"It was the [allied armies'] valor, their endurance, and their ability to adapt that won the battle of Normandy and launched the liberation of Western Europe."
--from Normandy: The Real Story

For decades, it's been the conventional wisdom that "brute force" alone beat the German army at Normandy. Now a definitive new history, coauthored by a highly decorated field commander, proves otherwise. Using archival data, oral histories, and exclusive new interviews, Normandy: The Real Story takes the reader deep into the minds, hearts, and souls of the allied armies to show how--despite the shortcomings of their superiors and the inferiority of their weaponry--they destroyed two well-equipped German armies and won the war.

Here is the crucial summer of 1944 as seen by both sides, from the British spy, code-named "Garbo," who successfully misled the Nazis about the time and place of the D-day landings, to the poor planning for action after the assault that forced the allies to fight for nine weeks "field to field, hedgerow to hedgerow." Here too are the questionable command decisions of Montgomery, Eisenhower, and Bradley, the insatiable ego of Patton. Yet, fighting in some of the most miserable conditions of the war, the allied soldiers used ingenuity, resilience, and raw courage to drive the enemy from France in what John Keegan describes as "the biggest disaster to hit the German army in the course of the war." Normandy is an inspiring tribute to the common fighting men of five nations who won the pivotal campaign that lead to peace and freedom.
About the Author: Shelagh Whitaker worked as a sports and feature journalist and was published in a wide number of national magazines. She was the coauthor, with her husband, Denis Whitaker, of Dieppe: Tragedy to Triumph; Rhineland: The Battle to End the War; and the Dafoe Book Prize-winning Tug of War: The Allied Victory That Opened Antwerp. She died in 2016.

The late Brigadier-General Dennis Whitaker served as a young officer with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry in Dieppe, and subsequently commanded the battalion throughout the fighting in northwest Europe. He is one of Canada's most highly decorated officers, winning the DSO and Bar for Valour in the field. He was honored with the Order of Canada, a doctorate in military science from the Royal Military College, as well as prestigious medals from France and Belgium.

Terry Copp is the coauthor of Normandy: The Real Story. He is a Professor Emeritus and Chair of History at Wilfrid Laurier University and codirector of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies in Canada. He is the editor of the journal Canadian Military History. He lives in Elora, Ontario.