Villers-Bocage

This illustrated WWII history presents an eye-opening account of the infamous tank battle based on first-hand accounts and detailed maps. The Battle of Villers-Bocage in Normandy, France, looms large as a costly and controversial defeat for the British Army. This point of view is entirely reliant on just ten minutes of fighting plucked from a two-day battle. This complete account offers a different perspective with greater depth. Based on prolific first-hand information, including extensive interviews with veterans of the battle, this book explores every facet of the fighting, from prelude to aftermath, and from the personalities involved to the myths that arose thanks to German propaganda. Far from the crushing defeat recounted in popular histories, Villers-Bocage was in fact a remarkable recovery from an ambush. Historian Daniel Taylor has compiled dozens of first-hand accounts into a comprehensive timeline. Both German and British official histories and personal accounts have been pieced together providing an astonishing level of corroboration. This volume also includes extensive mapping and an unprecedented quantity of photographs, from multiple sources, which add definition and visual verification.