Review as featured in

Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

Operation Dragoon is one of the lesser known operations in the Mediterranean. It is usually known as the liberation of southern France, but was a disputed operation right from the start. It took place AFTER the D-Day landings in Normandy and many thought it really did little to support the allied advance from Normandy towards the low countries and Germany.

This book describes Operation Dragoon, yes, but in fact it describes much more of what went on ahead of it. The arguments, bickering, doubts and discussions between the major powers and characters of that time. In fact the operation was promised to Stalin as a way to take the pressure off his major offensive in the east. But specifically Churchill didn't believe it should be executed. He thought it was taking too many resources away from the allied other goals. Churchill also wanted a much larger presence in the eastern hemisphere.

Alas, that didn't happen and in the end Operation Dragoon was executed, landing allied troops all along the French Riviera coast, where they met little resistance, for various reasons.
Only the second half of the book is in fact describing the actual battles, the first part being almost entirely about the political and military discussions leading up to the operation.

A very interesting account of what happened in that area and WHY things happened as they did.

Silver Cloud Publishing

"The Allied invasion of Southern France, in August 1944, is a subject that is unfamiliar if not unknown to most with only a casual interest in the Second World War, not least because this "other D-Day" was seen as something of an expensive distraction from the main campaigns which were well underway in Normandy and Italy at the time, and whose achievements, in the years since, have generally been derided by a succession of commentators. Anthony Tucker-Jones presents a comprehensive overview of the landings, the aftermath and their impact on the wider campaign, revealing a number of useful successes which made no small contribution to the liberation of France, but which might have been small compensation for the potentially more decisive prizes which could have been won had this force and its vast resources been concentrated elsewhere. He also places very considerable emphasis on the political aspects of this operation, the planning of which caused considerable disharmony between the Allies, and indeed reached a point where an enormously sceptical Winston Churchill threatened to collapse his government. Fascinating reading."

Pegasus Archive - Mark Hickman

Oft Misinterpreted and much misunderstood,the allied landings in southern France took place two months after the much better known Normandy landings of D-Day, June 6 ,1944,
The author an enthusiastic re-thinker of conventional military history thinking,has made a very detailed investigation of what really happened in the Mediterranean that Summer.
This book is a very worthwhile contribution to this ongoing controversy.

work Boat World Magazine

Oft misinterpreted and much misunderstood, the Allied landings in Southern France took place two months after the much better known Normandy landings of D-Day. The author, an enthusiastic re-thinker of conventional military history thinking, has made a very detailed investigation of what really happened in the Mediterranean that summer.

He shows clearly that Operation Dragoon was not, as is often claimed, a sideshow to the main event in Normandy. After considerable disagreement, Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle proved that the French, British and Americans really could work together effectively. They also managed to co-ordinate well with the French Resistance in this operation.

The result of this amazing co-operation was a major contributor to the eventual Allied victory. This book is a very worthwhile contribution to this ongoing controversy.

Work Boat World

Often misinterpreted and much misunderstood, the Allied landings in southern France took place two months after the much better known Normandy landings of D-Day, June 6, 1944.

The author, an enthusiastic re-thinker of conventional military history thinking, has made a very detailed investigation of what really happened in the Mediterranean that summer.

He shows very clearly that Operation Dragoon was not, as if often claimed, a sideshow to the main event in Normandy. After considerable disagreement, Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle proved that the French, British and Americans really could work together effectively. They also managed to co-ordinate well with the French Resistance in this operation.

The result of this amazing co-operation, supported by a massive logistics exercise, afloat and ashore, was a major contributor to the eventual Allied victory. This book is a very worthwhile contribution to this ongoing controversy.

Baird Maritime

Anthony Tucker-Jones has produced a well-researched and very readable account of these events, viewed from the political and strategic levels.

Tank Journal

Tucker-Jones's work benefits from his decision to place Operation Dragoon in its wider context, which was rather more important than the campaign itself. The result is a book that sheds some valuable light on a relatively neglected campaign.

History of War.org