I must declare an interest in that I know the author of this book, and meet with him to discuss subjects of mutual interest. It was also interesting that I have two books about Falaise to review at the same time, so I read one after the other. I found two different viewpoints about this one battle in Normandy. The author of this book takes a different line to most others I have read, in that he looks at the German armoured formations that were deployed to Normandy, their origin, involvement in the Normandy campaign, and their subsequent deployments.

There are eighteen chapters, commencing with two general chapters about Panzergruppe West, and the early stages of the Normandy campaign. The next twelve chapters examine individual German armoured formations and their particular activity during the period under review. The last four chapters provide a summary of the outcome at Falaise, and the deployment of these formations from September 1944 until the end of the war.

I found this book very enlightening about the German perspective of the Normandy campaign. Many authors have examined the American, British and Canadian aspects, but I have found few books looking at the other side. It highlighted for me the fear that Allied air power generated amongst German commanders and soldiers, yet the actual number of German tanks destroyed by air power was relatively small. A more significant problem was the lack of fuel at the front line, and the breakdowns suffered by the German tanks. Again, the claims and counter claims about the number of tanks destroyed leads one to be sceptical about the numbers quoted by various authors, and to question the definition of ‘destroyed’.

I noticed a couple of errors that have slipped through the proofing process: Page 85 referring to the second armoured brigade of the 7th Armoured Division (it only had one) and on Page 180 referring to the 3rd Canadian Armoured Division (it was an infantry formation), but this should not detract from the quality of the writing overall. There are some informative appendices at the end, and some maps at the beginning of the book. In conclusion, my view is that this book is a valuable asset to anyone having an interest in German armoured formations in the West, and the Normandy campaign in particular. ( )