Villers-Bocage

Few clashes of armor occuring in history have built up a mythology such as that surrounding what happened at Villers-Bocage following the June 1944 Allied invasion of France (Operation Overlord). If one were looking to understand this battle, what really happened, and how it all unfolded in the most accurate detail the general reader has access to today - then this is the book for you. Packed with illustrations, maps, pictures, orders of battle, and more - this is today's essential look at how it was a small group of infamous German Panzer VI "Tiger" tanks derailed a British Armoured Division's otherwise creative attempt to dislodge German defenses opposing the eastern half of the lodgement the Allies had secured in Normandy (or at least so the current mythology around the battle goes).

The research that went into this book is top-notch, not only in-depth but comprehensive as well. In this balanced account of the combat that occured in and around Villers-Bocage, the reader can see how it was the British advance (which was doing quite well) came to a sudden stop when they definitively took a bloody nose. However, Taylor's research shows the British also recovered from the shock and surprise of ambush to retreat under their own terms.

Again, the research underlying the narrative in these pages cannot be questioned. It provides the framework for not only the blow-by-blow account (down to the minute) of the combat, but also provides the reader with ample primary source information to weigh their understanding of the battle aganist the author's findings. The illustrations, from maps to photographs to charts, help further the reader's understanding of these events. If you are a Second World War armor enthusiast, then this is the book for you.