Operation Overlord Design and Reality

A fascinating in-depth study of the planning for the D-Day landings which set the first Allied troops on the road to Berlin. Dr Norman served with the US 12th Army Group staff during the Second World War under General Omar Bradley which put him in an expert position to tell the story of the exhaustive preparations that went into the Normandy invasion on 6th June 1944. ''Overlord was unquestionably as of this writing the largest overseas military operation ever undertaken. In the pages which follow Dr. Albert Norman presents insofar as it can be compressed within one easily readable volume a careful history of the planning which made its achievement possible and of the operation itself. Dr. Norman''s topic is absorbing both for its historical interest and for the lessons it holds for those who perhaps unfortunately must be concerned with the possibility of Overlords yet to come. It holds yet another and even more important interest. The staff groups which contributed to the success of Overlord and the ultimate defeat of Germany were the exemplification of an idea of allied unity developed by General Eisenhower and perfected to such an extent that it has become the symbol of successful international cooperation.''General Walter Bedell Smith