American
experience at Normandy detailed in new book
Newswise —
Scheduled to hit bookstores in time for Veterans Day, the latest book by
military historian Dr. John C. McManus examines the Normandy invasion
from the American perspective.
“The Americans
at Normandy: The Summer of 1944 -- The American War from the Normandy
Beaches to Falaise” was published in October by Forge. It is the second
in a two-volume set about the American experience at Normandy. The book
begins on the evening of D-Day and concludes in mid- to late August
1944, at the end of the battle of Normandy.
McManus, who
is a military historian specializing in the American war effort during
World War II, found in his research of the invasion of Normandy that
there was a surprising lack of books that examined the entire U.S.
perspective in the war. He also found that many of the books that do
examine Americans in the war focus on D-Day.
“People have
been too fixated on D-Day, as if once you get ashore, the war is won,”
McManus says. “But that is really only the very beginning. I would
compare it to opening day in baseball. Opening day is big, there is a
lot of hoopla and it’s great to win, but there are 161 other games.
D-Day was just the very beginning of a long campaign in northwest Europe
that was necessary to bring Nazi Germany to its knees, and the real
story of that campaign is the emergence of the United States as the
leading power in the world. That had a major impact on Europe’s history
and it all began at Normandy.”
McManus
believes the battle of Normandy is the pivotal battle of the war in
Europe. “It’s what sealed Germany’s fate and it’s what began really a
new era in American history with the U.S. as a world power,” he
explains.
Last spring,
McManus worked as a tour guide and historian with Stephen Ambrose Tours,
leading groups to various beaches in Normandy for the 60-year
commemoration ceremony, then throughout Europe touring other battle
sites. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of World War II
magazine.
McManus began
his career at UMR as a history instructor in 2000 and was named
assistant professor in 2003. He teaches courses on the Civil War, World
War II, the Vietnam War, U.S. military history and the American combat
experience in the 20th century. He received the department’s first
Faculty Excellence Award.
In addition to
his Normandy series, McManus has published two other books -- “The
Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldier in World War II” and
“Deadly Sky: The American Combat Airman in World War II.” McManus plans
to publish “American Courage, American Carnage: The 7th Regiment and the
Story of America’s Combat Experience” in 2005.
“The Americans
at D-Day: The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion” is available
from amazon.com and other online bookseller.
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