Synopses & Reviews
Seventy years ago, more than six thousand Allied ships carried more than a million soldiers across the English Channel to a fifty-mile-wide strip of the Normandy coast in German-occupied France. It was the greatest sea-borne assault in human history. The code names given to the beaches where the ships landed the soldiers have become immortal: Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and especially Omaha, the scene of almost unimaginable human tragedy. The sea of crosses in the cemetery sitting today atop a bluff overlooking the beaches recalls to us its cost.
Most accounts of this epic story begin with the landings on the morning of June 6, 1944. In fact, however, D-Day was the culmination of months and years of planning and intense debate. In the dark days after the evacuation of Dunkirk in the summer of 1940, British officials and, soon enough, their American counterparts, began to consider how, and, where, and especially when, they could re-enter the European Continent in force. The Americans, led by U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, wanted to invade as soon as possible; the British, personified by their redoubtable prime minister, Winston Churchill, were convinced that a premature landing would be disastrous. The often-sharp negotiations between the English-speaking allies led them first to North Africa, then into Sicily, then Italy. Only in the spring of 1943, did the Combined Chiefs of Staff commit themselves to an invasion of northern France. The code name for this invasion was Overlord, but everything that came before, including the landings themselves and the supply system that made it possible for the invaders to stay there, was code-named Neptune.
Craig L. Symonds now offers the complete story of this Olympian effort, involving transports, escorts, gunfire support ships, and landing craft of every possible size and function. The obstacles to success were many. In addition to divergent strategic views and cultural frictions, the Anglo-Americans had to overcome German U-boats, Russian impatience, fierce competition for insufficient shipping, training disasters, and a thousand other impediments, including logistical bottlenecks and disinformation schemes. Symonds includes vivid portraits of the key decision-makers, from Franklin Roosevelt and Churchill, to Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, and Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who commanded the naval element of the invasion. Indeed, the critical role of the naval forces--British and American, Coast Guard and Navy--is central throughout.
In the end, as Symonds shows in this gripping account of D-Day, success depended mostly on the men themselves: the junior officers and enlisted men who drove the landing craft, cleared the mines, seized the beaches and assailed the bluffs behind them, securing the foothold for the eventual campaign to Berlin, and the end of the most terrible war in human history.
Review
"Excellent... Symonds has produced a terrific account of the heroic role the U.S. Navy played in making the D-Day landings a success." --Charleston Post and Courier
"Symonds employs his extensive knowledge and skill at synthesis to turn an oft-told story into vibrant on-the-scene history... Symonds touches all the bases... The landing is especially well narrated. Solid writing has the reader feeling the suspense, where the outcome is already known." --Sea History
"[A]n impressive account... Most accounts of the D-Day invasion start with landing craft opening their gates as courageous men rush out into German gun fire, Symond's brilliant narrative starts years earlier with American entry into WWII. The reader gains an incredible appreciation for the logistical masterpiece completed by Allied leaders and the careful, all-important buildup of the 'special relationship' between the United States and Great Britain... a must read for this year's important 70th Anniversary of D-Day." --Breitbart.com
"Neptune is unquestionably a work that makes major contributions to the field... a finely written piece of history... It is very readable and hard to put down." --Proceedings
"In this well-written, engaging volume, Craig Symonds, Professor Emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy, makes an original contribution to the historiography of the Normandy landings... Symonds masterfully mixes the big picture, operational descriptions with colorful, illuminating firsthand accounts from the sailors.... Symonds has an especially strong feel for naval command. His personal profiles and assessment of the key leaders such as Bertram Ramsay, Alan Kirk, Morton Deyo, Philip Vian, and Don Moon are arresting and unforgettable. One suspects that his analysis of these important personalities will substantially influence and inform subsequent generations of Neptune historians...Neptune is a truly original and important contribution, one that substantially rounds out our understanding of the Normandy invasion." --Robert C. McMannus, Journal of Military History
"[A] fascinating, multi-layered story... Symonds has an excellent eye for telling details and arresting quotes from the ordinary participants." --Daily Beast
"This superb volume is the first comprehensive account in a half century of the vital naval operations that lifted the liberating legions to France, landed them on D-Day, and supported them. Craig Symonds ranges with easy command from often fractious strategic planning sessions to the searing experiences of young sailors in the crucible of fire-drenched beaches. Neptune is at once an important scholarly contribution and a great read." --Richard B. Frank, author of Guadalcanal and Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
"Craig L. Symonds, one of America's greatest military historians, scores a triumph with Neptune. In this masterpiece of historical scholarship Symonds sheds new light on how FDR mobilized the U.S. Navy for the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944. His archival work is dazzling. Highly recommended!" --Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University, CBS News Historian, and author of The Boys of Point du Hoc
"Craig Symonds brings to vivid life the Allied assault from the sea on Normandy. He has written a clear, comprehensive, and often thrilling account of the massive and complex invasion--a tale of heroism and folly, genius and muddle. Neptune is an invaluable contribution to the history and literature of D-Day." --Evan Thomas, author of Sea of Thunder and Ike's Bluff
"The prose is distinguished by the author's ability to simultaneously present an academic history supported by excellent research while captivating the reader with the individual narratives of soldiers and sailors who participated in the operation. Symonds has crafted an enjoyable and informative read for anyone interested in the history of WWII." --Publishers Weekly
"Acclaimed naval historian Symonds has the teacher's patient touch and big-picture knowledge to accessibly present the truly incredible scope of this largely naval endeavor." --Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
D-Day--June 6, 1944--is seared into the American consciousness: 160,000 Allied troops landed along 50 miles of French coastline to battle German forces on the beaches of Normandy, suffering devastating losses in an invasion that would eventually lead to the liberation of Western Europe. Though it has been studied, discussed, and debated extensively, histories of D-Day have typically overlooked the incredible naval operation necessary for the invasion to succeed: Operation Neptune. Involving over five thousand ships and nearly half a million personnel, Neptune was the largest seaborne assault in human history, without which the battles at Normandy never could have taken place.
