Driving Back the Nazis
The Allied Liberation of Western Europe, Autumn 1944
Ratings1
Average rating5
15
The Allied Liberation of Western Europe, Autumn 1944
Ratings1
Average rating5
A gripping account of the Allied liberation of Western Europe, masterfully told by Emmy-award winning writer and historian Martin King. Through the autumn of 1944, Allied troops made their way across Nazi-occupied Europe, liberating towns and villages as they went. Driving Back the Nazis explores this process of liberation, from the arrival of Allied forces in Paris through the emancipation of Belgium to the closing down of Nazi prison camps. But there was a darker side to liberation too - collaborators were harshly punished, and in some cases the liberating forces brought their own troubles with them. Martin King tells the story of liberation from all sides - we hear the voices of Allied high command, ordinary American and British soldiers, local civilians, and even the defeated German forces.
Reviews with the most likes.
Engaging Account Of Oft Overlooked Era. The period between D-Day (and the summer of 1944 generally) and the Battle of the Bulge (again, and winter 1944-45 generally) is one of the more overlooked eras of WWII, particularly in the zeitgeist of at minimum Americans. (I cannot speak to what Europeans think/ know, as I've never been closer to that continent than off the coast of the State of New Hampshire.) Here, King sets out to tell the tales of this overlooked period via numerous first hand accounts and other sources, showing through the eyes of the people that were there what was happening and through the other sources of history what was going on around those events. This is one of those books that will serve as a wakeup call to those who romanticize this particular war and these particular soldiers, as King makes the point quite well - and repeatedly - that given the pervasive and frequent abuses from all sides, there truly were truly few innocents involved in any angle of this, certainly of the adult (and even teenager/ young adult) variety. Even knowing that both of my grandfathers were there among some of these very events (both would survive the Bulge itself), I find King's prose and commentary compelling here. He does a tremendous job of truly showing just how horrific this period was on everyone involved, not just the soldiers and not just the victims of the Holocaust - though he does indeed cover many of the horrors both of those groups saw in this period as well. Truly an outstanding book, and one anyone interested in WWII needs to read. Very much recommended.