Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman..., Giles Milton
Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman..., Giles Milton
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Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die
How the Allies Won on D-Day

Author: Giles Milton

Narrator: Giles Milton

Unabridged: 15 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/12/2019


Synopsis

This program is read by the author.

A ground-breaking account of the first 24 hours of the D-Day invasion told by a symphony of incredible accounts of unknown and unheralded members of the Allied – and Axis – forces.

Seventy-five years have passed since D-Day, the greatest seaborne invasion in history. The outcome of the Second World War hung in the balance on that chill June morning. If Allied forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in northern France, the road to victory would be open. But if the Allies could be driven back into the sea, the invasion would be stalled for years, perhaps forever.

An epic battle that involved 156,000 men, 7,000 ships and 20,000 armoured vehicles, the desperate struggle that unfolded on 6 June 1944 was, above all, a story of individual heroics – of men who were driven to keep fighting until the German defences were smashed and the precarious beachheads secured. This authentic human story – Allied, German, French – has never fully been told.

Giles Milton’s bold new history narrates the day’s events through the tales of survivors from all sides: the teenage Allied conscript, the crack German defender, the French resistance fighter. From the military architects at Supreme Headquarters to the young schoolboy in the Wehrmacht’s bunkers, Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die lays bare the absolute terror of those trapped in the front line of Operation Overlord. It also gives voice to those who have hitherto remained unheard – the French butcher’s daughter, the Panzer Commander’s wife, the chauffeur to the General Staff.

This vast canvas of human bravado reveals ‘the longest day’ as never before – less as a masterpiece of strategic planning than a day on which thousands of scared young men found themselves staring death in the face. It is drawn in its entirety from the raw, unvarnished experiences of those who were there.

About Giles Milton

Giles Milton is the million-copy, internationally bestselling author of a dozen works of narrative history. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. One of Milton’s previous books, Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, is currently being developed into a major screen project. Milton is the writer and narrator of the acclaimed podcast series Cover Up: Ministry of Secrets, produced by Sony. He lives in London and Burgundy.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Donna on March 15, 2019

My attention was riveted on the title. Frogmen! Spies! Thanks go to Net Galley and Henry Holt for the galley, which I expected to love. Though I am disappointed, I would have been more so had I paid the cover price for this fast-and-loose pop history. The author takes the events surrounding D-Day, t......more

Goodreads review by Steven on May 17, 2019

Next month will be the 75th anniversary of the allied landing in Normandy. As with most major historical commemorations people will flock to the beaches off the French coast. In addition, the anniversary has produced a plethora of new books to go with the classic works that have been written in the......more

Goodreads review by Thelma on June 09, 2019

I received this book in a goodreads giveaway. When I picked this book up I was not sure I would get into it because I do not usually read accounts of war battles. I was completely enthralled by this detailed, well researched account of the 24 hours of the D Day invasion. I could not put this book do......more

Goodreads review by Bill on May 10, 2019

This was an interesting book, very ambitious in scope. It was fairly inconsistent but overall worth reading. The aspects I enjoyed most were the exciting action scenes. Many of the skirmishes are rendered really well. I also appreciated the inclusion of the German and French civilian perspectives, as......more

Goodreads review by Kim on November 17, 2018

This is a story of such magnitude that it cannot be contained in one volume and represent all parts of the story equally and yet that is exactly what Giles Milton has done. This is not your typical history book overflowing with mindnumbing facts and figures. Instead, the author has taken this heroic......more