21 Army Group: Normandy To The Baltic [Illustrated Edition]

[Illustrated with 46 highly detailed maps of the actions]

Field Marshal Montgomery commanded the Eighth Army from 13th August 1942 until the 31st December 1943, and the 21st Army Group from 1st January 1944 until the German surrender on the 5th May, 1945. Whilst in command of the British Army of the Rhine, in occupation of Germany, shortly after the end of the Second World War Montgomery set out to record the exploits and victories of the troops under his command.

Both this volume and its companion volume, El Alamein to the River Sangro, are superb examples of military history as presented by one of the greatest generals to command victorious armies in the field. The texts are taken from his personal war diaries and are distinguished by his incisive style. The whole strategy and course of these two campaigns are presented to the reader with great clarity and accuracy.

In Normandy to the Baltic the Field Marshal unfolds that greater task — the planning and implementation of the greatest invasion the world has ever known — Operation Overlord. He describes the whole plan behind. D Day and the Battle of Normandy. He continues with the battle for Caen and the capture of Cherbourg, the closing of the Falaise Pocket and the crossing of the Seine—through into the Low Countries and the Battle of Arnhem and the famous Battle of the Ardennes. He concludes with the battle of the Rhineland, the crossing of the Rhine and the rush across northern Germany to the final surrender. The whole pattern of the complex allied effort — British, Canadian and American — is described with extraordinary detail and each episode is analysed in retrospect.