War and Liberation in France

War and Liberation in France
Author: H. Footitt
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2004-03-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0230509975

This book, coinciding with the sixtieth anniversary of the Liberation of France, takes a unique approach to the events of 1944, by seeing them as shared experiences which brought ordinary Anglo-Americans and French people into contact with each other in a variety of different communities. The book looks at the Liberation through 5 case-studies: Normandy, Cherbourg, Provence, the Pyrénées-Orientales and Reims, and uses the words of participants at the time to describe the developing relationship between Liberators and Liberated.

D-Day Through French Eyes

D-Day Through French Eyes
Author: Mary Louise Roberts
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2014-05-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 022613704X

“A moving examination of how French civilians experienced the fighting” at Normandy during WWII from the acclaimed author of What Soldiers Do (Telegraph, UK). “Like big black umbrellas, they rain down on the fields across the way, and then disappear behind the black line of the hedges.” Silent parachutes dotting the night sky—that’s how one Normandy woman learned that the D-Day invasion was under way in June of 1944. Though they yearned for liberation, the French had to steel themselves for war, knowing that their homes, lands, and fellow citizens would have to bear the brunt of the attack. With D-Day through French Eyes, Mary Louise Roberts turns the conventional narrative of D-Day on its head, taking readers across the Channel to view the invasion anew. Roberts builds her history from an impressive range of gripping first-person accounts by French citizens throughout the region. A farm family notices that cabbage is missing from their garden—then discovers that the guilty culprits are American paratroopers hiding in the cowshed. Fishermen rescue pilots from the wreck of their B-17, then search for clothes big enough to disguise them as civilians. A young man learns to determine whether a bomb is whistling overhead or silently plummeting toward them. When the allied infantry arrived, French citizens guided them to hidden paths and little-known bridges, giving them crucial advantages over the German occupiers. As she did in her acclaimed account of GIs in postwar France, What Soldiers Do, Roberts here sheds vital new light on a story we thought we knew. "In the great tradition of Studs Terkel and Is Paris Burning?, Mary Louise Roberts uses the diaries and memoirs of French civilians to narrate a history of the French at D-Day that has for too long been occluded by the mythology of the allied landing.”—Alice Kaplan, author of Dreaming in French

What Soldiers Do

What Soldiers Do
Author: Mary Louise Roberts
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2013-05-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0226923096

How do you convince men to charge across heavily mined beaches into deadly machine-gun fire? Do you appeal to their bonds with their fellow soldiers, their patriotism, their desire to end tyranny and mass murder? Certainly—but if you’re the US Army in 1944, you also try another tack: you dangle the lure of beautiful French women, waiting just on the other side of the wire, ready to reward their liberators in oh so many ways. That’s not the picture of the Greatest Generation that we’ve been given, but it’s the one Mary Louise Roberts paints to devastating effect in What Soldiers Do. Drawing on an incredible range of sources, including news reports, propaganda and training materials, official planning documents, wartime diaries, and memoirs, Roberts tells the fascinating and troubling story of how the US military command systematically spread—and then exploited—the myth of French women as sexually experienced and available. The resulting chaos—ranging from flagrant public sex with prostitutes to outright rape and rampant venereal disease—horrified the war-weary and demoralized French population. The sexual predation, and the blithe response of the American military leadership, also caused serious friction between the two nations just as they were attempting to settle questions of long-term control over the liberated territories and the restoration of French sovereignty. While never denying the achievement of D-Day, or the bravery of the soldiers who took part, What Soldiers Do reminds us that history is always more useful—and more interesting—when it is most honest, and when it goes beyond the burnished beauty of nostalgia to grapple with the real lives and real mistakes of the people who lived it.

Bombing, States and Peoples in Western Europe 1940-1945

Bombing, States and Peoples in Western Europe 1940-1945
Author: Claudia Baldoli
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2011-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1441180486

This is the first book to treat bombing during WWII as a European phenomenon and not just the 'Blitz' on Britain and Germany. With Western Europe now at the heart of a united continent, it is even more difficult to explain how only 70 years ago European states destroyed much of the urban landscape from the air. There were many blitzes between 1940 and 1945 with an estimated 700,000 people killed. The purpose of this book is to provide the basis for a comparison of the experience of western states under the impact of bombing. In particular, it considers the political, cultural and social responses to bombing rather than the military, strategic and social dimensions which have formed the core of the discussion hitherto. This book will correct the popular perception of the British Blitz as the key bombing experience by exposing the reality of life under the bombs for communities as far apart as Brest, Palermo, and Rostock. An international panel of historians consider the issues raised amidst the bombing of human rights and protection of civilians in this seminal event in C20th history.

France

France
Author: Roger Williams
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 722
Release: 2010
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0756660564

Spilling over with all sorts of useful information for the traveler, "Eyewitness Travel Guide: France" paints a complete picture of the country. Readers will appreciate the hundreds of color photos of everything from ski towns to beaches to wine vineyards.

