Joseph Balkoski – författare

The story of the last few months of World War II in the European Theater as told from the perspective of a single U.S. Army unit, the 29th Infantry Division. This book describes the humanitarian crisis that erupted in central Europe as Nazi Germany collapsed, and relates the story of the repatriation of American war dead from western European cemeteries back home to the United States.

Omaha Beach witnessed the greatest drama and loss of life on D-Day. Across a four-and-a-half-mile front consisting of sand, stones, and cliffs, largely untested American troops assaulted Germany’s Atlantic Wall head-on, encountering fierce resistance but eventually securing the beachhead. Their actions paved the way for Allied victory in World War II, yet until now, a truly comprehensive history of the momentous battle for Omaha Beach has not been written. In Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944, Joseph Balkoski picks up where other historians left off and weaves personal recollections and historical analysis into a gripping, unforgettable narrative of one of the U.S. Army’s most costly days of World War II. After placing the D-Day preparations firmly within their diplomatic and strategic context—from Gen. George Marshall’s early enthusiasm for a Normandy landing to the Tehran conference, where Stalin’s support moved the plan into its final stages—Balkoski describes the minute-by-minute combat on Omaha Beach. Using a series of detailed maps to illustrate the progress of the invasion, as well as a broad selection of first-person accounts—many given mere weeks after the fighting—Balkoski crafts a seamless story of the action as it unfolded. He allows both officers and enlisted men to speak for themselves, as they vividly recount their attempts to maneuver bombers through heavy cloud cover, the claustrophobic terror of manning a tank aboard a landing vessel, and the relentless fire that greeted them as they inched their way across the beach. A concluding section recognizes Omaha’s Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross recipients, some of them posthumous, and lists the minute details of the landings, such as the order of battle, unit-by-unit casualties, and the equipment the men carried. Equal parts oral history and meticulous reconstruction, Omaha Beach is the closest the modern reader can get to experiencing the Normandy landings firsthand. It is a fitting tribute to the veterans and an indispensable history of one of America’s—and, indeed, the world’s—most important days.Voted a top 5 book on D-Day in The Wall Street Journal, and a top 10 book on D-Day in USA Today.

Expanded edition with a new chapter on the final battles of the Normandy campaign By 1945, the US Army had sixty-eight infantry divisions, forty-two of which fought in the great campaign in northwest Europe that began with the amphibious landings on D-Day and ended eleven months later with Germany's surrender. Beyond the Beachhead examines the experience of one infantry division-the 29th-during forty-five days of combat from Omaha Beach on D-Day to the liberation of St. Lô. Using interviews, official records, and unit histories and supplementing his narrative with meticulously detailed maps, Balkoski follows the 29th from the bloody landings at Omaha through the hedgerows of Normandy, illustrating the brutal realities of life on the front line.

In this unforgettable narrative of D-Day, Joseph Balkoski describes the minute-by-minute combat as it unfolded on Omaha Beach, allowing soldiers to speak for themselves as they recall their attempts to maneuver bombers through heavy cloud cover, the claustrophobic terror aboard transports, and the relentless fire that greeted them on the beach. Equal parts oral history and meticulous reconstruction, Omaha Beach is the closest the modern reader can get to experiencing the Normandy landings firsthand.

Although the assault on Utah Beach ultimately became one of the most successful military operations of World War II, its outcome was anything but certain. Not only was Utah the most isolated of the five D-Day beaches, but the airborne assault was of unprecedented size and complexity. Despite the perils, American troops confidently cascaded into that far corner of Normandy and contributed decisively to the Allied triumph on D-Day. With verve and authority, Balkoski describes how that victory was won.

In August 1944, after a brutal hedgerow campaign, the Allies broke out of Normandy and raced east toward Paris and the Seine. But Supreme Headquarters had other plans for the battle-hardened American 29th Infantry Division, which had landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day and fought fiercely for every inch of ground in Normandy. Along with the 2nd and 8th Infantry Divisions, the 29th was now ordered to turn west and seize the vital port of Brest in the far northwest corner of France. American commanders expected the operation to take a week. It would instead take almost four, as historian Joseph Balkoski recounts in this sequel to Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy. The Germans had surrounded Brest with two defensive lines of ancient French forts, concrete pillboxes, underground dugouts, trenches, and mine fields. Manning those entrenched positions was the 2nd Parachute Division, a unit of fanatical paratroopers who preferred death to surrender. In a battle marked by frontal assaults on German strongpoints and hand-to-hand combat with rifles, hand grenades, and even bayonets, the 29th Division began its crawl toward Brest with an attack on August 25 and hammered the Germans day after day at places like Keriolet, La Trinité, Hill 103, and Fort Montbarey. Brest finally fell on September 18, 1944, at a cost to the 29th of more than 3,000 casualties. Heartbreakingly, the Allies had by then captured other ports, thus rendering Brest nearly useless and casting doubt on the decision to take it in the first place. But as Balkoski shows, the battle was more than a pointless sideshow. Even if the Allies could no longer use Brest as a port, the 29th Infantry Division had liberated a long-suffering city and killed or captured thousands of Germany’s finest troops--a worthy accomplishment for any unit.

"Joseph Balkoski is the top living D-Day historian." –USA Today"An excellent example of what a unit history should be."–David Isby, author of Afghanistan•Continues Balkoski's acclaimed multivolume history of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in World War II* Covers a period of brutal combat along the German border* Introduces readers to a colourful cast of American soldiers* Balkoski blends meticulous research with masterful storytelling* A must-read for all World War II fans