I found it a remarkably interesting book and it was very enjoyable to read... To have produced this complement to these brave man the author must have undertaken months of research and he has done great service to their memory.

Dr Stuart C Blank

I found the book a cracking read and at times hard to put down. I thoroughly recommend it.

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Army Rumour Service (ARRSE)

For the author's ability to help you visualize the Normandy battles the book is worth its weight. When you add in the incredible amount of detail that you will learn about the Fallschirmjäger the book is a steal. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

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A Wargamers Needful Things

A very good, detailed, well written and balanced book on the Fallschirmjäger in Normandy.

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Redcoat and Khaki

Overall, this is an excellent book on the campaign.

Strategy & Tactics issue 321 - reviewed by John D. Burtt

The excellently trained and equipped II Parachute Corps was certainly amongst the more formidable German units to contest the Normandy landings, and was continually embroiled in some of the hardest fighting. Gilberto Villahermosa's superbly researched book first outlines the history and composition of its four divisions, and begins with the 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment's ill-fated counter-attack against the 101st Airborne Division and then its outstanding defence of Carentan. With the remainder of the Corps committed to the battle over the following weeks, it goes on to describe the fighting around Hill 192 and St Lô by the 3rd Parachute Division, Hill 122 and Mont-Castre by the 5th Division, and the defence of the port of Brest by the 2nd Division. With numerous maps, photographs, official reports and first hand accounts, it is throughout a tale of skilful and dogged defence in the face of overwhelming odds. Trapped inside the Falaise Pocket, the remnants of the Corps led the successful break-out, only for the 3rd Division to be wiped out at Mons as it covered the withdrawal. The final pages make for sombre reading as they consider the cost of the campaign; although the Corps continued to fight until the end of the war, its casualties had been horrendous, with only a relative handful of men emerging from Normandy.

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Pegasus Archive

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This is a terrific book if you are researching German paratroopers in Normandy, and especially if you wish to understand where and when the different Fallschirmjäger units fought.

Amazon Customer, Lars Gyllenhaal

As featured on Argunners

Argunners, Christopher 'Moon' Mullins

This is a solid history of the German Paratroops engaged in the Second Battle of France. The paratroops were an elite unit and it is interesting to compare their performance with that of the Waffen SS and the Wehrmacht’s Brandenburgers, who were also elite special forces units – Highly Recommended.

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Firetrench

This excellent book is a compelling and fascinating account of Hitler's Fallschirmjagers in their latter-war role as elite infantry defenders, as opposed to their early-war role of airborne attackers, and more specifically the part played by II Parachute Corps in the Normandy '44 campaign... I loved reading this book, and would highly recommend this to those interested the Fallschirmjager, their leaders, and this period/theatre of WWII.

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A Question Of Scale, Seb Palmer

As featured on WW2 Today

WW2 Today

A wonderfully constructed account of the German Fallschirmjager troops fighting in Normandy. The narrative and sources are excellent and it is well supported by maps and photographs. Essential reading for anybody seeking authoritative details about the deployment of these excellent soldiers in an ever eroding defensive battle.

Michael McCarthy. Battlefield Guide

Michael McCarthy