D-Day 1944: Omaha Beach: Omaha Beach Pt. 1 (Osprey Campaign)

click here for more details, find new or used items	Steven J. Zaloga Our price £10.49 (£13.99) New from £5.96 Used from £6.38 Pages: 96 (Paperback) ISBN: 1841763675 Pub: Osprey Publishing Pub date: 2003-07-25 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 138712

Reader Reviews:

A really good book about the bloodiest part of the Longest Day in the history (0/0 people found this helpful)

For the first time Osprey made four books about the same battle in its Campaign series and it was an inspired decision - Normandy landing was, after all, the most important battle of WWII (with Kursk), considering that not only was it the "coup de grace" for the IIIrd Reich but also made possible the liberation of Western Europe by western allies and avoided it being conquered by the USSR. This first part of the cycle is also the 100th issue in Campaign series and a reminder of the fact, that all series started also with Normandy 1944 (concentrated in just one volume).
Now, the first part of these series logically is devoided to the bloodiest and hardest fought battle of the D Day. Steven Zaloga did a great job - it is a well written, interesting and clear account of the events. Maps are good and illustrations are very well chosen. Colour plates are by Howard Gerrard (there is a mistake on the amazon page) and, although usually I do not like very much his style, here they are quite good, although somehow avoiding the actual fighting (one shows the landing crafts approaching the beach, the second shows general Cota watching german lines on the Omaha beach and the third the Rangers beginning to climb the cliff at Pointe du Hoc). Such a terrible fight could desserve some more dramatic artwork. But this is a minor flaw. All in all this is a very useful book to buy and read.

A useful and clear account (0/0 people found this helpful)

Anyone reading one of many firsthand accounts of the assault on Omaha beach will find this book very useful. As with most of the Osprey Campaign series there is little space for personal testimony in the text, and that can sometimes be a weakness of the series. However, in this case, with so much first hand material readily available from other sources, it is useful to have such a clear account of the landings and battle to get off the beaches. In fact Zaloga shows that on sections of Omaha, US troops were inland early on the morning of D-Day, contrary to popular belief. Anyone reading veteran's accounts should be quickly able to place them in the battle with the assistance of this book. One minor frustration is in respect of Zaloga's attempt to debunk the claim that Gen Bradley turned down the opportunity to use British specialised armour (the so-called `Funnies'). However the author's claim is not really backed up with any evidence which would have been really helpful in squashing one of those D-Day myths. Overall recommend for readers wanting to understand events on that day.

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