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LIFE D-Day: Remembering the Battle that Won the War - 70 Years Later by Life Magazine.

 

"With stunning photography and graphic, detailed accounts of "storming the beaches of Normandy" and the following campaign, this magazine depicts the strategic and decisive planning needed to run a successful military campaign but it also shows how truly horrible war is."

3 Stars. 

Pros: Absolutely stunning photography. 

Cons: Some of the maps of the D-Day invasion and the following months campaign, as well as the Battle of the Bulge, were a bit confusing and hard to follow. 

Full Review: 

From the beginnings of the Allied forces gathering together to plan out "Operation Overlord" to the actual day of storming the beaches at Normandy, this magazine described it all in great detail. With stunning and horrifying photographs of the conflict and aftermath, these visuals bring home the difficulty that the Allied forces encountered. D-Day didn't just take place on June 6th, it lasted for months with heavy casualties on both sides. 

From the first time I watched "Saving Private Ryan" and saw the opening sequence, which accurately depicts the horrors of Omaha Beach, I was morbidly intrigued. The other beaches were taken with far fewer losses but Omaha was a slaughter. Still, the Allied troops pushed forward and managed success. To see how it all came together, how Eisenhower, Truman, McCarthy, Patton even Stalin, worked together to shift the tide of World War 2 to the Allies favor, it was informative and educational. 

But the end of the magazine served as a humble reminder of how many lives were lost on June 6th 1944 and the following months. The land, the beaches on the coastline of France may no longer be riddled with bullets and bodies but they will always serve as a reminder of the horrors of war. 


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