Das Reich Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Any suggestions? Looking to focus on the operational aspects of the campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaBellum Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 A nice start would be Guderian's autobiography "memories of a soldier". Although it covers his role during the whole WW2 and the building of the Panzertruppe it gives an interesting account about the drive to the channel coast and the rapid advance to the suisse border. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 I don't make any claim about best, but one readable one is "To Lose a Battle" by Horne. For what it is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Johnson-- Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 The French had a campaign in 1940? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PawBroon Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 You should try pulling the other one, it has bells on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seanachai Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Originally posted by PawBroon: You should try pulling the other one, it has bells on it.Ah, The French! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Wacky Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Originally posted by PawBroon: You should try pulling the other one, it has bells on it.Me Drops My Guns and Runs Away a nursery rhyme by yours truly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Originally posted by JasonC: I don't make any claim about best, but one readable one is "To Lose a Battle" by Horne. For what it is worth.Emphatically second that. Touches on social and political events in France leading up to the war as well as a pretty thorough analysis of the military aspects of the campaign. But you really need to read more than one book to get what was going on. Fortunately, that's not too hard to do as that campaign has been written about almost as much as the Battle of the Bulge by a variety of authors with a spectrum of viewpoints. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 The Fall of France - Act with daring from Osprey should fit the bill nicely. A very well done volume on the campaign itself. Lots of pictures, maps. Appears well researched, but I don't know much about that campaign. I got it cheap somewhere and am quite chuffed with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Steiner Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Hi Das Reich et al Couple in my collection (not specifically from Opertational standpoint though) are : Blitzkrieg by Len Deighton The Fall Of France by George Forty & John Duncan France 1940 Osprey Campaign No3 (Good intro style booklet) Panzer Battles by FW von Mellenthin has chapters covering France/Low Countries Campaign Last but not least is Jean Paul Palluds excellent Blitzkrieg In The West Then And Now full of great photos and decent narrative. Cheers [ February 28, 2002, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: Gary Barr ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Reich Posted February 28, 2002 Author Share Posted February 28, 2002 Thanks much, this is what I was hoping for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claus B Posted February 28, 2002 Share Posted February 28, 2002 Originally posted by Das Reich: Any suggestions? Looking to focus on the operational aspects of the campaign.Friesser, Karl-Heinz: "Blitz-Krieg Legende - Der Westfeldzug 1940", Oldenburg Verlag, München, 1995 ISBN 3-486-56124-3. This is indispensable if you are interested in the background for the German planning and the execution of the first part of the campaign from an operational viewpoint. It is thourough and thought provoking, well researched and fully referenced. Claus B PS: It is in German, of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Originally posted by Gary Barr: Last but not least is Jean Paul Palluds excellent Blitzkrieg In The West Then And Now full of great photos and decent narrative.I'll second this one. If you have the money and are only planning on getting one book, this is the one I would suggest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Reich Posted March 1, 2002 Author Share Posted March 1, 2002 Originally posted by Berlichtingen: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Gary Barr: Last but not least is Jean Paul Palluds excellent Blitzkrieg In The West Then And Now full of great photos and decent narrative.I'll second this one. If you have the money and are only planning on getting one book, this is the one I would suggest</font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 If Pallud's book is anything like his Ardennes volume it is a must read (not that I own either). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lassner.1 Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Actually I would recommend two books in particular on this issue; both are readable and extremely important. 1). Robert A. Doughty, The Breaking Point: Sedan 1940 and the Fall of France. 2). R. A. Doughty, The Seeds of Disaster: The Development of French Army Doctrine 1919-1939. The first of these two works deals exhaustively with German and French sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Originally posted by Andreas: If Pallud's book is anything like his Ardennes volume it is a must read (not that I own either).I actually thought his Blitzkrieg book was better than the Ardennes book. I'm still collecting pennies to buy D-Day Then and Now... now THAT is pricey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viceroy Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Das Reich, Blitzkrieg Deighton is a good intro book. Readable and cheap! Germany's Lightning WarGilbert has great photos and maps, decent text and not too expensive. Or are you looking for something very detailed, dry and "definitive"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Originally posted by Gary Barr: Blitzkrieg by Len DeightonThis was one of the ones I wanted to recommend but I couldn't recall the author's name, famous as it is. It deals with the Blitzkrieg as it evolved during the first year of the war, climaxing with the fall of France, so it covers the Polish campaign as well. Not quite as comprehensive as some of the other titles, but succeeds at its goals pretty well and remains very readable. Lots of interesting tidbits of information that most accounts fail to mention, like that the tails of the German lead divisions led back 60 miles along German highways before the atack jumped off and thus would have made highly lucrative targets for Allied air power had they decided to act. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 Originally posted by Berlichtingen: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Andreas: If Pallud's book is anything like his Ardennes volume it is a must read (not that I own either).I actually thought his Blitzkrieg book was better than the Ardennes book. I'm still collecting pennies to buy D-Day Then and Now... now THAT is pricey </font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgsan Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 FYI - A recent book on the subjct is "Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France" by Ernest R. May. I got a copy for Christmas but haven't had a chance to give it a read yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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