On 2009-07-02 Dave Schranck, Anaheim Ca wrote: This is the first of two books Mr Green has written about Normandy and later about the ´Bulge´. They both have the same format. I consider this book to be a good Photo Catalog with an Overview attached. The overview is good but if you have already read about the Normandy landings and the race to Paris, this book will be an extravagance for you´ll learn nothing new. If you have read Patton´s ´War As I Knew It´ or books by D´este or Blumenson then you already have a good understanding of Patton´s life for 1944.
The book will be a great starter book for its straightforward and easy to understand and it will wet your appetite to read more about Patton and about Normandy and the expansion of the beachhead in the early days of the invasion.
The book does tell about Bradley´s brainchild Operation Cobra and its deviation from Eisenhower´s wide front strategy. It also tells about Patton´s aggressive tank tactics and on how he influences his 3rd Army to higher levels. It touches on Marigny, Coutances, Avranches, the gateway to Brittany, after the important capture of St Lo in mid July. The author´s coverage continues with Patton driving on Rennes and Forgeres and the rest of Brittany though several fortress ports held out. Leaving Brittany, the 3rd Army moves toward Alencon and then to Falaise where Patton was critical of Bradley for not allowing him to close the gap for the Canadians. Then Patton races to the Seine River. As Patton closes in on the Moselle River German resistance increases and the advance slows. The overview ends with Patton nears the Rhine River.
For further reading the author offers some excellent choices in his Bibliography
I would suggest having this book in your collection just for the photos; they´re quite good and the overview is good also, just a little too brief tactically for me. . And summed up by saying Great Photos, Decent Overview. Currently Patton: Operation Cobra and Beyond has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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Zenith Press claimed Readers are invited to step into the ranks behind General Patton as his Third Army fights its way across France and into Germany as it drives the Germans out of Western Europe. The authors make generous use of archival photographs and quotes from Patton himself. 200 illustrations.
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