Introduction

This impressive volume is a beautifully bound book over an inch and a half thick, with 127 beautiful map illustrations and descriptive narratives. The maps are based on Osprey’s Campaign Series of books and describe the Allied European Campaign in 1944 and 1945. The maps focus almost entirely on land campaigns rather than air or naval campaigns. Osprey has also produced a separate volume, the Atlas of Eastern Front, 1941 to 1945, that covers the war between Germany and the Soviet Union.

Author

Prolific author Steven J. Zaloga has written 138 books for Osprey. Zaloga received his BA in History from Union College and his MA from Columbia University. He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for over two decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, and has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think tank. He is the author of numerous books on military technology and military history, with an accent on the US Army in World War II, as well as Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Atlas Maps

The 127 Maps in this publication illustrate the battles on the European front from the D-Day invasion to Germany’s surrender in May 1945. Each map illustrates events on the European campaign on a weekly, or even sometimes daily basis. The maps are all produced in Osprey’s clear, informative, graphic style.

Narratives

Each map has a one-page narrative describing the operations depicted on the map. Zaloga’s narratives are very concise, knowledgeable, and informative descriptions of the chronological events depicted in the maps. The narratives include Strategic Debates that discuss options considered at critical points in the campaign, and also include Strategic Situations that describe the opposing forces at different intervals.

Contents

The Introduction describes events from the defeat of France and Britain in 1940 leading up to the D-Day invasion. This section provides an overview map of Europe showing the chronology of the Allied monthly advances after D-Day, discussion of the debate on invasion options, descriptions of other landing operations before D-Day, the German’s assessment of the Allied build up in England, and a description of the German defenses along the Atlantic wall.

Chapter 1 by itself provides 19 maps and narratives describing the invasion landings and movements on one day, June 6, 1944, D-Day.

Chapters (Attached scans show sample maps from each chapter):

• Glossary and Abbreviations
• Introduction (5 maps)
• Chapter 1: The Invasion Front, June 6, 1944 (19 maps)
• Chapter 2: The Battle for France, June-August 1944 (36 maps)
• Chapter 3: The Battles Along the German Frontier, September-December 1944 (31 maps)
• Chapter 4: The Ardennes Campaign, December 1944 to January 1945 (14 maps)
• Chapter 5: Battles for the Roer and Rhine, February-March 1945 (6 maps)
• Chapter 6: Endgame Against the Third Reich, April-May 1945 (16 maps)
• Further Reading

Sample maps from each of the chapters are included below.

Summary

This is an awesome publication, beautifully illustrated, with descriptive narratives that provide very detailed illustrations of the European campaign in World War II. Author Steven J. Zaloga has produced an excellent book with beautifully rendered maps and narratives packed with information. The book is a tremendous resource on the Allied campaign in Europe after D-Day and will be fascinating for history buffs and those interested in WWII.

Many thanks to Steven J. Zaloga for authoring this book, and to Osprey for providing the review sample to IPMS.