Blitzkrieg Myth, Reality, And Hitlers Lightning War France 1940 [Paperback]

In the spring of 1940, Nazi Germany launched a military offensive in France and the Low Countries that married superb intelligence, the latest military thinking, and new technology. In just six weeks the Nazis outflanked the large French army, sewed chaos, and took Paris, achieving what the Germans had failed to accomplish in all four years of the First World War. The Fall of France was a stunning victory. It altered the balance of power in Europe in one stroke and convinced the entire world that the Nazi war machine was unstoppable.

But as Lloyd Clark, a leading British military historian and academic, argues inBlitzkrieg, much of our understanding of this victory, and blitzkrieg itself, is based on myth.

The tactic was not really new, and far from being a forgone victory, Hitlers invasion was incredibly risky and could easily have failed had the Allies been even slightly less inept or the Germans less fortunate. And while speed and mechanization were essential, ninety percent of Germanys ground forces were still reliant on horses, bicycles, and their own feet for transportation. Their surprise victory proved the apex of their achievement; far from being undefeatable, Clark argues, the campaign revealed Germanys vulnerabilities, lessons not learned by Hitler as he began to plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union. A definitive history of the events of 1940,Blitzkriegis Lloyd Clark at his best.Praise forBlitzkrieg:

New York TimesPaperback Row Choice

InBlitzkrieg, Clark . . . provides a good battlefield view of a crucial phase of World War II . . . More than earlier studies, like Alistair HornesTo Lose a Battle, Clark focuses not on generals and premiers but on the voices and experiences of the soldiers involved.New York Times Book Review

Blitzkriegis a particularly successful synergy of correspondence and interviews, archival material from four colc