Monty's Men

Starred review from October 15, 2013

The British effort against the Germans after the June 1944 Allied invasion has been criticized as too cautious, especially by U.S. historians. Buckley (military history, Univ. of Wolverhampton; British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944) takes issue with the criticism, providing a thorough reassessment of the British war effort from D-day onward. He points out that the British military adopted an operational approach reflecting its circumstances as the limited manpower of a small nation needing to fight not only the Germans but likely the Japanese later as well. Using artillery firepower and its own special skills in intelligence, logistics, engineering, and medicine, the British 21st Army Group under Sir Bernard Montgomery was able to marshal its forces to confront the German army at numerous points during those final months in the European theater. Buckley argues that the British military minds took a broader view of the fighting front and concentrated their resources at a strategic rather than a tactical level, enabling them to remain an effective fighting force through May 1945. VERDICT This highly engrossing history is an outstanding account of British actions in the post-D-day period and merits inclusion in all World War II collections.--EG

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