Disaster at D-Day: The Germans Defeat the Allies, June 1944

by Peter G. Tsouras

Book Overview

This brilliant and realistic 'alternate history' keeps the reader guessing with crucial twists to the D-Day campaign.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1853671606
• ISBN13: 9781853671609
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Greenhill Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Just not that good.

I found this to be a very clinical examination of a failed D-Day landing with very little plot and very little to excite or interest me. The book was donated to my local library after I read it and, obviously, does not warrant a permanent place on my bookshelf.

German victory in Normandy

For me, a keen student of military history since childhood, nothing is more fascinating than alternate history. What could have happened and what nearly happened. This book was a sensation for me and taught me to look differently at history. One can argue that the author gives the Germans too much good fortune, but on the other hand one must admit that the changes made towards reality are surprisingly small. Especially the early fall of Caen into Allied hands, which turns out to be the beginning of the end for the British forces is brilliant. Yes, one can find weak points in this book, but all in all it is one of the best alternate books I've ever read. I bought two copies and I can honestly say that I regret that Mr. Tsouras wrote only one chapter about the period following the German victory in Normandy in his book 'Third Reich Victorious' about how the Germans managed to stop the Soviets by throwing all their forces to the east and Rommel managed to turn the tide at the eastern front as well. It would have deserved another great book. Buy it! It will give you a better understanding of the Normandy campaign and a fresh look at history.

If Rommel had had his way...

An excellent story about what might have happened at D-Day, if four things had turned out differently. The biggest change that Tsouras introduces is the disposition of the units, which occurs more, though not entirely, along the lines of what Rommel had in mind. The second greatest change is how the Germans react as the Normandy beachhead develops. The third is the weather and its effects on the battle. And the fourth is the resulting political fallout. In the afterword, the author discusses the basis for the major changes he made to the course of the campaign. The book is broken up into chapters that correspond to each of the major offensives & counter-offensives, as the Allies and Germans slog it out in the hedgerows. Lots of details, as this and that regiment drive forward, then meet heavy artillery fire or what-have-you. And you'll see how the Allies react as their grand strategy takes some big hits, and what Rommel might have done had he been dealt a better hand.My only gripe about this book is that it could use a few more maps. One of the chapters (Operation Spanner) has no accompanying map, so I found myself frequently flipping back a chapter or two to figure out where exactly the events described were taking place. In other cases, e.g. Operation Rossbach, it would have been helpful to provide not only an overview of the whole offensive (as the book does), but then zoom in on each zone of the front to provide more detail.Otherwise, it's a great read, and, for my money, not too far out there.

What might have been

Disaster at D-Day presents a realistic and quite believable what could have happened during the invasion of Normandy in WW2. The book shows how little things if they had gone the other way could have changed the outcome of the battle and possibly the war.The Western Allies had bet almost everything on the success of the Cross Channel invasion and if it had not succeded it would have been monthes before they would have been able to try again if that would have been possible at all.A very good alternate history read that was a very real possibility.

A totally convincing enjoyable military history.

I was extremely excited to read this book when it came out, going so far as to pre-order at B & N (the checking it out at the library). It was timed for the anniversary of D-Day. The book was worth being excited about. This book is written in the style of a military history of a battle. Therefore, few first-person accounts occur through the book (a la the killer angels), but do occur where needed. If you've ever read an overview of a battle, then that's what you'll get here. In our history the allies came ashore at d-day and the germans responded particularly slowly; by the time they had concentrated troops it was too late to push the allies into the sea. The narrative shows that an amazing confluence of events made an invasion of this magnitude possible; if any had gone wrong then the whole thing would have gone out of whack. In Tsouras' world the germans are a little faster and that makes all the difference. Don't expect an alternative history story like turtledove's. There's no hitler twirling his mustache and saying "if i send zee panzers here than i will foil zat roosevelt." What you do have is a compelling read for anyone who has ever read an account of stalingrad, or waterloo, or gettsyburg, and thought, gee, if the napoleon had sent this corps in here an hour earlier what might have happened? Also enjoyable is the author's bibliography and final pages, which assume a historian writing a history years later about these events.