The D-Day Atlas: Anatomy of the Normandy Campaign

Not a history boff personally, but bought for husband, passionate about WW2 history.. perfect pictorial companion to many history books. 👌

I am reading The D-Day Atlas alongside Max Hastings' Overlord, and Messenger's maps are making the whole campaign much clearer to me. You can easily see the shape of the ground that dictated operational decisions. However, certain silly errors detract from the book's quality: Messenger's narrative has some formatting and spelling errors that should have been spotted in editing. More problematically, there are issues and errors with the maps. Some use topographic shading and others do not, even when control of high elevations was a critical part of a battle (for example, Messenger's map for Operation Goodwood is not topographic, even when the Germans retaining control of the Bourguebas Ridge was a significant reason for the offensive's failure). There are several cases of regiments or divisions being mislabelled (for example, the 15th Infantry Division appearing twice on the map for the Second Battle of the Odon, with the 43rd Division nowhere to be seen). Finally, outside the broad sections of the book, there is little sense of any order to the maps. They are clearly not ordered chronologically, nor do they even seem to be ordered thematically by the British and American fronts. Instead they jump from mid-June to early-July and back again, with little sense of relation.

My husband loves this book. There is a lots of interesting information and details he knew nothing about

Ok so there are many books on D-Day and the Normandy campaign, but for a general overview this book ranks as one of the best - especially for the price. The maps, drawings and the telling are readable, understandable and fine for general interest as well as detail.

Very pleased with this book, excellent value very well produced publication.

Enjoyed sharing the details with veteran of D-Day landings. Good choice.

Great book,

excellent book, well worth a read

This book has pictures, maps and text to give an in depth picture of D-Day, many of which are new to me. I appreciate especially the maps helping me know the location of events. I anticipate also referring to this book as I read other books.

This year I visited the D-Day beaches in Normandy. Despite the reading of several relevant books before my visit it was hard to understand how and especially why certain strategic/tactical and operational decisions were taken by the Allied and Nazi Germany during the campaign in Normandy. This book gives you a much better understanding on how, what and why the two army react on each other (or not) moves then any other book I have read so far.Unfortunately the info in this book is huge and it's difficult to grasp when reading it for the first time even though a lot of detail maps of the battles are available . If this book was interactive on a DVD that it would be excellent.Nevertheless, if you want to understand the first month of D-day this is the book to buy!

I found two glaring errors within my first two minutes of browsing through it. Not to be trusted, apparently.

This book has very easy to understand maps without insulting the knowedge of the vetern WW II inthusiest. The maps are deffinetly the strong point here, and well accomponyed by stats for each maps... well worth it.

Three friends and I are using Messenger's "The D-Day Atlas" as a key resource to plan our visit to the landing beaches in Normandy. The book is not just about D-Day itself, however, but includes the entire Normandy campaign, from planning and buildup through the landings to the Falaise Gap. As such it is comprehensive and so far as I can tell after immersing myself in the D-Day literature, highly accurate.Understand that this is *not* a guidebook but a serious account of Overlord, covering strategy, order of battle, weaponry, and the flow of events. It is well-illustrated beyond the excellent maps, including many photographs and helpful drawings.At 8.5" by 11" the book is a bit too large to carry while on foot. Instead, we will photocopy some critical maps to keep with us. There is no Kindle edition of this book, but given Kindle's difficulties with reproducing maps on a scale matching that in "The D-Day Atlas," having the photocopies with the book in reserve in the car will be the better option anyway. In fact, "The D-Day Atlas" is one of the two books we will physically have with us, the other being the latest edition of the Holts' *Major & Mrs Holt's definitive guide to the D-Day Normandy landing beaches."