Blitzkrieg, Lloyd Clark
Blitzkrieg, Lloyd Clark
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Blitzkrieg
Myth, Reality, and Hitler's Lightning War: France 1940

Author: Lloyd Clark

Narrator: Shaun Grindell

Unabridged: 13 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/06/2016


Synopsis

In the spring of 1940, the Germans launched a military offensive in France and the Low Countries that married superb intelligence, the latest military thinking, and new technology. It was a stunning victory, altering the balance of power in Europe in one stroke, and convincing the entire world that the Nazi war machine was unstoppable.

But as Lloyd Clark, a leading British military historian and academic, argues much of our understanding of this victory, and blitzkrieg itself, is based on myth. Far from being a foregone conclusion, Hitler's plan could easily have failed had the Allies been even slightly less inept or the Germans less fortunate. The Germans recognized that success depended not only on surprise, but on avoiding being drawn into a protracted struggle for which they were not prepared. And while speed was essential, 90% of Germany's ground forces were still reliant on horses, bicycles, and their own feet for transportation. There was a real fear of defeat. Their surprise victory proved the apex of their achievement; far from being undefeatable, the France 1940 campaign revealed Germany and its armed forces to be highly vulnerable.

About Lloyd Clark

Lloyd Clark is cofounder of the Centre for Army Leadership, British Army, at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and professor of modern war studies, Humanities Research Institute, University of Buckingham. One of the UK's leading military historians, he is the author of several books, including Blitzkrieg, The Battle of the Tanks, Crossing the Rhine, and Anzio.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brent on February 27, 2017

Excellent account of the German Blitzkrieg into France. It also goes into the battles for Belgium and the Netherlands as well. The author does a very good job with blending first hand accounts into the overall narrative. The first few chapters explain the evolution of the Wermacht's operational doct......more

Goodreads review by KOMET on November 08, 2017

"BLITZKRIEG - Myth, Reality, and Hitler's Lightning War: France 1940" provides the reader with a fairly comprehensive account of the German invasion of the Benelux countries and France during May and June 1940. The author sets out to show that the German victory in Western Europe was by no means cer......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on July 21, 2016

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the causes and process of the fall of France in May and June of 1940. Popular history seldom does it any favors, focusing almost exclusively on tanks and technology. Blitzkrieg: Myth, Reality,......more

Goodreads review by Cold War Conversations Podcast on May 01, 2017

A competent description of the 1940 campaign in France and the Low Countries The title implies some new revelations, however Clark doesn’t appear to provide anything particularly revelatory or new. That being said, it’s a good solid description of the campaign itself. In summary a solid history for an......more

Goodreads review by Peter on January 31, 2025

'Blitzkrieg: Myth, Reality and Hitler's Lightning War' by Lloyd Clark an 'academic' at Sandhurst and author of several other military books, is an account of the Battle of France in May-June, 1940. For even amateur military historians (as I county myself) there is little new here and the various 'my......more