Would anyone recommend "The Germans in Normandy," by Richard Hargreaves.

I've just started reading Rick Atkinsons' book "The Guns at Last Light" about the War in Western Europe in 1944-1945 from the allies perspective, though I'm also interested in reading the Germans[SIZE=14.3999996185303px] [/SIZE][SIZE=14.3999996185303px]perspective on the campaign, so I'm just wondering if anyone has read Richard Hargreaves book, and if so would anyone recommend it, or are there better suggestions? Thanks in advance.[/SIZE]

 

Oddly enough, I've just finished re-reading 'The Germans In Normandy'. I do indeed recommend the book - in fact I provided a mini-review on this Forum when it was published ( author Mr Hargreaves is also an infrequent contributor here ).

The book makes no claims to being 'original research' - the author has created a narrative from many German sources, usually first-hand accounts.Some of these have never been translated into English. The result is a very readable account of the Normandy campaign, mainly from the soldiers' perspective.(If you want a 'higher-level' perspective, try David Isby's books collating interviews with captured German officers).

So yes - Richard Hargreaves' book has a permanent place on my Normandy shelf and IMPO it is well worth reading.

 

Thanks Martin, I will give this book and David Isby's works a try then.

 

Here are some other accounts:-

Robert J Kershaw D Day Piercing the Atlantic Wall.- A British graduate of the Budeswehr staff College
Paul Carell : The Invasion they are coming. Old first hand accounts by an ex member of Goebbels team
Hans von Luck Panzer Commander - account by Normandy regimental commander
Kurt Meyer - Grenadierie. Account by SS regimental and divisional commander
The collections edited by David Isby - The German army at D Day - fighting the invasion and fighting the break out. These are based on the Foreign army studies interviews with germans post WW2. (or suscribe to fold 3 or some other digital archive)

 

Thanks!