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The Germans in Normandy

Written by: Richard Hargreaves
Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
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Publisher's Summary

An account of the D-Day invasion - from the German point of view.

The Allied invasion of Northern France was the greatest combined operation in the history of warfare. Up until now, it has been recorded from the attackers' point of view - whereas the defenders' angle has been largely ignored.

While the Germans knew an invasion was inevitable, no one knew where or when it would fall. Those manning Hitler's mighty Atlantic Wall may have felt secure in their bunkers, but they had no conception of the fury and fire that was about to break. After the initial assaults of June established an Allied bridgehead, a state of stalemate prevailed. The Germans fought with great courage - hindered by lack of supplies and overwhelming Allied control of the air. This book describes the catastrophe that followed, in a unique look at the war from the losing side.

©2006, 2019 Richard Hargreaves (P)2019 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about The Germans in Normandy

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A battle like no other

The breakout from Normandy is well-trodden ground, but much less so from the German perspective. This book covers both the chaotic response from the German high command and the plight of the individual soldiers, You can almost feel the despair of being so massively out-gunned and the effects of the interminable aerial attacks, while the high command remained in complete denial of the shattering of the front-line units who continued to fight on despite horrific conditions.

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A very good overview

This book provides a good general overview of the fighting in Normandy. Well read with clear and concise text.

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  • Oscar Shinn
  • 2020-06-13

a different view of Normandy 1944

This book was excellent. I visited Normandy on vacation in 2019, so obviously I am fascinated by this battle history. We went to several battle sites, and we may go again this year. (2020) History is written by the victors, so this book gives the German perspective. Excellent collection of diary accounts of what the soldiers were seeing, from the German side. We deliberately had dinner each night at the English pubs in Bayeux Normandy. Those pubs were full of English history buffs and ex-UK military vets, all sharing battle stories they knew about. We had too much fun bs'n in those pubs. (I got accused of having a thick American accent. I also experienced the most aggressive handshakes imaginable. A lot of beer consumed, and they were all very proud of their military units. I want to go back!) Normandy in the summertime is a great place to vacation, particularly if you are into this subject. Cheers!

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6 people found this helpful

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  • D. MacLeod
  • 2019-12-05

Good if you're not familiar

This is a good book if you are not familiar with the events. But if you've seen or read the Longest Day, Patton, Is Paris Burning, and similar movies or books, you will know most of the content. WWII buffs especially will likely find better German perspectives from the many autobiographical books.

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6 people found this helpful

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  • S. H. Moore
  • 2022-03-09

One of the best German accounts of D-day in audio.

This book is average about Normandy. It’s up there overall although Normandy ‘44 is better and also on Audible. From a German perspective it’s as good as I’ve heard on Audible. However it’s not the best in that category either if including written books as well.

Nevertheless, I’ve put off this book because the reviews made me think it offered nothing new. I own over 2000 audiobooks and almost all of them are military non fiction. I read a lot about Normandy too. This book is worth a listen. I enjoyed it and learned a couple things. If you’re intimately familiar with the Western front you might not get from it in the way of new facts but the story telling in engaging and enjoyable.

If you’re looking for a good history lesson on the Normandy campaign I would again offer Normandy 44’ or even Six Armies in Normandy as better history lessons but this one is no slouch. If you want Germany stories from Normandy this one is for you.

All in all, I’m glad I finally gave it a chance. I think if you’re interested in this kind of stuff you will get your credits worth with this book.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • Crystal Forbes
  • 2023-02-15

Horrifying and informative

Having traveled to The Bretagne and Normandie Regions of France this year, I added this book to my library. My mother-in-law was born during the occupation of France while her father was in a German POW camp. The scars of WWI and WWII are still visible on the land and the history of Northern France. Having visited the enormous port of Cherbourg it was fascinating to learn about the occupation and liberation of that historic city. I’m not usually one for military accounts, but this book kept me engaged until the very end. The dévastation of the French countryside, towns and citizens as described in this book is chilling. A poignant reminder of the tragedy of wars.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Erik Bronson
  • 2022-12-09

Great listening

I enjoy stories from the German side, and this one did not disappoint, had my full attention the whole way!

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  • William R. Chadwell
  • 2020-06-07

Excellent History

This is an excellent history of the other side in the Battle of Normandy. It is marred, however, by a poor narrator. I don't mind English narrators at all; some are excellent. What I do mind, though, are British narrators pronouncing German and French words with a British accent. It's like fingernails on a blackboard. All audiobooks that include non-English words or place-names should require that the narrator be able to pronounce them correctly!

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  • Garshom L. Arkoff
  • 2023-08-11

Interesting, but drags at times

Very informative and well researched.

I particularly liked the first person accounts from the individual German soldier's point of view.

The book drags on a bit, toward the end, once the Allied forces had a strong hold on Normandy. I suppose the author was filling in the timeline, but it feels like there were three or four chapters which were largely dominated by painting a picture of how bad it was for the German troops. I feel like that section could have been condensed.

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  • Bob mccabe
  • 2023-02-01

Lots of history I was unaware of happening during the D Day and the liberation of Western Europe.

Great look at D day and events in German government and military. Lots of little known but important details of the summer and fall of 1944.

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  • Patrick sloan
  • 2022-12-31

well written but contains verbose language.

I loved the book but contains a lot of untranslated German, for some reason. It doesn't contribute much to the narrative, just translate it to English.

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  • George Peng
  • 2022-07-25

Okay book. Flawed narration.

It's an alright account of Operation Overlord and its surrounding events from the German perspective, albeit not as insightful as I'd have liked. I went in expecting a dive into the strategy and thought process of the bad guys, but ended up with a fairly generic rehash of what's already covered in other history books.

The performance of the narrator has its ups and downs. I enjoyed the different 'voices' he did for various figures in this story, and the little sniveling voice he put on when quoting Goebbels got a few laughs out of me. Unfortunately, this narrator also failed at some basic pronunciations. Keitel was turned into "kye-tell", and Valkyrie ended up as "vell-curie". It spoiled an otherwise fine performance.

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