Beyond the Beach

Beyond the Beach
Author: Stephen Bourque
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2018-04-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612518745

An important rethinking of the Normandy war narrative Beyond the Beach examines the Allied air war against France in 1944. During this period, General Dwight David Eisenhower, as Supreme Allied Commander, took control of all American, British, and Canadian air units and employed them for tactical and operational purposes over France rather than as a strategic force to attack targets deep in Germany. Using bombers as his long-range artillery, he directed the destruction of bridges, rail centers, ports, military installations, and even French towns with the intent of preventing German reinforcements from interfering with Operation Neptune, the Allied landings on the Normandy beaches. Ultimately, this air offensive resulted in the death of over 60,000 French civilians and an immense amount of damage to towns, churches, buildings, and works of art. This intense bombing operation, conducted against a friendly occupied state, resulted in a swath of physical and human destruction across northwest France that is rarely discussed as part of the D-Day landings. This book explores the relationship between ground and air operations and its effects on the French population. It examines the three broad groups that the air operations involved, the doctrine and equipment used by Allied air force leaders to implement Eisenhower’s plans, and each of the eight major operations, called lines of effort, that coordinated the employment of the thousands of fighters, medium bombers, and heavy bombers that prowled the French skies that spring and summer of 1944. Each of these sections discusses the operation's purpose, conduct, and effects upon both the military and the civilian targets. Finally, the book explores the short and long-term effects of these operations and argues that this ignored narrative should be part of any history of the D-Day landings.

Fodor's Essential France

Fodor's Essential France
Author: Fodor's Travel Guides
Publisher: Fodor's Travel
Total Pages: 1144
Release: 2019-12-10
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1640971874

Whether you want to climb the Eiffel Tower in Paris, sip wine in Burgundy, or indulge in French cuisine in Lyon, the local Fodor’s travel experts in France are here to help! Fodor’s Essential France guidebook is packed with maps, carefully curated recommendations, and everything else you need to simplify your trip-planning process and make the most of your time. This new edition has been FULLY-REDESIGNED with an easy-to-read layout, fresh information, and beautiful color photos. GET INSPIRED • AN ILLUSTRATED ULTIMATE EXPERIENCES GUIDE to the top things to see and do • PHOTO-FILLED “BEST OF” FEATURES on France’s Best Museums, France’s Best Small Towns, and France’s Best Cathedrals and Churches. • COLOR PHOTOS throughout to spark your wanderlust! • UP-TO-DATE and HONEST RECOMMENDATIONS covering the most recommended sights, restaurants, hotels, nightlife, shopping, performing arts, activities, and more GET PLANNING • MULTIPLE ITINERARIES to effectively organize your days and maximize your time • SPECIAL FEATURES on The Louvre and Versailles • COVERS: Paris, Versailles, Normandy, Burgundy, Lyon, the French Alps, Provence, the French Riviera, Nice, Marseilles, Monaco, Corsica, Bordeaux, and more. GET GOING • MORE THAN 70 DETAILED MAPS AND A FREE PULLOUT MAP to navigate confidently • TRIP-PLANNING TOOLS AND PRACTICAL TIPS on when to go, getting around, beating the crowds, and saving time and money • HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INSIGHTS that provide rich context on the politics, art, architecture, cuisine, geography, and more • LOCAL WRITERS who will help you find the under-the-radar gems • FRENCH LANGUAGE PRIMER with useful words and essential phrases Planning on spending more time in France? Check out Fodor’s Paris and Fodor’s Provence and the French Riviera. ABOUT FODOR'S AUTHORS: Each Fodor's Travel Guide is researched and written by local experts. Fodor’s has been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for over 80 years. For more travel inspiration, you can sign up for our travel newsletter at fodors.com/newsletter/signup, or follow us @FodorsTravel on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We invite you to join our friendly community of travel experts at fodors.com/community to ask any other questions and share your experience with us! IMPORTANT NOTE: The digital edition of this guide does not contain all the images and the pull out map included in the physical edition.

Michelin Green Guide Normandy

Michelin Green Guide Normandy
Author: Michelin Travel & Lifestyle
Publisher: Michelin Travel & Lifestyle
Total Pages: 504
Release: 2012-03-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 2067182641

This eBook version of the Green Guide Normandy by Michelin features the celebrated star-rating system and respected maps, which make sure you see the best that Normandy has to offer. Michelin’s Green Guide Normandy features an easy-to-use organization, top attractions, detailed color maps, regional introductions, most interesting towns, shopping hot spots and suggested places to eat and stay for a variety of budgets, allowing travelers to plan their trip carefully or to be spontaneous during the journey. Choose one of the many driving tours through serene landscapes, explore the Normandy landing beaches, hike through the Mayenne countryside, or sip Calvados among the apple orchards.