Countdown to D-Day: the German Perspective
The German High Command in Occupied France, 1944
by
Peter Margaritis
This book's timeline is from December 1943, with a bit of a prelude, until the actual Normandy Invasion on June 6th, 1944. This is a very large book and is just over 600 pages in length. It deals with the day to day lives of the major German officers during the above six-month period. It gives the reader incredible detail into the different views of the main characters and even their personal lives.
Field Marshal Rommel is clearly the main German officer of the book. Some of the book deals with the difference of opinion between Rommel and Field Marshal von Rundstedt as to where the German panzer divisions were to be placed. Rommel, well aware of the Allied air superiority, wanted the panzers very close to the beaches of Normandy. On the other hand, von Rundstedt wanted the panzers held farther back to hit the Allies with a large, armored fist when the exact area of the landings was known. Hitler, in his usual way, made a mish mash of both plans. So, we are left to conjecture and wargaming to try and find the answer to the question - was either Field Marshal, correct?
The book follows Rommel around as he desperately tries to make Hitler's vaunted 'Fortress Europe' a reality instead of a pipe dream. Anyone interested in the infighting and actual thoughts of the German High Command before and about D-Day should read this book. The author's painstaking diary-like approach to every day during that time period is to be marveled at.
There is one caveat, at least for someone whose tastes mirror my own. That is, the book goes into too much personal detail about the characters' lives during those six months. I am not really interested in where Rommel ate lunch and dinner on March 15th, 1944. That being said, all of the juicy bits of history that I love are in this book. I just had to dig a little deeper to find them. I am also not a Rommel fan boy by any way shape or means. Had it delved more into von Rundstedt's life it is possible that I wouldn't have these thoughts about the book. On the other hand, Rommel was by far the busiest of the two commanders at the time and through his travels takes you to all of the different places on the Normandy coast. So, you may want to take my caveat with a grain of salt.
Thank you, Casemate Publishers, for allowing me to review this large, interesting book. I read for the first time some interesting things about the time and the personal tastes of the characters. I knew that von Rundstedt liked detective novels, but I did not know that he was also an avid gardener.
Robert
Book: Countdown to D-Day the German Perspective
Author: Peter Margaritis
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
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