Anthony Kemp

As one who arrived at the tail end of the Baby Boom Generation (those born 1946 → 1964) I was among the last raised with the sense that World War II was not ancient history. By the time I could absorb history, Korea and Vietnam would supplant WW II in the media but my access to history as a child was mostly watching war movies on Saturday afternoon. Pulse pounding action drew me in creating a more than passing interest in the conflict for the rest of my life. One of my favorite books is THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH by William L. Shirer and I've enjoyed a couple books by Stephen E. Ambrose as well. So between all that and the annual Memorial Day crash courses in America's wars, I was relatively well steeped in WW II. I was looking forward to reading D-DAY AND THE INVASION OF NORMANDY to add another layer to my knowledge. It didn't. It skims over the invasion the way a butterfly flits across your yard. Randomly alighting here and there before moving on. When those landing on Utah beach were described as facing sporadic gun fire before moving onto another subject I knew I was in trouble. The book is part of the "Discoveries" series published by Henry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers. Their books are tight little paperbacks mostly on glossy paper appointed quite well with many photographs and maps--even a multi page pull out map of the Normandy beaches (nicely done, there is a different map on each side of the pull out but one of the maps omits the middle beach of the five to be attacked). The production value of the book and some miscellaneous writings and correspondence tacked on to the end of the book authored by various people involved on both sides raise this a star. If this is your first look at this piece of history, you will enjoy it more than I did and likely spur you to learn more. I have another volume in this series about the Napoleonic Wars about which I know very little--affording me I hope the opportunity to enjoy the book.… (mer)