Review

Hill 112: Normandy the Battle of the Odon (Battleground Europe)

Saunders

Amazon UK ref: 1580970567 | Amazon US ref: 1580970567

I've read three books in the Battleground Europe series so far - all dealing with battles of the Normandy campaign - and this review is common to all three titles. Two were by Tim Saunders (Epsom and Hill 112), and the other was Mont Pinçon by Eric Hunt. The Saunders books follow in close chronological sequence (even sharing some of the same text), and I was highly impressed with the level of detail, the closely integrated maps (which make things understandable but which are missing from so many military histories), the well-chosen photos (including modern photos superimposed with arrows showing lines of advance etc), and the vivid eye-witness descriptions of combat drawn from both British and German sources. These books make the experience come alive and are compelling reading. The Mont Pinçon book covers a larger operation over a longer time period and lacks the same sense of immediacy. The account is very systematically organised, chronologically and geographically, but the writing style is rather bureaucratic and abstract, and reads like an official history (on which it is probably largely based), interspersed with eye witness reminiscences, but only from the British side. The identification of German units is perfunctory and the narrative covering preliminary actions (which occupies a large part of this title) dryly catalogues a succession of command changes, movements and 'clearances', the details of which are largely omitted. War is not an entertainment but I do expect war literature to be more interesting and informative. However, things improve as the narrative reaches the climax, or perhaps that should be anti-climax, when a 'cavalry dash' by a sqadron of tanks from 13/18 Hussars seizes the empty summit of Mont Pinçon. As with the Saunders books, the illustrations are interesting and well chosen, but the maps are less detailed.

© armed-combat.com 18 March 2004