-read on the subject will enjoy this perspective. Agent: Jim Hornfischer, Hornfischer Literary Management.
April 15, 2019
An account of the soldiers who were the first to land at D-Day, paying a terrible price for their valor. Kershaw (Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris, 2015, etc.) returns to the scene of his book The Bedford Boys: the Normandy beaches that saw the Allied invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It was an operation fraught with peril. As the author writes, Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander of the Allied forces, soberly observed that "we are putting the whole works on one number," and failure was a very real possibility. The first wave of invaders took extraordinarily heavy casualties at many points; one British major, wounded in action, was fortunate to be taken away on a stretcher, for "out of 125 men in his company, he had lost eighty-three." Kershaw's pages are as densely populated as Cornelius Ryan's but with some characters who haven't played much of a role in the historical record--e.g., a cigar-chomping leader of American airborne pathfinders who fought his way desperately across the French countryside and survived the terrible odds only to wind up falling into a weird trap laid by a Nazi double agent at the end of the war. Kershaw sometimes falls into breezy human interest-ese, long on description and adjective--"a sprightly, dark-haired Londoner with a wisp of a mustache, armed with a pistol and a Sten gun"; "Dressed in a dark leather coat, Rommel was soon racing back to Normandy in a black Horch"--and his work lacks the attention to strategy and tactics, but also the heaviness, of an Antony Beevor narrative. Still, Kershaw is good at giving a you-are-there account, and it's an eventful story indeed, told from both sides of the fight and featuring characters not often heard from: a member of the French Resistance here, a Polish conscript into the Wehrmacht there. World War II buffs will find this an engaging, unchallenging read.
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April 15, 2019
Operation Overlord was the largest amphibious invasion in history, as Allied soldiers from the U.S. and Britain crossed the English Channel on June 6, 1944, to invade Normandy and take the fight to the Third Reich. Kershaw (Avenue of Spies, 2015) builds on his many previous WWII books to present an especially vivid D-Day narrative. This incredibly detailed account profiles a broad spectrum of participants in this essential, now legendary battle: soldiers, pilots, paratroopers, commandos, and rangers all describe their combat experiences with an immediacy that brings the reader right into the action. Special attention is paid to the night before, when the men double-checked weapons and equipment, the breakfasts their nervous stomachs just couldn't hold onto, the seemingly endless flights over enemy territory, and the moment of touchdown. Kershaw presents war in all of its ugliness and horror even as he emphasizes the commitment of the young fighters to their comrades. The First Wave, a welcome and fresh take on one of the greatest and most significant of WWII missions, marks D-Day's 75th anniversary.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
June 1, 2019
On the early morning of June 6, 1944, thousands of ships of all types dotted the English Channel as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of landing craft plowed through white-capped waves along 60 miles of French beaches to land their cargo of men and materiel to begin the liberation of Nazi-held Europe. Hours earlier, several divisions of British and American paratroopers dropped from the inky darkness to begin the task of securing bridges and crossroads to hinder German responses and pave the way for the main landing forces heading toward the fortified beaches. Historian Kershaw (Avenue of Spies), basing his work on more than 20 years of extensive interviews and other firsthand accounts from D-Day veterans, deftly weaves these stories to put readers in the midst of the battle. The author captures all the mixed feelings of that day: fear, anticipation, excitement, and the selfless acts of courage and heroism encountered in every corner of the battlefield, here focusing on individual soldiers and their stories. VERDICT Kershaw's latest will appeal to readers interested in World War II and firsthand accounts of soldiers and their time in battle.--Chad E. Statler, Westlake Porter P.L., Westlake, OH
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2019
Kershaw, a New York Times best-selling expert on World War II, profiles ten men at the forefront on D-day, from hard-charging Canadian brothers to the first American paratrooper to reach Normandy soil.
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.