Realistically, there was no way HitlerĬould win the war the only thing remaining to be determined was how badly he and Germany would lose it. In addition, the Allies had broken the German codes and could read virtually all communications to the front. Consider that in early November 1942, 230 of the 260 German divisions were already on the defensive. Well and truly bogged down in the Soviet Union and, if we ignore our own patriotic myth-making, it's not too much to say that the simple fact of ourĮntry into the war doomed the Third Reich. By this time, Nazi Germany had already gotten Unprepared for war that this invasion, in November 1942, came almost a full year after Pearl Harbor. Of course, been going on for some time by then - in fact, one of the first important things to note is that despite FDR's provocations, the U.S. Since the focus of the narrative in the series is the American Army, the story begins with the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. Despite a couple of quibbles, we'd concur. Greatest epic of the 20th century, in the way that they did justice to the Civil War with their trilogies.Ĭaton and Foote are heady company, but obviously the critics think he's off to a good start. I wanted to try to do justice to the sweep of this tremendous story, the

So this is volume 1 of the liberation trilogy.ĪTKINSON: I got the idea partly from Shelby Foote, partly from Bruce Caton. There are three panels that inform one another. The liberation in Europe is really a tryptich. RICK ATKINSON: Well, the liberation trilogy is my effort to tell the narrative story of the American army's role in the liberation in Europe in World Goal he's set himself, as here, on Booknotes:īRIAN LAMB: Rick Atkinson.what is the 'liberation trilogy'? Rick Atkinson, who's already won the Pulitzer Prize in History for this first volume of his WWII trilogy, has made no secret of the ambitious

An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson