The Americans at D-Day: The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion [Hardcover]

Nitty-gritty: One of the most positive aspects of "The Americans at D-Day" is its organization. McManus separates the book into two major parts: Planning and pre-invasion (Part1) and the invasion itself (Part 2). Within each of these major sections he establishes several sub-sections that describe particular aspects. For example, the role of US Army Air Forces in strategic and support bombing and fighter cover are described both from the angle of planning (the Transportation Plan discussion in Part 1 of the book) and outcomes (Air Cover in Part 2). Thus, one gets a feel for how things were envisioned as well as the realities of their implementation. About 1/3 of the book is dedicated to Part 1, while the remainder is given to Part 2. In Part 2 each "branch" (or sub-branch in case of US Army units) of the US military is given it's own due. This is a nice change from the typically simple chronological re-telling oft seen in other D-Day book. In doing this McManus is able to clearly show how each branch/sub-branch contributed significantly to the outcome of D-Day, in some cases less than expected (e.g., Transportation Plan), in others more (e.g., US Navy fire support of beach landings). Within each of these sub-sections the story is however generally chronological and thus the reader does not lose the temporal context. McManus should be applauded for this approach to his storytelling. I found "The Americans at D-Day" extremely easy to read and remember because of this organization.

Is there only praise for "The Americans at D-Day"? No. McManus has crafted a very readable and historically sound story, yet little is particularly new. A read of "The Longest Day" and/or "D-Day: The Climatic Battle of WWII" (S. Ambrose) and any reader of "The Americans at D-Day" will be convinced of this. McManus is gracious in giving credit to HISTORIANS who've written on D-Day with clarity in the past (notably Ambrose and Hastings). Yet, McManus "borrows" quite liberally (don't read plagiarize here, rather re-telling of stories told elsewhere with little new enlightenment) from works of Cornelius Ryan (see "The Longest Day") and Mark Bando (see "Vanguard of the Crusade: The 101st Airborne Division in WWII") without similar gratitude. Despite not being academic historians both Ryan and Bando have crafted serious historical pieces worthy of praise - clearly McManus has read works of these authors as he uses material from them and cites them in his "Selected Bibliography". Thankfully McManus has used these sources despite apparent academic snobbery to not credit them as highly as historians with a degree.

In the final analysis "The Americans at D-Day" is a sound contribution to the sub-genre and represents a fun and informative (if more so for a novice than seasoned D-Day reader) piece of historical literature. Four solid stars!