In Neptune, renowned historian Craig L. Symonds brilliantly traces the central thread of this Olympian event from the first tentative conversations by British and American officers in Washington in the winter of 1941 to the storming of the beaches in the summer of 1944. With characteristically vivid narration, he uncovers the various components of the operation, including the strategic unity, industrial productivity, sea control, and organizational execution on which the Allied armies in Normandy depended. Symonds follows key personalities, both American and British, from the well-known--Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, George Marshall, and "Ike" Eisenhower--to the less-prominent-- Admiral Ernest J. King and his British counterpart, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay--to offer an intimate look at the men involved in this exceptional campaign.
Operation Neptune was never a sure-thing, as Symonds shows, and Neptune explores the disputes of the Anglo-American allies, the demands of Russia, the dangers of German U-boats, and the hundreds of logistical bottlenecks that could have undone the operation at any time. From the suppressing of the U-boat menace in the Battle of the Atlantic to the gearing up of the American industrial machine to produce the ships, tanks, landing craft, and other tools of war that would make an invasion possible, Symonds' riveting narrative uncovers the means by which Neptune was brought to fruition, and presents for the first time a comprehensive history of the greatest naval operation of the 20th century.
Synopsis
On June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along 50 miles of French coastline to battle German forces on the beaches of Normandy. D-Day, as it would come to be known, would eventually lead to the liberation of Western Europe, and was a critical step in the road to victory in World War II. Yet the story begins long before the Higgins landing craft opened their doors and men spilled out onto the beaches to face a storm of German bullets. The invasion, and the victories that followed, would not have been possible without the massive naval operation that led up to it: NEPTUNE.
From the moment British forces evacuated the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940, Allied planners began to consider how, when, and where they would re-enter the European continent. Once in the war, the Americans, led by George Marshall, wanted to invade in a year's time. The British were convinced this would be a tragic mistake. Allied forces would be decimated by the Wehrmacht. When Operation Overlord -- the name given to the cross-Channel invasion of Northern France -- was finally planned, it was done so only in concert with the seaborne assault that would bring the men and equipment to the Normandy coast. Symonds traces the central thread of this Olympian event -- involving over six thousand vessels and more than a million military personnel -- from the first talks between British and American officials in the winter of 1941 to the storming of the beaches in the late spring of 1944. He considers Neptune's various components, including the strategic unity, industrial productivity, organizational execution, and cross-cultural exchange on which the Allies depended. Portraits of key American and British figures, from Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Eisenhower to Admiral Ernest J. King and his British counterpart, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, combine with an intimate look at men up and down the chain of command.
Neptune was the pinnacle of Allied organization and cooperation. From the suppressing of the U-boat menace in the Battle of the Atlantic, to the establishing of camps and training facilities near the English coast, to the gearing up of the American industrial machine to produce the ships, tanks, and tools of war that would make an invasion possible, Symonds' riveting narrative uncovers the means by which Neptune was brought to fruition, and presents the first comprehensive account of the greatest naval operation in history.
About the Author
Craig L. Symonds is Professor of History Emeritus at the United States Naval Academy. He is the author of many books on American naval history, including
The Battle of Midway and
Lincoln and His Admirals, co-winner of the Lincoln Prize in 2009.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
1. Germany First
2. ARCADIA
3. "We've Got to Go to Europe and Fight"
4. The Mediterranean Tar Baby
5. Casablanca to COSSAC
6. Brits and Yanks
7. "Some Damn Things Called LST's"
8. SHAEF and ANCXF
9. Duck, Fox, Beaver, Tiger
10. "O.K. We'll Go"
11. D-Day: The Invasion
12. D-Day: The Beaches
13. D-Day: The Crisis
14. "The Shoreline Was Just a Shambles"
15. "A Field of Ruins"
EPILOGUE