This is an early volume from the US Army’s official history of World War II. It describes Operation Overlord from before its inception through the fall of Cherbourg.

Although the Americans hoped to defeat the Germans by an assault directly across the English Channel, the dilemma they faced was that they were still mobilizing their army when they entered the war. Consequently, they were unable to offer much in the way of forces for 1942. Roosevelt was unwilling to let the whole army in Europe remain idle while it built up its forces, so he consented instead to an invasion of French North Africa, carried out in November under the code name TORCH. This, in turn, committed the Allies to the Mediterranean in 1943 as well. Meanwhile, planning for an invasion of France began in the spring of 1943 under the British Lt. Gen. Frederick E. Morgan, soon designated as Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (designate), or COSSAC. Morgan’s planners quickly identified only two areas as suitable for landing, the Pas de Calais and Normandy. But a more serious look at the Pas de Calais resulted in the conclusion that “Not only does the strength of the defenses demand a weight of assault which the restricted capacity of the beaches cannot admit, but the restrictions imposed by the beaches do not allow a rapid build-up. Further, even if assault were practicable, the geography of the area does not permit of the capture of sufficient ports to maintain the force, and the terrain does not allow of the defense and exploitation of the bridgehead by the occupation of successive natural obstacles.” Therefore, the choice of invasion site fell by default to Normandy — specifically, to the beaches in the vicinity of Caen. Later, after Eisenhower became commander of the invasion with Montgomery as his deputy, an additional beach was added on the east side of the base of the Cotentin Peninsula.

There is much to read in this book, although, because of its publication date, there is nothing about the Allies’ possession of ULTRA. ( )

Another great volume from the official us army history. Good reading and lots of content. The maps from the original printings are fantastic if you are a history wonk. ( )

Not an easy read but an excellent reference book sourced almost exclusively from U. S. Army documents. These resources make for a fine foundation but lose the benefits of other perspectives of more diverse sources and analysis. ( )